At Last...The Front Porch

I'm baaack! Did you give up on me? I have to tell you that moving into, unpacking and decorating a house with three children (and one is a baby) is no cakewalk. But we did it and I'm ready to share! I hope my friends/family who have been waiting to see will be inspired to come visit. Hint, hint!

*If you are visiting from the Fall Outdoor Spaces linky party and want to skip ahead to the porch, please feel free to scroll down.

A brief synopsis for newcomers, we purchased a two-flat in August 2010 with plans to rehab over time back into a single family home. The original house, located in a small Midwestern town, was built in 1904 and was converted into apartments in the late 1930's. We ended up redoing the entire house all at once and moved in around Memorial Day. Our main goal was to return the house closely to the original. We had an old photograph to use as a reference.

So here she is around 1904:

And here's what we started with:

And finally:

We are thrilled with the results! We are so happy and feel like this house is finally "home."

I was so excited to get my porch to decorate for the holidays! I've filed tons of inspiration photos and the minute I saw the Pottery Barn porch with grapevine pumpkins and crows, I knew I wanted to recreate it. (Forgive me for not showing you the PB porch. It's all over blogland so you've probably seen it. My file uploader isn't cooperating.) I already had the leaf and berry garland, crows, urns and lanterns. I just had to add the grapevine pumpkins and real pumpkins. I used the grapevine pumpkins from Target. They are close to the PB versions and are much less. I also got them on sale, always a bonus!

Here's my version:

Closer view:

On the left side of the porch we have a conversation area. Of course, being the good Southerners we are, we had to paint the ceiling blue! Our builder looked at me like I had two heads when I told him we wanted a blue porch ceiling. I guess it's not that common in the Midwest.

On the right side, we have the swing. It's everyone's favorite! I could sit out here all day. Unfortunately I can't, but if I could, I would!

Thanks for visiting! I hope to return with interior photos soon!

Thanks to Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick for hosting the Fall Outdoor Spaces Party (which I'm late to but better late than never!) and to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Met Monday! Also linking up to 3 Mango Seeds Motivational Monday Party...Thanks, Clydia!