Hello friends, welcome to my porch!  Oh how I wish you could stop by for a chat today! Let’s forget all about “social distancing” and imagine you are joining me on my porch here in Kentucky for just a while. The spring weather is perfect for porch sitting and the views are spectacular. Colorful trees are budding out all up and down our quiet street. The daffodils are in bloom, tulips are poking through the ground and the birds are chirping away merrily. When relaxing on our porch it is easy to forget the difficulties of the world. *This post contains affilite links.

 

 

Today I am honored to be sharing my early spring porch refresh as part of the Spring Ideas Blog Hop featuring 16 talented bloggers, hosted by my friend Paula of Virginia Sweet Pea. You can find links to all 16 creative posts at the end of this post. If you are coming over from Suzy’s beautiful blog at Worthing Court, or if you just happened to stop by today, I am so glad you are here! 

 

Simple Early Spring Porch Decor

During late March and the first part of April I always do a very simple spring porch decorating refresh that can withstand the “pollen-apocalypse” that always hits around mid-April and lasts through late May. My husband and I do plan on redoing our porch floor with beautiful new tile in late spring, but there is just no point in doing a lot of work or decorating until the pollen mess is over. A few spring plants, and a nod or two to Easter makes things look refreshed without the worry of anything getting dirty or damaged. 

 

 

For early spring I have kept the door decor simple with a thrifted basket full of “real touch” white tulips and adorned with a burlap bow. I also made a couple of easy porch decor changes that I am loving. For several years I had a shabby pressed back wooden chair where this beautiful urn now sits. The chair looked pretty up close, but from the road it really didn’t stand out. It honestly looked like junk (and not in a good way)!

 

 

I still love the chair, so I just moved it to the opposite side of the porch where it can still be used either for it’s intended purpose or to hold pretty plants and pots.

 

 

This lovely urn filled with an evergreen tree and variegated ivy has a much more elegant and timeless look, and it shows up much better from a distance. 

 

 

This evergreen tree (I forgot exactly what kind it is…any ideas?) had outgrown it’s previous container in our landscape so it needed a new pot. The arborvitae that was in this urn also outgrew it so we recently planted it in the ground. This smaller tree was just the right size for this particular urn, which worked out great. I do believe it is a slower growing variety so I might be able to keep it in the urn for a couple of years at least. I picked up a few pots of ivy to fill in the negative space around the tree. The ivy will be so pretty when it really starts growing and spilling down around the sides.

 

I think the bright green color of the evergreen tree looks great against the yellow bricks, and it also ties right in with our existing green chair pads. I love when decor just comes together effortlessly! In late spring or early summer I will add colorful throw pillows on the chairs to make things even more stylish, comfy and inviting after the pollen mess is over. For now, less decor means less work and stress.

 

 

I also swapped out a “Welcome” chalkboard that was hanging above the plant stand with this salvaged stained glass window. I have had the window for almost two years, but I could never find the perfect spot for it inside our home. I don’t know why I never thought to use it on the porch!

 

 

Right now the window is hanging a little low since I just used the existing nail from the chalkboard, but this weekend I will have my husband drill a new hole in the brick to hang it higher. Otherwise I think it looks perfect here!

 

For my early spring porch refresh I mostly concentrated on styling up the shelves of the plant stand (etagere) with spring flowers. Other than having to wipe down the pots and the plant stand itself, nothing here will be damaged by the pollen. Mr. Bunny always enjoys smelling my spring flowers! He will be just fine in this spot through Easter.

 

 

 

Early Spring Decorating with Vintage Crocks

Last week he was part of a styled basket tray early spring vignette on the porch ottoman that I created using vintage crocks and spring garden treasures.

 

 

I loved the look of the porch here, but I didn’t want to chance ruining those beautiful daffodil botanical pillows or getting pollen down in my woven French basket tray that I usually keep on our dining room table. I ended up taking those items back inside and moved Mr. Bunny and some of the plants over to the plant stand.

 

 

I shared how I am now using the daffodil pillows on my antique church pew in my Early Spring Home Tour. I love garden style and bringing the outdoors in!

 

 

 

 

I love how the plant stand is looking for early spring!

 

 

Aren’t pansies just the sweetest? They are so perfect for early spring when there is still a danger of frost (or dare I say it…snow) for several more weeks. 

 

 

Last week I planted up my favorite French wooden planter with daffodils, tulips and pansies…

 

 

Look how much the plants have grown in a week! I had hoped the tulips would bloom in time for this post, but they will probably open sometime next week. I just love the French box of mixed spring blooms and the simple basket full of colorful pansies on the bottom shelf!

 

 

My simple early spring porch decor just makes me so happy, and relaxing out here makes me even happier! If you look closely in the window you will see the reflection of a beautiful redbud that has just started blooming across the street. Our porch offers wonderful views of spring unfolding, and right now it is truly a place of serenity and peace.

 

 

Did you notice my favorite gardening boots? Green is my favorite color and I love vintage William Morris style designs, so I just had to have these Smith and Hawkin boots from Target. I could have styled them up by filling the insides with spring blooms like you see on all the other pretty porch tours, but I was actually wearing them while I was taking most of these photos! I just kicked them off to take a few pictures of them by the door. You can see they are a bit dirty from working in the garden. Just keepin’ it real over here!

 

 

 

I gathered a few rustic and galavanized garden style treasures to replace the styled basket tray on our porch ottoman. I played around with my treasures by tucking a few bird’s eggs in the faux wheat grass and tied up a bundle of freshly picked daffodils from our yard with twine.

 

 

I often use vintage flower frogs creatively in vintage vignettes, but here this flower frog is serving it’s intended pupose. The smell of the daffodils and freshly bloomed hyancinths is heavenly! I lucked into the hyancinths in the rusty galvanized bucket at Lowes last week, just a few days before all Kentuckians were urged to stay home. 

 

 

As it turns out, staying home whiling away an afternoon surrounded by beautiful spring flowers and enjoying a good gardening book is not so bad! These days I am more thankful than ever for the simple things in life. I hope and pray that the current trial we are all facing will pass with the pollen by the end of spring! I also pray that each of you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy!

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I have refreshed our porch for early spring! If you are still looking for spring inspriation don’t forget to check out all of the fabulous links below if you haven’t already.

 

Thanks for visiting today!

Amber

 

 

Monday~ Mantels

Hearth and Vine | Postcards from the Ridge | Marty’s Musings

 

Tuesday ~ Tablescapes

Lora Bloomquist | Our Southern Home | The Painted Hinge

 

 

Wednesday ~ DIY

Sweet Pea | 2 Bees in a Pod | The How to Home | Our Crafty Mom

What Meegan Makes

 

Thursday ~ Recipes

My Wee Abode|Thistle Key Lane|Harbour Breeze Home|First Day of Home

 

Friday ~ Porches and Decks

Redhead Can Decorate | Worthing Court | Follow the Yellow Brick Home