All Decked Out: A Porch-tastic DIY Makeover! (Part One)

Weekend warriors of the world, unite!! I have been wanting to make over our front porch since, oh, I don’t know, the DAY we moved in three years ago! No matter how much I worked in our garden, that ol’ porch was just murdering our curb appeal. If I had a nickel for every time someone was surprised by how cute our house looked on the inside compared to the appearance of our porch, well, I probably would have had a free home makeover by now!

The pillars were pitted & in need of sanding, the railing looked like an afterthought, the cement was cracked and stained, and we were in desperate need of some decor inspo! (P.S., this is how my dogs react when I try to get them to move: “If I can’t see you, then you can’t see me!”)

At first, we debated between painting the cement or patching & resurfacing it to look new. Resurfacing looked expensive, and we were nervous about the potential peeling issues related to painting it. In the end, we found a few tutorials on attaching wood to concrete & it actually looked do-able! We consulted a local expert (a.k.a. Leif’s uncle, a brilliant contractor & handyman extraordinaire), and he had a few ideas that really helped us save time & get rolling!

TIME SAVER: Instead of just using tons & tons of concrete screws, use a combination of concrete screws & nails to attach the supports.

This nail gun saved us a TON of time installing our supports!

Here’s a photo of our progress:

I love how we brought the bottom stair out around the railing post & actually created a hand rail on top (Leif’s idea). It looks SO much nicer than just letting that pole stick out of the ground! (Bonus points if you noticed Chase photo-bombing in the window!)

What we accomplished:

• Deck boards, trim, railing, and stairs installed
• Pillar trim cut & partially installed
• Pillars & railing prepped for paint

We’re hoping to finish the rest of it pretty soon, especially since we borrowed most of the tools for this project & will need to be returning them to their rightful, ever-so-generous owners sometime this century!

Part Two Porch Plans:

• Finish attaching the trim
• Paint the trim, railing, & columns
• Attach some lattice to cover the cement blocks below the deck (we found some really pretty white vinyl lattice at Lowe’s!)
• Finish landscaping & mulching the front beds
• Decorate!!

Side note: Yes, I actually helped with the build! I shot a nail gun, sanded the pillars, screwed the deck boards down, helped cut the trim, ordered pizza, and exclaimed “This looks AWESOME!” every thirty seconds (for morale).

Looking for more outdoor inspo? Check out Kelly’s amazing patio-turned-deck over at View Along the Way! Super fabulous!

P.S. I’m sharing this post at Savvy Southern Style!