Porch Pizzaz

Well, the Porch and Patio Contest is over for another year! We had so many fun entries and we are looking forward to what we will see next year! Karrie and I are both working on our porches this year. Karrie got a new floor on her back porch and is awaiting new posts. I am s-l-o-w-l-y repairing wicker furniture and painting it (not as fast as I'd like) one piece at a time. Perhaps next year we can show you what a Summer Kitchen Girl's porch looks like! Until then, we have picked out some of our favorite inspiration porches and patios for you.

You'll have to forgive us - we have collected pictures from magazines and, unfortunately, the scanner makes them too fuzzy for you, and so we resorted to taking pictures of the pictures!! We apologize for the not-so-cool pictures, but we hope that you see the inspiration that we see!! Look at the interesting shutters on this porch - and the color, we just love the color of this porch - it envelopes you to come, sit and relax! How great would it be to have a hammock on your porch - that, alone, says "take some time to sit down and veg!"

Country Living, August 2008
Here we have the cover of Country Living this month. We just loved this table, the chairs and the great pots of topiaries that are placed everywhere. Wouldn't it be great to have an outdoor space that doubled as extra dining for entertaining?





Country Living September 2007
We both are suckers for hydrangeas - they are our favorite flower, both in the ground and in Karrie's arrangements! Tell us that you wouldn't like climbing up your back steps to see this every day? Gorgeous!!












Country Living August 2007
This porch is one of our favorite. All of the different textures, color and shapes make this an easy porch to look at (not to mention that wicker!). The pillows made from vintage fabrics, the books and the bit of yellow from those lemons - well, we could sit ourselves down and stay there for quite some time!!










O At Home Summer 2008
Couldn't you just plop yourself down on that daybed and read a good book? We find these beds on porches so charming - you wouldn't have a care in the world!













Country Decorating Ideas Summer 2008
What we love about this picture, is that it really inspires you to think outside of the box. We love how they took that old horse trough and topped it with an old wooden door for an inexpensive, creative and one-of-a-kind alfresco dining experience! Taking miss-matched chairs and a bench and putting it up next to it - well, who wouldn't want to be invited out to dinner her on this patio?

Need more inspiration? Check out more ideas on Domino Magazine here