Adding a Front Porch to a Brick Ranch

Hey friends!

Thanks for all of your sweet comments about my post yesterday.  I loved creating that gif to share with you.  However, I had some of you ask me to create a post with static pictures, so here ya go!  :)

I added some hyperlinks to some older posts that share more about the whole process of transforming our brick ranch into the cottage of our dreams. :)

I was looking through old pictures of our home when we first bought it, and I have to be truthful that I didn’t really have any good shots. I have this one picture below….

front porch makeover

As you can see, we tore down some trees on the left and right of our house.   This gives the front of our house a much more open look and allows you to see our house from the road. 

We also tore down the very ugly screened in front porch.  (I think we did that within 24 hours of moving in!  We were dying to get rid of it!!)

front porch makeover

For the time being, Cy built to new columns on the front porch because we knew it would be a few years before we could build the front porch we were dreaming of. 

front porch makeover

 

I found this picture of when we began the addition to our home about 6 months after we moved in.  The original ranch was only 1400 sq foot, and we desperately needed more space.

front porch makeover

The boys’ rooms and bathroom are upstairs in the addition, and the master bedroom and bath are in the downstairs of the addition.  In the future, we plan on adding a wrap around porch on the 1st floor of the addition.  We have french doors in our master bedroom that will lead out to that porch.  You can see them a little in the picture below…

Beneath_My_Heart_Bedroom

Last year, we finally painted the whole house white!  It still looked like “a ranch with an addition stuck to the side,” but at least it was all the same color.  I knew that we would eventually get it looking like we wanted it to. :)

Painted brick exterior

So the house started looking more cohesive once the whole thing was painted, but I was still dying to get started on our front porch.  (Notice we didn’t paint the chimney because we knew we would be eventually tearing it down.)  We also added new shingles to the roof to match the ones on our new addition.

front porch makeover

 

For our new front porch, we enclosed the old front porch and then built a gabled roof out from there.   Luke helped Cy build most of the front porch out.

front porch makeover

 

We laid insulation on the part of the front porch that we were going to enclose, and then built the new front porch out from there.

front porch makeover

I LOVE the new entry way and mudroom that was created when we added on our new front porch! You can read more about that space HERE.

front porch makeover

We wrapped the new front porch with the same hardyboard siding from Lowe’s that we used on our addition. 

front porch makeover

We painted the whole front porch with White Dove (or dove white) by Benjamin Moore.  We had it color matched at Lowe’s and used Valspar exterior paint.

We also installed new doors (more details about that tomorrow,) lights, and gravel walkway.

front porch makeover

We added new mulch to the front of our house, but we haven’t planted anything yet.  We may plant a few things this fall, but most of it in the Spring. 

I am so, so happy to finally have a front porch to decorate for all of the seasons!

front porch makeover

 

*This front porch transformation was sponsored by Lowe’s.  We came up with the idea for our front porch and collaborated with Lowe’s to complete it.  Lowe’s is always our first choice when looking for quality products and supplies to use in our projects.  We have a genuine, authentic love affair with Lowe’s.  {I work exclusively with Lowe’s for that very reason!}  #lowesgirlforlife

19 Comments

  1. Love your front porch!! We added a full length front porch to our cape cod years ago and it’s still my favorite spot in the house. Jealous of your new mud room and entry way though!! Have fun with your new space😀

  2. I love how you persevered as a family to create such a beautiful new welcoming look for your home…it’s gorgeous!! Your addition is beautiful too. Thanks for the inspiration! White Dove is my very favorite Benjamin Moore white : )

  3. Stunning x 1,000! All of the hard work has transformed the once brick ranch into a beautiful country-style home. I just LOVE the front porch and oh, to have an entry way like yours with a mudroom! Swoon!! I’m curious, when you closed in your original porch, you removed three windows. What room was that third window in that used to be to the left when facing the old front door? Oh, I just love your home as it reflects the beautiful family that lives there! Thanks for sharing!

  4. I recently found your blog. We are wanting to update the front porch of our house and my husband and I disagree on whether to use a wood deck instead on concrete. I love the warm welcoming look of the wood. Since it has been a few years since you put in your porch do you have any regrets using wood?

    1. Hi Teresa! The wood porch is from our Kentucky home. We moved to Tennessee in July. I loved my wood porch because it was the look I wanted at that house. There is some upkeep to it, more than the concrete. We painted ours, so we applied a new fresh coat each spring, but you maybe wouldn’t have to do it that often. Our porch got a lot of sun during the day which was harder on the paint. But if you stained the wood, I think there would be less upkeep. Hope that helps!

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