How to Extend a Front Porch

Install an outdoor canopy or awning where your porch ends. It extends the shaded area for a larger nook. Heavy-duty, washable fabric works well for summertime shade if you don't need weatherproofing, and an awning or weatherproof canvas tarp offers something more permanent and durable.

Add a small deck to one side of the porch. You may have to take down some perimeter railing, and the remodel may be even more involved depending on your porch design, but this widens the area and gives you more space for a sitting or eating area, for instance.

Arrange container plants, vines and in-ground vegetation to extend your porch if it sits at ground level and is open on either side and you have flat, unused space there. Install a trellis or arbor perpendicular to the house to create a partially closed-off area. Define the space further by placing container plants along the front to create a cozy, enclosed space extending from the side of the porch.

Visually extend your porch using lighting. Running string lights over trellises, arbors or canopies as well as the porch further defines the space and unifies the extended space with the original porch. Paper lanterns also create the same effect. Place them in clusters or in a straight line, depending on your porch layout.