I wanted to post some pictures of my haven, my front porch.

[LuckyCharms]

Last edited Tue Jun 10, 2025, 11:12 AM - Edit history (1)

I've been living in this home since 1978. This home originally had an open front porch that was only about 5 feet wide, from the front of the house proper, to the front of the porch. it was not enclosed at all, and the floor was comprised of heavy concrete colored blocks, weighing about 250 pounds a piece.

In the mid 1980's, when I was in my 20's, I decided to enclose this porch. My skills were just ok at that age, but I did the best I could to enclose it by extending the roof rafters by about 2 feet, rendering the width of the newly enclosed porch from 5 feet to a little over 7 feet. The original non-enclosed porch ended where that beam on the ceiling is. The porch is about 17 feet long. I put in some cheap storm windows, and used that cheap T1-11 exterior paneling for the inside walls. I removed the heavy block floor and jack hammered out the concrete perimeter of the previously opened porch. I installed floor joists and then installed just a plywood floor, covered with a carpet. It looked ok when I was done, and it turned into a nice place to sit inside.

In the early 2000s, I decided to further improve the porch. I replaced the T1-11 wall covering and a portion of the ceiling with hand stained and clear coated tongue and groove oak planks. I replaced the storm windows with higher end vinyl replacement windows, and I removed the carpet and replaced it with a laminate floor. I painted the back walls a dark green color (the walls were previously white), and this had the effect of people on the street not being able to see you sitting on the porch through the windows, which lended some privacy. I added a lovely wind chime and painted the non-wood part of the ceiling with a color that coordinated with the green wall. I added some furniture that I had refinished and re-upholstered.

Following are some pictures which start with the second remodel that I did in the 2000s, and the pictures progress to how the porch looks today. It has held up well for the past 40 years. I have slept out there at night. You get a nice cross-breeze when all of the windows are opened, and the wind chimes sound beautiful. There is a little weeping cherry outside of the side window that the birds visit, and I can sit there and watch them up close and hear them sing. I also put a hanging basket of flowers on an outside hook that the hummingbirds visit, and I can watch them from a few feet away. My house is pretty basic, but this is a lovely haven to hang out in, especially when the wind chimes start ringing when a breeze comes through the opened windows,

This place is a nice sitting haven for me now.

This porch has held up beautifully for 40 years now with no shifting or sagging.

The pictures below progress from the second renovation I did in the 2000s, to how the porch looks today.

Thanks for reading, have a nice day.