Front Porch Livin'

One of my favorite spaces in our new house is the front porch.  The house I grew up in had a front porch and I remember always going out there to watch thunderstorms when I was little (until I got scared--still holds true currently).  When we went to look at our new house for the first time, the porch was one of my favorite features.  Tate and I both knew immediately that we wanted a porch swing.  I liked the looks of the larger swings and Tate found a tutorial here.  He and his dad built our swing a few Sundays ago and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. The padded part is a crib mattress!  Tate also tied the knots to hang the swing, so I started referring to him as the World's Best Boy Scout.  That went over well.

After Tate got the frame part of the swing built, we took a family trip to the fabric store to pick out material for the mattress and for throw pillows.  My favorite thing about the fabric store was that our kids invented this super fun activity where they would pull all of the fabric down from the wall and then run away.  I could see the "Hurry the F up" look in my husband's eyes, but I CAN'T MAKE IMPORTANT FABRIC DECISIONS ON THE FLY.  He was losing his patience, my palms were sweating, and the lady cutting fabric was burning a hole through my soul as she glared at my children tearing the fabric down from the walls.  I know lady, I hated them too.  I ended up picking a green/gray/white floral which I ended up loving, even though it was bought on a whim.  My mom helped me wrap the crib mattress in the gray fabric.  I still haven't made the throw pillows with the floral fabric I bought.  My not-so-subtle hint of leaving the fabric at my mom's so she would sew pillows for me hasn't worked yet.  I'm still holding out hope though.  The homemade throw pillow project is slotted to be finished July 2021.  I love having shit lay around forever.

I wanted some greenery on the porch to tie in the green fabric of our chairs.  I saw these DIY copper planters and fell in love.  The copper pieces are trash cans found on Amazon!  Once again, I asked Tate if he could take on another project and he made them for me. I love how they turned out!  Also side note, Tate has never built anything in our 11 years together.  I'm not sure if he loves it or hates it.  We will go with loves it.  I got all of our plants at Lowe's.  They had a really good selection!  If you don't have the greenest thumb, I highly recommend succulents (pictured in white pot below).  They are very low maintenance and are easy to keep alive. Plus, when summer is over, they make great indoor plants.

So far, the porch has been one of our favorite spaces to hang out this summer.  We like to go out there and eat ice cream or popsicles while we watch the cars drive by (we lead thrilling lives BTW).  Sometimes, while the girls are watching their morning cartoons, Tate and I will go sit out there and sip on our his and hers Mt. Dew and coffee.

It has been steamy here for most of June.  We are supposed to be getting some mild weather here in the Midwest towards the end of the week, so we are looking forward to that.  Maybe we will even get to enjoy a few thunderstorms on the porch. :) Have a great rest of your week, friends!