3 Covered Front Porch Ideas To Make Things Vibrant & Exciting

They used to be virtually mandatory in most houses in certain parts of America, but something changed in the past few decades. 

We don’t know exactly what it was that changed, and we’re sure there’s a lot of controversy and debate over whatever it was. 

However, the fact that it’s no longer a given that your house will have one means that you’ll have to consciously choose it. 

The downside of that is that you may not know much about how to do that.

But the upside is that, with a few creative covered front porch ideas, like the ones we’ll cover here, you can make a real statement. 

And more than that, you can fully integrate your porch with the rest of your home as part of a complete living space instead of just the place where delivery drivers toss packages in front of your door. 

Note: While porches and decks are not exactly the same, you can also draw some inspiration from this article we wrote about covered decks. 

1. Dedicated Sitting Area

This might seem obvious, and it kind of is, but that’s precisely why people usually either overlook it entirely or don’t give it the attention it deserves. 

Unless your porch is just too small for it to be feasible, you should definitely have a dedicated seating area.

But what does that mean?

Well, it’s more than just throwing an old plastic chair out there and cluttering a bunch of random stuff on top of or around it so that it can’t even be sat in most of the time. 

It’s something you want to actually put a bit of thought into, and if you do, it’s one of the most versatile covered front porch ideas, and you can have a lot of fun with it. 

Expect Company

You don’t necessarily need to have a table (though that would be ideal), but you should at least make the space appear and feel as though you are expecting company. 

In other words, there should be seating for at least two people, and that seating should be clean and unobstructed.  

It should be uncluttered and available for use without you or anyone else needing to clean or move a bunch of stuff around whenever you want to use it.

There shouldn’t just be a single angry-old-man-in-a-movie-with-a-shotgun-across-his-lap rocking chair.

Rather, the appearance you want to go for is one that suggests you are a friendly person who is used to having guests and taking time to enjoy chatting with them on the porch.

As for the seating itself, you can explore a number of options, from wicker chairs and rocking chairs to sofas made from wooden pallets and even papasan chairs.

The limit is really only your own imagination because we humans can sit on just about anything, as long as it’s reasonably comfortable. 

2. Choose Only 1 or 2 Colors

Another of the most tragically overlooked covered front porch ideas is also one of the easiest to pull off. 

By making everything either the same color or 2 (3 maximum) complementary colors, you make it all more pleasing to the eye. 

In doing so, you also make the entire space feel more inviting and soothing, which is ideal for enjoying quality time with your guests or family.

If you want to keep things very simple, you could even just paint everything white and get white porch furniture to match it. 

And, speaking of painting, …

Paint Everything

The suggestion to make everything 1-3 complementary colors applies to every part of your porch, including the ceiling and steps.

People very frequently forget to do this and end up having their ceiling or railing clash with the furniture they bought or even the door and windows. 

As for which colors you select for this, you’ve really got all the choices, as long as they match well. 

For example, light blue goes great with white and green. 

Which reminds us of…

3. Add Some Greenery

Let’s not forget that your front porch is the transitional space between the rest of your house and the outdoors. 

It’s technically outside, but it’s also kind of not at the same time. 

Well, it’s definitely outside, but you know what we mean. 

So, don’t try to hide or obscure the connection between your home and the natural environment.

Embrace it by selecting some happy-looking ferns, flowers, and/or other plants to incorporate into the overall design of your porch. 

You Don’t Need a Green Thumb

Maybe you’ve attempted gardening before and weren’t able to keep things alive.

Or perhaps you never even attempted it because you were so sure you wouldn’t be able to handle it. 

That’s ok, and it’s much more normal than you might think. 

In fact, while we don’t have the data on hand, we’d almost be willing to bet that most Americans have never grown anything themselves. 

Fortunately, many very aesthetic plants require minimal effort to grow and are fairly difficult to kill by accident. 

These include everything from ferns to even small fig trees. 

In case you don’t know, fig trees are very robust and they don’t die easily. 

Fig trees are the “Rambo: First Blood” of fruit trees.

There’s So Much More

We’ve only gone over 3 covered front porch ideas in this article, but there are a lot more that we could have hit on if we had had more time. 

We might get around to doing that in a future article, especially if we get a couple of people asking about it. 

In either case, we hope this has been informative and given you some things to think about. 

Remember that your porch is not just a place for people to stand while they’re knocking on your door; it’s part of your home.

Treat it that way.

And if you’ve got any questions or want more ideas, never be afraid to reach out and ask us. 

This is what we do, and we’re passionate about it.