The New Place - The Front Porch

Welcome to the beginning of our virtual house tour! We've only been in the place for a week, so bear with me - there are some unfinished areas. Not too many, because Tim and I apparently wait for nothing, but still. 

The front porch is a huge draw on this old farm style house. It overlooks the lake and seems to be the perfect place to people watch and talk to our neighbours as they wander by. We are that couple. We're in the early stages of porch development, but I wanted to show you anyways. 

The front porch when we first moved in. There is now a new flagpole and larger flag, plus that mailbox (you can't really tell from this picture) is a forest green. Tim repainted it a matte black. The gingerbread trim is cute, and the gardens are lovely. Luckily we've been getting enough rain I haven't had to water at all.  

We bought our patio furniture at Canadian Tire last weekend, only to have it go on sale this week. It was okay, I just took in the receipt and they credited us the money. Tim was a bit frustrated putting it together, but it seemed to go rather well, in my opinion. Then again, I wasn't the one putting it together. I was more on cardboard and plastic gathering duty. 

The assembled product - the cushions came with the set. This set is the Monterey steel action set. The green is really lovely and these seats are SO comfortable. Luckily our porch is covered, so we don't have to overly worry about the cushions getting wrecked. 

The completed conversation set! We originally only bought the loveseat and one chair, only to realize that we were almost always entertaining another couple and needed the four seats. Also note the newly painted mailbox in this picture - looking sharp!

The outdoor blanket is Tim's from his travels. It doesn't really match the cushions, but it's nice to have a throw outside for when it gets a little bit chilly. Not that it has as yet, muggy and hot seems to be the status quo lately. You can see the pot in the corner. Tim's students at Norwood made them - it's full of herbs. Basil, cilantro, parsley, chives. Right now the basil is the only thing big enough to harvest, but we've been using lots of that. 

We still have plans for this space, obviously. Our landlady has said she is going to have the surface repaired and then refinished. Tim would like to get an outdoor rug either way. We'd like two little side tables to go between the loveseat and the chairs, as well as a table or bench for in front of the loveseat. We're also going to get bamboo shades for the far end - we look directly into the neighbour's kitchen window. The privacy would be nice, plus it will provide a little extra protection from wind and rain. Then maybe a hanging basket and some kind of candle fixture. We already have the big carriage candle lantern that Dean and Wendy gave me for my birthday, but it looks so nice inside. We'll have to try out a few different arrangements to see. 

As it is now, it's a wonderful spot. During the dragonboat races we were all out here enjoying watching all of the interesting people walking by. Tim and I generally have breakfast here in the mornings. Tim is usually here having a beer when I get home from work, and last night I sat out cooling off in the breeze with a book while the inside of the house was a bit too muggy for my taste. It's so nice to have this kind of outdoor space, especially with this kind of view!