Vintage Inspiration Friday:# 57 Fall Front Porch Inspiration

I have to tell ya,

decorating my porch sort of gives me fits.

I'm not sure what it is that does it.

Shaded, wide steps, small porch...

whatever it is, I never am satisfied with the outcome.

Here are some inspiration photos from Pinterest that I love.

You can see I go for the more "natural" look of mums and pumpkins...

I'll take the house that goes with this front porch!!!

I like this too, but I'd do "natural pumpkins" not metallic.

OK, so here's mine,

still a work in progress!

NEEDS MORE PUMPKINS AND MUMS!

WHERE'S THE LINE BETWEEN TASTEFUL AND TOO MUCH?

I'll be testing this hypothesis...

Click here to see more of my "porch-in-progress".

So now from last week's partiers:

Melinda from Alabaster Rose shows us that

decorating for Fall doesn't have to include orange pumpkins.

See her bedroom transition with this gorgeous ceiling tile and basket

The Pennington Point

shows us her wonderful Living Room with a Scripture wall.

Please run by and check out her complete post,

it's amazing!

Marianne of Country Glamour Home

decorates her favorite cupboard for Fall

Gail's Decorative Touch has a wonderful mantle shelf in her living room

love her use of black and neutrals for Fall Decor.

And Debbie from Confessions of a Plate Addict wows us again

 with her fab take-off on the Country Living pumpkins!!

I'm linking up with these great parties:

     

Hope you'll link up your Fabulous Fall Fun

Pretty Please, put a link back to Common Ground

within your post or a button picture with a link on the sidebar.

It's such a huge bummer to come visit and there's no sign of

this party anywhere on the blog!

thank you!!!

I'm having a terrible time leaving comments.

they keep disappearing.

I know I'm not the only one.

I get a notice that says my cookies are null for comment form resoration,

or something like that.

Any help would be appreciated.

(grrrrrrr....)

xoxo,

love you guys!

Welcome to Fall

Each Fall season I try to add in a new element

or change things up a bit out on the front porch.

Just yesterday I found this new Welcome sign at Inspirational Home.

I've been getting my porch together for the last week

and it's still a work in progress.

I love my reproduction iron gate piece here all year round,

and now it has a little Fall color added to it.

A chippy white bench and my white birdcage live out here most of the time.

I added a small wood carrier painted burnt orange with my angel vine.

The reflection in the door is across the street looking toward the park

where all the trees will be ablaze with color soon.

Front Door wreath

I've been on a bushel basket kick for a while,

and found these two new ones at the flea,

but they were banded with fuchsia and green,

not really what I wanted so I painted them out.

A little of the pink is still showing through.

As the season progresses I'll have more mums and pumpkins.

This is my wicker cone that I use year round,

just changing it out seasonally.

A few years ago I painted a little red wagon black and I've really

enjoyed using it as display for pumpkins and small mums.

Painted watering can...

slight obsession here.

Momma and baby concrete squirrels hang out here all year.

I can usually keep my ferns until November

 if I cover them when there's a light frost.

Here's to Welcoming Fall,

my favorite time of the year!

I'm joining in with these parties.

Rhoda for Door Decor at Southern Hospitality

Hope to see you tomorrow for

Vintage Inspiration Friday

xoxo,

Design Challenge: Korrie's Entry/ Living Room

Hi Everyone!

Today we're talking to Korrie from Red Hen Home.

She has a smallish Living Room/ Entry Room

that she wants to remake in the worst way.

Korrie isn't lovin' this compact space

 and recently sold most of the furnishings that were there.

Let's hear from Korrie and take a peek at her space.

She has a great place to work in and it's pretty much a blank slate.

"In her own words..."

One day last month I woke up and decided I couldn’t stand my front room for ONE MORE MINUTE!! 
 I’ll be frank…I have always hated this room. Why is it that the architect who designed this home decided to make a tiny front room and a slightly larger family room (that connects directly to the kitchen), instead of making ONE decent-size room (and an entry wouldn’t have killed him)?? It’s been my bane for the last eight years. It’s a room that really serves no purpose.
So back to that fateful August morning…I started the process of selling everything out of the room!  I sold the chairs.  I sold the huge monstrosity of a wall unit.  I sold the rug.  I even sold a picture off the wall!  (I did move a couple of pieces I still liked to my bedroom.)  Note:  If you want to see pics of what I got rid of, look here.
Wanna see what the room looks like now?

Here I am right inside the front door, looking slightly to the left.

Looking straight ahead (please ignore all the stuff I shoved into the family room so I could take pictures of the front room).

Now looking to the right (the window is on the same wall as the front door).

Here I’m standing in the corner looking back toward the stairs.

And last I am standing at the doorway to the family room/kitchen,

 looking back toward the front door.

Impressive, no?

NO!

So my challenge is this…how do I make this tiny, useless room (10’ x 13’) into a tiny, useFUL room??  And pretty would be good, too.

What I want is for it to have more of a “library” feel.  I love this picture from Mallairdville Manor.

I’m thinking a wall of low bookcases wouldn’t make me feel claustrophobic in that tiny space (maybe on the wall opposite the window and door).    I love the look of the two comfortable chairs (although probably not in white). 
For more seating, I’m considering the idea of a loveseat by the window.

Then that leaves this wall…

…and I don’t know what to put there.  The card catalog is a new acquisition, and it seems like it ought to be in a library!  I would either like to paint it or re-stain it dark.  I am considering a china cabinet of sorts, since right now all my pretties are stashed away in a dark cupboard!  I’m not sure about style, or about how it would look to have the card catalog and a china cabinet on the same wall.
I would love to change the look of this staircase!

I’m thinking that getting rid of that half wall (and the ugly yellowed wood) and replacing it with an actual banister would open up the look of the room.  While I’m dreaming, I’d also like to rip the carpet off the stairs and put wood stair treads down.  At this point, that’s all the de-construction I can consider. (Let’s just assume for the purposes of this challenge that removing the wall between the front room and family room is not an option.)

A little more about me…I love warm colors, old woods, and vintage accessories.  I’m not too Frenchy or beachy or frilly.  I’ll choose comfort over looks most days, and practicality is a must!  (I have six children.)

Thank you, Debra, for allowing me to participate in the Design Challenge!  I would love any help ANYONE can offer!

Sincerely, Korrie (Red Hen Home)

OK, folks, let's share some ideas.
Take a look at her inspiration photo again
and let's get crackin'!
Remember, this isn't just for professionals,
Share your thoughts, please.

Leave a comment even if someone else has the same idea.
The more ideas and feedback the better!!

thanks a bunch everyone!