One of my favorite features of our little rented home is our front porch. Unfortunately it has been neglected collecting dirt and spider webs. But not anymore!! I decided to use a good portion of my b-day money to make the space enjoyable for the rest of the summer and fall. But before I could fill the space it need a major scrub down.

So this past weekend when it was overcast and less humid I took to the task of cleaning it off.

Step One: The industrial broom.

Step Two: Scrub the window sills

Step Three: Mop the base boards and floor

Step Four: Beat out (or throw out) the rugs

Then I was ready to fill the place with some new decor.

I bought a new front door mat with an elaborate G for Greene at Bed Bath and Beyond for under 20 dollars.

Next I purchased some green plastic lawn chairs for 18 each at Home Depot .

Then I got a small plastic turquoise folding side table from Adam’s Manufacturing on Amazon.com  for 13 (with shipping 15).

To add some color, I bought a purple flowering hanging bucket also from Home Depot for only 5 bucks. The front porch already has plenty of hooks in the ceiling so all I had to do was choose the best one so the plant could get enough light.

This past week, I went to Michaels and found all their spring garden supplies were on clearance. So I picked out a metal turquoise bin to hold all our garden supplies and tools that was originally 15 bucks and got it for 5.

I also stopped by Target and their garden supplies were also on sale. I found a small bright green plastic watering bucket also for 5 bucks.

For my birthday Luke bought me a beautiful yellow and purple potted orchid. It fits in great on the porch on our small side table.

A long time ago I bought a green rustic metal star from Joann’s to put up in my bedroom. When we moved out here we noticed that many old homes, garages, and barns have a similar stars. It is traditionally known as an Amish Barn Star although there is some mystery as to it’s purpose, whether  for good luck, or to help in supporting beams in an old barn,  around here it seems to be purely decorative representing Americana and local pride.  For us it is green and so I think of it as a welcome sign for the Greene house :). Because we are renting we cannot add new holes (or paint) to the outside of the house. But there are some already existing holes on the front porch walls. Placing a new nail in one of those whole, and pushing it into place, the green star looked perfect.

The last touch was a set of string lanterns also from Target for 12 bucks a string (I needed two). As I mentioned before, there were already nails and hooks along the top of the window sills for us to hang them on.

And there you have it. It took me a few weeks to gather all the porch pieces. But with half a days work, and a for under 100 bucks, I have a beautiful and inviting front porch which we have already had the chance to enjoy and share with some new friends.

What is your favorite place to relax in the summer time?