How to Decorate a Porch or Deck for a Lake House

Favorite Lake Activities

• Boat oars, flotation rings and vintage fishing poles make perfect decorations for the porch or deck of your lake house. Mount old, chipped oars over the door, stencil them with a welcoming message or add wooden pegs to convert them into hanging storage for rain slickers and umbrellas. Display a collection of old fishing poles past their prime by dropping them into a large piece of pottery or a wooden barrel and propping it by the door. Mount a weathered fence post to a wooden base and stack it high with antique flotation rings. Add a glass table topper to create a nautical space for friends to gather as they enjoy drinks or board games.

Feature the Local Wildlife

• Pay homage to the many forms of wildlife that reside near your waterfront home to seamlessly blend your porch or deck with its surroundings. Decor that features mallard ducks, wild geese, turtles, cranes and freshwater fishes complement the theme for the porch or deck of your lakefront home. Repurpose vintage duck decoys into candleholders or bring garden art displaying cranes and geese to the potted plants that populate your porch. Hang art that honors the local bird and insect life, such as dragonfly wind chimes from a porch post or a faux bird's nest nestled above the door.

Repurposed Water Gear

• Repurpose worn-out fishing gear, such as vintage tackle boxes, into decorative planters and setting them around your deck on benches and steps or attached to railings. Have a local craftsperson to saw a defunct canoe in half. Place one section in an out-of-the-way spot on your deck and plant it full of shade-loving annuals and trailing vines. Use the second section in your landscape for the same purpose. If you have sewing skills, fashion outdoor throw pillows and cushion covers from used boat sails.

Paint Lake-themed Decor

• If your budget allows, hire an artist to paint rugs right onto the surface of your front porch. You might commission a trout-shaped welcome mat and a circular painted rug that resembles the wheel of a boat. Or, work a lake-themed quote into your porch decor -- stenciled onto a pillow or onto the risers of your porch steps such as one written by Wallace Stephens: "Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake."