How to Make the Front Porch Pretty for Summertime

Get Out the Paintbrush

• If your porch has seen better days, get out the paint and a brush and brighten it up with a fresh coat of paint. Be adventuresome, if you dare, and use bright colors that express your sense of style. If color is not an option for the walls of your porch, touch up the original color and save the bright colors for accents.

  Painting the outdoor furniture in reds, blues or purple may be the next best thing to painting the walls. Choose a color that coordinates with the color of your home and go to town brightening up a dull porch.

Abloom With Color

• Porch railings provide a solution for adding bright color -- or pastels, if you prefer -- to the area without making permanent alterations. Add window boxes to the railings and fill them with flowers. Think brilliant flowers like red geraniums (Pelargonium x hortorum) with flowing sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) or go patriotic and add some blue lobelia (Lobelia erinus) to the mix. When planted in full sun, these flowers will bloom from spring until fall adding a dazzling display of color to your front porch. Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana) and begonias (Begonia x semperflorens-cultorum) fit the bill if your porch receives shade for most of the day. All grow as perennials in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 11, except for sweet alyssum, which grows in USDA zones 5 through 9. You can treat all of them as annuals.

The Music of Summer

• Wind chimes add a magical touch to the front porch. Look for wind chimes with large chimes and wooden strikers for deep melodic sounds, or dainty chimes for spritely charm. Wind chimes can be found for a few dollars at discount stores or sell for hundreds of dollars, depending on their design and quality of sound. Wind chimes also add color and movement to the area.

Invite Summer Guests

• Nothing adds color and movement to the front porch quite like the tiny hummingbird. Hang several feeders in the design of your choice and invite these energetic birds to join in on the summer fun. Eager hummingbirds will dart from feeder to feeder, creating a bright flash of color to brighten the day.