Summer Porch and Yard Progress

We’ve been long overdue for some front yard updates lately since getting so wrapped up in kitchen makeover madness and office reveal escapades.

But since we’ve been soaking up the sun quite a bit the past few months, it was nice to get a change of scenery for once with an outdoor post.

You know those corny infomercials that are usually trying to sell you some gadget and shows a “before” in black and white of some uncoordinated soul trying to do a simple little task like struggling to cover up with a blanket? And then BAM!  The commercial is suddenly in full color and the Snuggie totally changed our lives?

Well, here’s the kind of dull and struggling before.

Weeds and brown grass and old pine straw and a semi-lifeless porch.

Our front yard had this look going on in March when I snapped these photos.  But then we got to work to fix the situation.

(Affiliate links are provided below for convenience.  For more information, see my full disclosure here.)

We ended up hiring out for the weed control to have a company (TruGreen) spray our grass a couple of times, and Robert’s parents hooked us up with a truck load full of mulch for free to replace our sad pine straw. (Yay for free!)

Our lawn is looking much happier now.

And yeah, it kind of helps that it was extra sunny when I snapped these new shots of our exterior last week, but we’ll pretend the magic was all in the grass and mulch.

Whenever we sat down with our builder to choose our elevation three years ago, I instantly fell in love with this trim on our gables and columns.  If we couldn’t have a true cottage in the country at this stage in our lives, we could at least have a hint of it this way.

And one of the very first projects we ever did on our house was install hardware on our garage doors in an attempt to give them some charm.

It’s amazing what mulch can do for landscaping (and a rockin’ edging job by Robert).

Robert always makes sure our American flag is always flying beside our front door; that man is the most passionate patriot I know, and I’m so proud to call him my hubby.

I already shared a little glimpse of our front porch in Country Living’s summer home tour the other week, but it got some loving along with the yard too.

In the very very beginning, our porch had this look going on.

A couple of years ago, when we first moved in, I snagged this wicker set at the thrift store and gave them a coat of paint and polyurethane to make them good as new.

And this summer, I laid out this outdoor rug I got on sale to give this space some much needed color and added these blue pillows to tie in with the blue on our front door and shutters.

After 3 weeks though, I’ve already managed to kill the yellow flowers I had out here during our summer tour.  There’s no hope for me and my black thumb.  If plants could run screaming at the sight of me, they would.

Maybe these purple and white ones have a better chance.  Who wants to start placing bets?

I get asked all the time what the paint color is on our front door, but I really have no idea since it was selected by our builder.  We don’t get to have much say when it comes to the exterior of our house thanks to strict HOA rules (#subdivisionlife), but it looks a lot like the color Sherwin Williams Naval.

We’ve managed to get away with displaying these DIY board and batten shutters to give our front door some character though.

And our boxwood wreath and topiaries help too.

During the summertime, our porch really is one of my favorite spots in our house where Robert, Olivia, and I often watch evening thunderstorms rolling in or fireworks being shot off from our neighbors’ houses during Memorial Day and 4th of July.

So many hot afternoons, Olivia and I dance around in the sprinkler on the front lawn with her neighborhood friends and wait for the ice cream truck to stop by.

As much as I dream of a country farmhouse, suburban life has its perks too.  I thank God every day for this first home of ours that has been a great adventure in so many ways.

Later this week, I’ll be showing off our great big kitchen reveal!  I cannot wait!!!  But until then, I’m going to be a total tease about the last finishing touches we’ve made.

Happy 4th of July, sweet friends!  If you need us, we’ll be watching our neighborhood fireworks show from our porch… and possibly admiring our green grass a little bit.

I am so grateful for this beautiful country of ours and for all of the men and women who have sacrificed so much for us.

If you want to know any of the sources for our porch, you can find them all here:

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