Preparing for Summer Soirees: Step One - Cleaning Porches

Megan Aubrey
by Megan Aubrey
1-2 Hour
Easy
With spring weather finally here, I’m so excited to jump outdoors for just about anything – from exercising to reading to entertaining. My husband and my favorite way to entertain – by far – is a summer cookout. Heck, we like cookouts so much we sometimes do them in winter!
However, there is nothing better than throwing a summer soiree during summer outside on our back porch. I love to put my best foot forward when having people over. Even if the house has projects still in process and not everything decorated perfectly, your home can be clean and neat - even your porches.
So my first thing to do when preparing for summer parties is to clean our porches!
time
Yes, no one’s favorite thing to do is cleaning but with just a broom and your two hands you can whip your outdoor spaces into shape.
I started with the front porch. I once heard that your house is only as clean as your front porch. Cleaning it before a party can help eliminate so much cleaning afterward.
Can I say HOLY POLLEN! But I'm getting to how I took care of that...
I first started by cleaning out all the old planters so they were ready for fresh flowers (bonus if you can get them planted – I haven’t yet – although I have some perennials that came through this cold winter).
Then I took out the door mats and shook them free of debris.
Finally is was sweeping time. There was so much pollen our whole front porch was yellow. Gross!
Even though I wasn’t able to get the flowers in (Sidebar: This is a good lesson to remember when planning parties – they don’t have to be perfect and your home doesn’t have to be a show room. It’s all about the feeling and welcoming your guests) I was able to put up my ferns!
I've heard people say that your home is only as clean as your front porch. Now mine is spotless so I will hopefully have less cleaning after the party!
Next I moved to the back porch – our real entertainment hub. But it wasn't looking all that pretty after a long hard winter.
Ugh! Lots of pollen, pollen, pollen back here too!
First I cleared off everything in the porch. I was bad and didn’t cover our outdoor furniture. I actually took the old chair away (it was past its prime) and just wiped down the bench and shook out the cushion.
I also wiped down the grill and brought up a planter that was growing green goodies.
I also cleared out the old flowers here too so they were ready for fresh flowers as well.
Then it all came down to sweeping again. A leaf blower could also be used for big jobs but it was such a glorious (early) morning that I didn't want to disturb the peacefulness of it. It was so peaceful I actually found the sweeping therapeutic!
Once the porch floor was clean it was time to bring everything back to the porch. It’s amazing what a broom and some oomph can do to your outdoor entertaining spaces. Decorating the porch is on the “to-do” list for this summer but even without all the pretty frou-frous this space is fresh and clean and ready for a summer soiree!
Megan Aubrey
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Jeanette S Jeanette S on May 01, 2014
    I heard some good news last night on the weather channel...the pollen mess is about over! Of course we will have pollen as more and more blooms out, but it will not be that kind that covers everything in yellow dust! I hope to get some yard work done today so it will be the week end before I re-mop the porch and put things in place. My age limits my energy level! HA! Once it is depleted, I am through for the day!
    • Megan Aubrey Megan Aubrey on May 01, 2014
      @Jeanette S I'm sure you are very spunky Jeanette! But that is good news! I'm so glad to hear that! I'll be off to do another cleaning for our cookout this weekend!
  • Jeanette S Jeanette S on May 02, 2014
    I am proud of myself. Gave the yard about an hour and a half of cutting, digging and pulling. Then ate a couple slices of pizza and took a nap! HA! But I did get my porch set up! I hope to get out again today.
    • Megan Aubrey Megan Aubrey on May 05, 2014
      @Jeanette S Haha! Awesome! That sounds like a good - and very productive day to me. I think you deserve a You Go Girl! :)
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