Front Porch Addition – Just Three Feet

For more years than I care to count, whenever we would sit on the front porch, I would say, “We just need to push that stone planter out three feet!” I knew it would work perfectly; the planter is three feet wide, the half-brick wall sticks out from the porch three feet and it would give us just the room we needed to enjoy a little more legroom while we sipped our morning coffee (or afternoon cocktails) on the patio.

After stepping over the many pots and the ottoman one too many times, I finally asked our lawn service if they would be able to disassemble the planter, move it and put it back together. He said he could; but he wouldn’t be able to pour the concrete to extend our existing slab.

It was a start!

I started looking around, knowing I wanted a textured surface for the new patio to help mask the fact that it was an addition. That’s when I found Concrete Craft! The owners, Ken and Karen, were great to work with and the project was almost complete. Of course, next came the fun part for me—I just needed to fill the planter. 

As usual, I perused online and then talked to people at Pike Family Nursery to make my selections, then my husband got busy digging the holes! I chose Distylium, an evergreen shrub that gets tiny red blooms in February (and no pots!). We spend so much more time out there now, reaping new benefits like chatting with all our neighbors who are out for a walk, impromptu happy hours and lastly, it’s a project that costs less than $5,000! It fits right in with the list we share on page 20 alongside plenty of other easy face-lift ideas on a reasonable budget.

I hope you’ll be inspired to do one of your own. In the meantime, I’ll be on the front porch…

Patti Stephens, Publisher