The Perfect Porch Makeover
Bright color and homey touches give an outdated porch contemporary charm
For more than a decade, Jane Sanzen has enjoyed many a lazy summer afternoon on the porch of her historic 1920 house in Saratoga Springs, New York, a location famous for its therapeutic waters, racetrack and lovely old homes. She frequently entertains in the screened-in outdoor space and hangs out there with her grown daughters when they visit. The porch is big, the screens are in good shape and a fair number of charming old wicker chairs have always punctuated the space. Yet as it lacked color and a thoughtful furniture plan, the spacious outdoor room presented a ho-hum scene even on the best of days. "It was a blank slate waiting," says Jane.
To create a cheerier, more inviting setting, she turned to a local friend, Donna Talley, who also happens to be a photo stylist for design magazines, to give it an affordable face-lift. According to Donna, the porch had "great bones." The problem was that the randomly arranged small white wicker pieces looked inconsequential and lost against the white walls of the porch. "This space really needed some jolts of color, as well as pieces larger in scale," says Donna. It also called for distinct furniture groupings and soft touches to make it feel more inviting for different kinds of outdoor living.
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