5 Ways To Freshen Up Your Front Porch On A Budget

The winter may have left but it was not victimless…

Our exterior has suffered & it’s time to bring our front porch back to appealing!

It is after all the first thing people see when they pull up to our house & we also spend a lot of time out here.

So I think it deserves a bit of TLC but the budget kind of course 😉

Here are 5 ways to freshen up your front porch without breaking the bank

1. Paint The Front Door

This front door was looking awfully sad…

Luckily paint can cure all things!

1.1 Start by cleaning & lightly sanding the door.

Next I apply Peel & Mask to glass so that I can skip the taping mess!

1.2 Prime the door with exterior primer

1.3. After the primer is dry you can start with your new color!

I am going with New Black by Valspar because I love it & also because it’s the color of the interior doors.

Let me warn you though, for some reason this paint looks blue when wet, but I promise it dries a beautiful deep black!

Below is what it looks like after two coats & it’s still wet.

1.4. Once the paint is dry, take a sharp razor & score the edges of the glass.

Then you can easily peel off the Mask & Peel!

You can find all my favorite front door colors here!

2. Paint or Swap Hardware

I would have started with this step before painting the door but I wasn’t 100% what I wanted to do with the hardware…

If you plan on replacing yours, I have a whole post on how to do it the easy way here!

To keep this little makeover on budget I decided to paint the existing hardware since it is really pretty, just a little tarnished.

After you remove the hardware from the door, sand it lightly with 220 grit sandpaper.

This will help the paint adhere better.

After the hardware is sanded I painted them with 3 coats of flat black paint.

Once the final coat was dry I applied a clear coat & reattached everything to the door.

3. Swap Out You Doormat

This is a super simple way to completely change the look of your front porch!

Nothing like a fresh new rug & doormat combo.

For this season I went with this black doormat & this linen rug for underneath.

My little trick for getting that doormat & rug to look new all season is to spray them both with Scotch Guard.

I also use them for outdoor curtains, you can find the complete tutorial for budget DIY ones here.

4. Ditch The Dead

Am I the only one who had empty planters for months after my mums hit the bucket 😅

These planter boxes were one of my first furniture builds ever & they are still holding up amazing.

They just needed some new life to be added to them!

Ferns are always my go to because they are harder to kill than other plants…

Plus they look so good!

5. Lighting Swap

These old lights are original to house & really needed to go.

The right one did this weird flicker thing that we just couldn’t figure out & they just aren’t really my style.

I found these exact outdoor lanterns on FaceBook Marketplace for $30 for both!

They were brand new & I jumped on them, although the regular price for them really isn’t bad at all.

To kick it up a notch I added these outdoor lights that look like a real flame!

We don’t have a propane line ran to these lights so we will just have to fake it 😉

They look incredibly real, especially at night.

Those are my go to ways to spruce up your front porch on a budget.

Reviving your space for the new season doesn’t have to cost lots of money & it makes me feel all warm & fuzzy to pull up to a freshened up space!

We are planning a bigger front porch makeover for the year so stay tuned for all the good stuff to come!