Front Porch Fix-Ups to Refresh Your Curb Appeal

Much more than just a drop-zone for packages, your front porch is the first area guests see and signals your personal style to neighbors and passersby. Make your porch a curb appeal all-star by kicking up the color and piling on the plants. Keep clicking to see how I transformed the front porch of my '50s ranch-style home with DIY projects and shades of blue.

My '50s front porch is unique in that the front door is tucked into one side, rather than street-facing and centered, like most homes. The offset front door is great because it gives me plenty of room for seating but, unfortunately, it also makes the door area itself feel dark. I painted my front door this very traditional shade of dark red a decade ago and, while the saturated shade worked great for fall and Christmas decorating, it made my shady front porch feel even darker. Want to see more? Check out my front porch all decked out for fall, below.

After living with the dark red door for more than a decade, I was ready for a cheery refresh and decided to pull my favorite interior color, blue, outdoors to better match the front porch to my home's interior style and color palette. A fresh coat of cheery blue paint (Carolina Skies by Valspar) dramatically brightened things up and created a pretty backdrop for other blue accessories. While I was at it, I turned a canvas tote bag into a hanging planter. Want to craft your own? Learn how to weatherproof a canvas tote, below.

Winter had taken a toll on my front porch planters. From the long-dead Kimberly Queen fern to the deceased ornamental grasses and mums in the front pair of concrete planters, things were looking pretty bleak.