One of my favorite features in our home is the front porch, it has beautiful columns and a barrel ceiling. Maybe some may find it weird that one of my most favorite aspects to our home is the front porch, but it is so dang pretty! I tend to change it up for each season, a few staples that remain year round. Then I sprinkle in new decorations according to the season. For spring this year I added two beautiful new additions! Today on the blog I am sharing front porch decorating ideas with the perfect Adirondack chairs.
**This post is sponsored by Wayfair, all opinions of products used are my own**
I think by now most of you know that I am a former Southern California lady living in the Midwest now. When winter is done I am full steam ahead into indoor/outdoor living. I made a mistake though, I was eager for some pretty Adirondack chairs and purchased some plastic ones. They did not even last one summer! The picture below is from the beginning of the summer, before they broke. The back snapped off of them, which was a big frustration. I love the classic look of the chairs, and really liked the bold colors I had picked out. So first on my list of to-do was replacing these. Then Wayfair contacted me about their Sit back and relax campaign, which included these stunning Adirondack chairs! Guys, it was decorating fate!
Then the package came, and these are authentic, smell like fresh cut wood chairs. But all of the parts intimidated me, even though it came with instructions I was still unsure I would have them become actual chairs. I am not going to give the step-by-step tutorial for these, it comes with detailed instructions. I am however going to share a few pointers and tips I used while putting these together.
First, wood glue! It recommends using wood glue and I completely agree with this. Other than wood glue and a screw driver nothing else was needed to put these together. The quality of the wood is amazing and you can see they were all individually cut and labeled by hand.
Another tip I will share can be put to use when it comes to putting together any furniture piece, go step by step. Do not skip ahead, or even try to figure out the big picture. It all feels so overwhelming when you have a gazillion pieces and none of them resemble a chair. But, the instructions went through it all, making the back, then the legs and finally the arms.
It is exciting stuff around here when it comes to new furniture. It was a spectator sport.
Another tip is specific to Adirondack chairs, they have a ton of little boards. Most of this chair had holes already in place for you to screw the boards into. However there was the seat portion that did not have holes set, so with the design of the chair having spaces between each board I wanted to have them be as even as possible.
I did this by placing them all on the seat area, then marking where each of them sat once evenly distributed.
I was able to remove them all and screw in one by one while still having my marks.
Dale and I worked on this as a team, he made one and I made one. I of course stopped for pictures.
Two chairs! Please ignore the messy garage, it has been a long winter and our garage is getting organized… slowly. Once all was built the next step was to sand the chairs down. Nothing too extreme, just getting off any dust or rough portions of the wood.
When planning for outdoor decor, I like to go bold. I like to decorate in bright colors inside my home, but outside you can kick it up a notch or two. There is so much color naturally outside so bold colors do not overwhelm a space the way they might inside. Which is why I chose a beautifully bold turquoise, Dutch boys, The Big blue! When selecting paint the most important part is to get an outdoor friendly one. This will allow the furniture piece to last a long time in the elements. For these chairs I selected a satin finish Pittsburgh paint exterior that is UV protected, long lasting and resistant to peeling and cracking. I have a wonderful paint sprayer that I used to paint these beauties.
Be still my heart! Ever have that moment when doing something and you know you are rocking it? I loved the color and knew the bold choice was perfection.
The quality and detail of these Adirondack chairs are stunning. Wyafair is killing it with patio furniture, so many different styles to choose from.
There is no risk of these babies breaking after this summer. They are sooo sturdy! I learned my lesson, with furniture quality is always best.
I got to spruce up my front porch! Each year I pick some new flowers to plant in the over sized barrels on the porch. The simple console table I made years ago is the one mainstay for this space. It has not move from this spot since I made it.
I have sprinkled in the other decorations through the years. Next week I will be sharing the details on how I made this space come together, explaining the layering process I do to make a space feel decorated.
Here is our newest addition, this is actually a mini orange tree. Not sure how this will work, but we are excited to maybe get some fresh oranges from this tiny tree. I will let you know how it goes.
These pillows are also from Wayfair. I typically decorate in blues, and whether it is trendy or not is besides the point, it is a very deep rooted obsession that I do not plan to change. When decorating outside I love to add greens into the mix, it feels like a great extension of the natural elements of nature. Also, blue and green are a beautiful color combination.
I had planned to use painters tape and make some kind of design on the Adirondack chairs, but once they were built I loved the classic look of them. I also began creating the space for these and was already using some busy patterns and colors. So I felt that the timeless simplicity of the chairs would be best.
When decorating with bold colors or busy patterns making sure to not go overboard is key. No crazy explosion of textures here. I will explain further next week how I blend it all together.
This has nothing to do with decorating, but I had to share. As I was setting all of this up my daughter Nora took it upon herself to create this adorable little flower hanger on her own. She made the funnel and then found the fake tulips in my supply room. Let’s ignore the fact that I have a decorating supply room and just enjoy the sweetness of this personal touch for my little decorator.
My front porch is situated in a perfect way, with it being in a corner and only two of the sides exposed along with the complete roof; I am able to add a lot of decorations to this tiny spot without worrying about the weather.
I do have to stay mindful of how I situate furniture for this space, even though the porch is a good size it does not have a lot of room.
Setting up decorations so that there is still an ease to enter or exit our home is key. No amount of pretty is worth walking around something awkwardly. We are a family of 5, we look like we are a bunch of clowns exiting a small car when leaving the house. One after the other, and inevitably with kids there is some extra “stuff” being dragged along. Either toys, back packs, soccer gear, baseball stuff, musical instruments. This front porch gets a ton of foot traffic, so having it still function as the all important walk way is always important.
Decorating a front porch is a tough balance, you want the space to feel decorated and welcoming, but not cluttered. However, too sparse and it feels undone. Next week I will share the transition this little porch has gone through over the years. I finally figured out the best use of the space, and now trust my instincts enough to decorate with bold colors and patterns.
Today though, the stars of this show is the front porch decorating ideas with the perfect Adirondack chairs I will get to explaining how to layer this next week. For now I get to sit back and relax enjoying the view from my cozy front porch in these extremely comfortable chairs. They may have been more work than the plastic ones I had before, but they will last so much longer now! I can also rest easy knowing these will hold up to my kids and anything they may throw at, climb on, jump off or pile into these chairs. This weekend I have more plans to garden, enjoy the sun, and spend some time with my family. I like to mix in fun, laughter, memories while I get things done on the weekends.
I’m crushing on that rug! It would be so beautiful on my front porch. And those turquoise chairs are awesome and the perfect shade of blue! Your porch looks so inviting. I could see myself spending lots of time here. It’s gorgeous!!!
I have always admired these types of chairs. The only draw back is I would be the one having to put them together and painting them. Think I would probably use stain instead of paint for a more natural look.
We don’t have a front porch, but we have a back one and as always you’ve given me some wonderful decorating ideas. I love fun colors, so I think that rug is my favorite!
Those are beautiful! You did such a great job putting them together and painting them. The whole look is so pretty. Definitely my style!
I love the pop of color! You did a great job. Your porch looks very inviting and cute! Love your style!
Love those chairs Emily I was looking forward to seeing what you did with them 🙂
Wow! I love the look with the fabulous colors and the rug. It adds another room to the house. Yeah for summer living! I’ve always loved Adirondack chairs, and I’m so impressed you assembled these yourself.
I love the idea of having a front porch and being able to decorate it like this and have a nice seating area to watch the world go by from.
LOVE YOUR PORCH!! I find the best ideas on your blog. I love those chairs too. I have some plastic versions of those, but I would love to have the wooden ones. Great colors
These photos are absolutely gorgeous! You make me want to put on my DIY hat. Very well done.
Man I would just love to come sit on your porch!!! It’s beautiful! I love Adirondack chairs and I have never seen DIY ones before!
Let me just say that your patio is sbditely beautiful. That blue is such a fierce color. Do nice!
That just looks so welcoming! We are trying to redo our front porch and I don’t have any ideas. I love the jars – and the beautiful colors
This makes me wish we had a front porch. It looks so peaceful and a great place to read a book!
I love those chairs. That bright blue color is so inviting and fun!
Your front porch is beautiful. I love the simplicity. The chairs are amazing.
These Adirondack chairs look amazing and are perfect for a front porch. I love color of the chairs along with the pillows. These chairs are something I am going to have to get for sure. Thanks for sharing the decorating ideas.
This post inspired me to change my patio’s look. I’ve been thinking of a new design. Thanks for the inspiration!
I love how this turned out, your deck looks just great now! And I need to applaud both of you for putting together those chairs, that didn’t look easy and there were so many parts! Great job!
Those chairs are just too cute. They’re really not hard to make either!
I wish we had a larger front porch! These chairs are amazing and I love the bright turquoise color you chose!
The chairs look lovely and I am sure they are comfortable too. It would be great to lounge in the chairs on a lazy weekend and just chill out.
I love your porch set up! It is really cute and welcoming. I will have to get some of those chairs.
OH what a beautiful front porch and I love the color you painted the chairs. Great job on this project!
I love those chairs. The color you chose is nice too. I love visiting your blog. There are so many decorating ideas I get from you. This one is perfect. We’re about to re-do the front porch in a week’s time. 🙂
Your front porch looks so inviting! I love the chairs! I can imagine myself sitting there with some tea and cookies. Let me show this to my husband. Hopefully, he’d be inspired to decorate our front porch just like this.
Those are beautiful! I love the color you chose! Your whole porch looks great!
I am living for that color! The chairs look so luxurious. I am in love and need some stat!
These chairs look great, I love the color choice! Our front porch is definitely one of my favorite things about my house.
This looks amazing! I love the bold paint choice, it screams spring. We don’t have a porch area but if I did I would do all of this with it.
Looks amazing!!! The pop of blue is fantastic!!!1
Loving those lanterns on the bench!!!! where did you find them….would love to incorporate them on my front porch 🙂
I would like to know where to purchase the turquoise outdoor rug!! Please let me know!
Hello, this rug is from Rug Studio. Here is the link for it https://www.rugstudio.com/loloi-isle-ie-02-teal—grey-area-rug.aspx