4 Summer Porch Decor Ideas

Shades of blue, red and white are the foundation of my summer porch decor. It is so bright and cheery. The perfect colors to decorate with. The family can come and relax. Sip some lemonade. Eat burgers, sitting at my patriotic table. Just to relax.

Here are my ideas on how to incorporate a cozy and refreshing atomosphere for your outdoor space.

Pillows are Easy and Inexpensive

Pillows are the simplest way to add color and texture to any outdoor space. If you sew, pillow covers are a snap to make and easily update your summer chairs. I refreshed my outdoor pillows with by sewing new pillow covers. The sewing took about an hour for the solid red pillows. The embroidered pillow took a bit longer because of the embroidery but I am thrilled with the outcome. Sewing the pillows didn’t cost me anything but time. I had all the materials.

I also added more stuffing to the pillow forms. They were a little too saggy for me. I wanted my pillows to stand upright. I just opened up a small hole in one side of the pillow form. Then stuffed it with some polyfill till it was as firm as I wanted. Then using the sewing machine, I closed the hole. This made a big difference in how my pillows look.

Here are more ideas to decorate your back porch on a budget.

Here is the flag pillow I sewed a few years back. This the tutorial for the flag pillow if you want to make one of your own. I put it in my Adirondack chair with a basket of catalogs for browsing, next to it. Adirondack chairs are extremely comfortable. It makes a great addition to my screened in porch. I have had this chair many years. It has been stained and painted many times. Truly, a classic chair.

Choose Three Colors

To tie your space together, style doesn’t really matter. Go ahead mix style and patterns. Use all your old and new stuff. Color will tie it all together. I usually choose muted tones. I want my space to be relaxing and color plays a big part in conveying that.

For my summer porch, I chose red, white and blue. Everything I brought in had these colors. The only new items for this year, are the little lanterns (Target dollar spot) and the dessert plates (Williams and Sonoma). Everything else is from years ago.

I think I gravitate towards red for decor. I have lots of red in my kitchen. Decide what colors you tend to choose and use those. You are bound to have an abundance of those color decor items hiding in closets. Go ahead, let’s use them. You could even paint old items to give them new life.

Summer Porch Decor

I definitely believe in shopping your house first. Then decide what items to you need to bring your vision to life. Then go shopping for real.

My center piece consists of a ceramic pie plate sitting on a cake stand. It is just waiting for that home baked cherry pie.

Although the tablecloth is not navy, it is a shade of blue. I love using shades of blue. The red plates make an appearance for both Christmas  and summer decorating. The chargers from Pier One are used in nearly every table setting I use for spring and summer, The white is so pretty.

The burlap and ribbon napkin rings would be an easy DIY. Just toilet paper rolls covered in burlap. I didn’t make these. Another Target find a couple of summers ago. I love the texture of the napkins rings and the striped cloth napkins. Fabric softens the hard lines of plates.

Candles

I believe in candle light all year long. I put them in the little lanterns on the table. The lantern on my side table. The blue mason jars also hold tea lights. Instead of real flame tea lights, I use battery operated ones. That way the is no heat involved. Plus they flicker just as much as real candles. So pretty and lots of ambience.  No worries with these little tea lights.

Pillar candles would be good, too. These also come battery operated with flickering flames. I use them in my lanterns I have hanging on my walls. I have them set on a timer built into the candles. They come on at dusk and stay on for five hours. Just enough time to enjoy them for the evening.

I only use white for my pillar candles for my summer screened in porch. I can’t remember if they come in other colors.

Galvanized Metal

When you bring out the galvanized metal, that speaks summer time to me. A little bit vintage and care worn. I love the look and texture. You don’t have to spend a lot to get the look. The metal bucket above came from the hardware store in the paint section. Less than three bucks. The bottle holder next to it came from the tractor supply store. Keep your eyes open. You just never know where you’ll find your next bargain decor item.

Remember the little lanterns from Target? Galvanized metal look lantern for one dollar. I only picked up two because I wanted to mix it up. Galvanized metal goes with any color scheme. Gives a summer farm house feel to your decor. Good for your summer porch decor.

We so enjoy our screened in porch. We spend a lot of the summer out here. The summer porch decor just makes it that much more inviting. This is where I blog during the summer months.

Decorate your outdoor space and you will enjoy it all the more.