Porch Wall or Railing

Judy
by Judy
Last fall I was asking you all for your opinion regarding our new front porch. Should we go with a railing or a short wall? Should we screen it in or not? I thought you might be interested in reading what we *think* we are intending to do.
The porch I've always wanted - not quite done
The house with the new L-shaped front porch - Fall of 2013


Not yet finished, obviously. My husband, the contractor, works on these projects as time allows. He's always booked up in the spring- most of the fall, so this will be done in installments. That's fine with me. I've wanted a porch for 25 years and you'll see why I'm happy with it in the photos below.
This photo is from December of 2013.
Not much has happened in this photo except for the addition of two Christmas trees in December. You can't see the second one in the photo, but it was so much fun to have the lights up, out on the porch.
Fast forward to August of 2014.
See why we love sitting out on the front porch? Because we had a family reunion earlier in August and didn't want the little kids falling 10 feet to the ground on the south end, my husband put up a temporary railing with dark green garden woven wire on the 'dangerous' part of the porch. It was the perfect solution. Although one of the little ones decided to climb out on the other side of the fence... (kids!) :-)
Full English Breakfast out on the porch
There are so many possibilities with a large L-shaped porch. Our son-in-law (pictured above with my hubby) saw it and said, 'Wow! This is like a resort!' That was kinda fun.
The short side of the L - north side
We have decided to screen in the short side of the L of our porch and if you see that window in the photo, it will be replaced by a door - so we can go directly from the house to the screen room. Love that! And no other door to the screen room will exist. I don't want little kids 'running the circle.' And it's so tempting to do so! :-)
Daughter and SIL napping on the porch
The more we think about it, the more we like the idea of leaving all the porch without a wall OR a railing, except for the part that is over 2' from the ground - and that is where we now have the rail and fence. It's perfect.
Rain pouring down
Even in the rain, if it's a straight-down rain, we can sit out on the front porch - or at least walk out there and observe the rain pouring down, accompanied by a little melody from the deep chimes in the corner.
Two of the grandsons enjoying the porch steps
We still have the facings to put on the posts, a ceiling to install, and the painting of the steps and handrails needs to be done. But we're enjoying it tremendously even now.
Judy
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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 4 comments
  • Chris aka monkey Chris aka monkey on Aug 18, 2014
    @Judy what a wonderful place to sit and enjoy your gorgeous scenery xx
    • Judy Judy on Aug 18, 2014
      @Chris aka monkey Thanks, Chris. It's been a lot of fun - even right now when we're getting a downpour!
  • R.V.R. Farris R.V.R. Farris on Aug 18, 2014
    Y'all have an absolutely wonderful place. Love the views and the porch, and some sweet grand kids to boot.
    • Judy Judy on Aug 18, 2014
      @R.V.R. Farris Aw, thank you so much. We're really enjoying it. It was fun to see the grandkids enjoying it too.
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