Front Porch – More Seating and a Light Update

It is front porch season in New Jersey. Finally!

New Jersey likes to trick you a little on this topic. You’ll think it is front porch season and then one morning you’ll wake up to find everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, covered in a coating of yellow dust.

Pesky pollen.

I made the mistake of sleeping with the window open during this time and woke up to my nightstand, and I’m sure, all my bedding, covered in pollen.

Is this why they call it spring cleaning?

Because I had to do a BUNCH of it that day. Regrets. I have a few.

Anyway, I cleared the front porch of pollen and, in the process, made room for more seating.

Our front porch is 30 feet long. Even if you take away the area directly in front of the front door, it’s quite a long space.

I did have two double rocking chairs on the porch. I chose those partly to help fill the space and partly because Handy Husband and I like sitting next to each other.

However, they weren’t quite large enough to fill out the front porch.

This spring, I added two regular-sized rocking chairs to the right side of the porch alongside one of the double rockers. I moved the other double rocker to the left side of the porch. It’s just perfect now!

The rocking chairs feel intentionally placed for this space while still leaving room for my ginormous geraniums.

An extra perk of adding more seating is that my kids and their friends are using the front porch now.

Apparently, Handy Husband and I are the only ones who like to sit next to each other. Teenage boys want their own chairs, I guess. Ha!

We also replaced the front porch light. This might make some of you sad.

Below is the light we replaced. I took this photo last fall. Please note the position of the light and how much space we have between the door and the ceiling. Zero space.

It wasn’t that we didn’t like this light that came with the house. It was more that we didn’t like the concussions that resulted from hitting our heads on the light.

It is slightly concerning that I cannot remember how many times I’ve hit my head on that dang light in the last six years.

I also don’t know how many times I’ve had to say, “Watch your head!” Only to have the person I’m concerned for immediately hit their head on the light.

It did not matter if we had seating under that light or not. If you were going to venture to the danger zone that side of the front porch, you risked getting knocked around by an aggressive light fixture.

Our porch ceiling isn’t high enough for a pendant light. We did consider trying to shorten the wire and move the light directly under the electrical box, but fussing with the old things in this house never goes well for us.

Plus, that light chose violence, which did not earn it any favors.

The new light is not a head knocker. Thank goodness. That was the number one criteria for a new light.

It has a touch of copper that coordinates with the rest of our exterior lighting, but I’m not going to go so far as to tell you that this is my dream light for this particular space and I will love it forever.

The options were slim for an affordable, ceiling-mounted exterior light that is on the smaller side and wouldn’t look completely out-of-place style-wise. Most porch lights are wall-mounted sconces.

It’s perfectly fine though and will work until we get up the gumption to move the electrical to the wall in order to have sconces. If I had to guess, I’d say we’ll circle back to this topic in five years or so. Ha!

In the meantime, we and all the creatures in the land are fully enjoying front porch season.

I have birds nesting in the hanging ferns.

I have a carpenter bee making a home in the finished wood top of my milk can table.

So, we’ve got the birds and the bees and instead of flowers and trees, I found a suspicious-looking hole going under the front porch today. I suspect a creature has been digging there. That porch is not solid concrete. If they can get under the porch, my house is their oyster.

This means Handy Husband and I are going to need extra rocking chair time with a cold drink in hand to plot our next moves. And here I thought front porch season was going to be relaxing.

Is it front porch season where you live too? Has a light fixture ever given you a concussion? How do you feel about rocking chairs? Please tell me everything. I need a distraction. You can always comment on this blog post, email me here, or reach out via Instagram or Facebook. I respond to all of your comments.

Happy Front Porch Season!

P.S. The old porch light has a happy ending in a new home with a familiar face. We gave it to a man that grew up in this house. We bought the home from his dad. He remembers it knocking him on the head too! We consider it a special gift that we’ve become friends and he’s shared so many stories and insights about the house with us. It’s a small world, folks.

P.P.S. I scored a new-t0-me thrift store table last week. You probably caught a glimpse of it in the above photos. I’ll be making it over as soon as I decide how I want it to look.

Front Porch Sources:

Wide Brim Sun Hat (It rolls up easily for packing)

Double Rockers

Single Rockers

Pillows – Thrifted

Porch Light With Seed Glass

Planters – Thrifted

Geraniums – Grocery Store and grit for keeping them alive.

Tan Nuloom Outdoor Rug

Thank you for being a part of my small world! I’m better for knowing you. If you’d like another blog post to read, try one of these. 

That Time I Painted My Porch Ceiling Blue (Best decision EVER!)

That Time We Put a New Window In Our Front Door

That Time I Made The Coolest 4th of July Wreath With Yarn

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