Your front porch is an extremely important part of your home since it is here that people inevitably make judgements based on first impressions. So if you have a neglected looking, weather worn porch covered with unnecessary junk, it may not give the impression that you wish to present to friends or visitors .
So what can you do to quickly give that front porch a much needed makeover? The first first place to start of course is to clear the area of unnecessary objects . If however there are items you think you can’t possibly live wihout , then consider purchasing an attractive wooden chest, where you can store things like footwear .
Now take a look at the existing surface of your deck . If it’s a wood deck and the boards are beginning to look the worse for wear , if it’s not too serious you may be able to clean or brighten them with a chemical cleaning and brightening product to bring back the wood colour to some degree . If the wood is showing signs of decay , especially on the outer edges, then such rejuvenating products are not likely to help much. But even in this case, you don’t necessarily need to go to the trouble and expense of lifting up the existing planks and replacing them with new ones .
A useful alternative that’s available these days are modular interlocking deck tiles. These tiles have connecting tabs on all four sides so you simply snap the tiles in place over the top of your existing porch surface. Each tile locks securely to the neighbouring tile. The tiles effectively form a floating floor as they are not attached to the surface with any fixings or adhesives. The weight of the tiles and the friction between the plastic base on the underside of the tile and the porch surface will stop the tiles from moving.
You will probably need to install edging pieces on the edge of the outer row of tiles to avoid seeing the plastic base. Most deck tile manufacturers supply matching edging pieces or transition strips for this purpose.
You may wish to consider softening the appearance of your porch with some potted plants. Try to choose just a small number of plants and pots of a reasonable size so that they create interest, rather than having a large number of much smaller pots. Remember that any plants on a covered porch will need more maintenance than those in fully exposed positions .
And if you also give your walls a good wash and keep your windows sparkling clean, you can be sure of creating an impression truly worthy of your home.
