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You are here: Home / Interior Design / Making Guests Feel Welcome on the Front Porch

Making Guests Feel Welcome on the Front Porch

June 12, 2011 by Dan

Nothing says hospitality like a front porch that makes you want to ‘sit a spell’.  If your home is outfitted with a front porch, you can create a cozy and welcoming atmosphere that will make guests to your home want to kick back, relax, and stick around for hours of good conversation and fellowship. While hanging metal welcome signs on the front porch and rolling out the welcome mat is a good start, the tips that follow will help you to make guests feel even more welcome on your front porch, no matter what your overall decorative theme might be.  (And you don’t have to live in rural America to enjoy sitting on the porch, either).

A Preview of What Lies Beyond

A well-decorated front porch is like a beautiful welcome sign that beckons guests to your home.  But it can also be a preview of what lies beyond your front door.  When decorating your front porch, think of it as an extension of the home within – and allow it to be a window to that home for your guests to “peek” through.  By using the same care with decorating the front porch that you do with the rest of the home, you will add a cohesive feel to your home that starts from the moment guests come up your walkway.

Think Comfort and Relaxation

Since the front porch is a transitional space, it can offer the best of both the inside and outside of the home.  You can enjoy the sounds, sights and scents of nature while still being comfortable, all from your front porch.  The front porch should be an environment that is inviting and relaxed, and comfort is essential.  Make the porch more visually pleasing to porch-sitting guests by adding decorative touches like porch metal wall art, decorative porch wall hangings, and other accents that fit with your theme.  Add soft lighting for nighttime entertaining on the porch, and use bug-repellent light bulbs so that your guests aren’t forced to swat mosquitoes and gnats while they are relaxing on your front porch.

Provide Adequate Seating

Since comfort is essential when creating a front porch that welcomes guests, special consideration must be given to seating.  Wicker loveseats, sofas, and chairs that are accentuated by overstuffed cushions are a naturally good choice for the front porch.  A few rustic rockers and a chain link porch swing can also be quite comfortable, and they have the added benefit of giving your porch a down home feel that can really reinforce certain themes that you might be looking to create, like rustic country, lodge, or cabin themes.  Whatever seating you choose, make sure that it is to scale with the porch and there is room for entertaining several guests!

Temperature Control

Although we can do little to control the weather, there are some ways that we can make using the front porch more comfortable.  The installation of ceiling fans on the front porch can move stuffy air, helping it to circulate and making the front porch cooler and breezier.  Strategically placed roll blinds can also be used to block the fierceness of the summer sun during particular hours of the day.

Photo credit by sonjalovas

Filed Under: Interior Design, Wall Coverings Tagged With: Chairs, decorate, front porch, loveseats, sofas, wall art, wall decor, welcome signs

About Dan

Dan Fargo,the editor-in-chief of Archtopia, an online magazine dedicated to architects and designers.

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