It's Porching Weather On The Farm

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It’s “porching” weather friends!  

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This is the farmhouse that my husband and I built about 3 years ago.  One of the things that we were looking for in a house plan was a house with a lot of porches.  We live on a hilltop with a view all the way around and we felt like (almost) wrap-around porches were really important.

Maybe you would like to come along on a porch tour!

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We have almost 1000 square feet of porches (what were we thinking???) and I have found it extremely hard to “furnish” the porches with furniture.   It’s a lot of furniture and due to being on a breezy hilltop only certain things work for our porches!

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The front porch is very long and somewhat narrow.  I have found the thing that works the best are rocking chars and heavy tables to put our coffee cup on in the morning (and ice tea at noon and night!)  I have kept my furnishings very minimalist and easy to care for.

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The side porch where our dining room opens to is the West side and gets the hot afternoon and evening sun.  So as a result, I have not furnished that side of the porch with anything except this old fashioned porch swing, which we love!  The porch is also rather narrow on this side, so what I’m holding out for is a trestle table with benches that can push under it. We’ve also discussed enclosing this side of the porch for a winter sun room.  That is not a project that will happen anytime soon though!

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The swing is where my husband sits in the evening to play his Banjo!

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Then on the East side of the house is my sleeping porch.  I love the old iron bed and enjoy a lot of naps right here! The coverlet changes as the seasons change.

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We chose not to do any railing on the front and side porches as we didn’t want anything to inhibit the view.  However, on this sleeping porch, we do someday intend to put railing to “enclose” it a bit, but yet keep it open to the outside too.  But when you own a farm, everything happens in it’s own good time!

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On the front and side porches, the view is perfect, the breeze is always present and it is porching at its finest!

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Then you come around to our back porch (above).  It is kind of confusing because we built our home facing the part of the hill with the best view, which means that when you drive up the hill you come to the back of the house!  So everyone uses our back door to come inside.  Which is just fine with me!  I’ve always been a “back door friends are the best friends” kind of farmgirl!  Smile!

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But the other funny thing is that the back porch is my favorite.  It is shorter, but wider so it seems like a much more usable space.  We also put rails on this porch so it definitely has an enclosed feel to it.

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There is plenty of room on one end for my extra long picnic table (it easily seats 12 people).  It also ends up being sort of like a mud room – it’s where we drop our muddy boots, gloves and coveralls when we come in from farm work in the winter time!

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It is the porch where the grand-girls play, the dog naps, shoes get piled, and where I often work on projects.

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Our farmhouse and the porches are a dream come true for my husband and I.  We built it ourselves.  Like all.by.ourselves.  It took us 18 months working 6 days a week and at least 8 hours a day to get it completely finished.  We love every single square inch of if.  Someday I’ll tell you the story!  (But if you are interested in reading the details, I documented every single step on my personal blog and you can read it by clicking here.)

 

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So now that I’ve taken you on the little tour of our porches, maybe it’s time to “get real” about them!  For fun, here are some things I’ve learned about porches in the country:

In real life they don’t look like the ones on the cover of Southern Living magazine.

You cannot be afraid of spiders and bugs. Seriously.

Porches on a hilltop that always have a lovely breeze in the Spring, Summer and Fall have strong winds in the Winter. You’ll be chasing furniture and cushions (and even the bed mattress) down the hill. Make your furniture heavy and your pillows washable.

When you have nice white walls and ceilings on your porches, you’re going to have to use hot water and bleach every spring to REALLY get them clean.  Wear gloves.

An old straw broom works best for sweeping the concrete… AND the ceilings!

Don’t have too much furniture and stuff on your porches or you’ll be cleaning around them forever.

 And sit in your chairs, nap on the porch bed, swing in the swing… and enjoy your porches.  Messes, dust, spiders and all!

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Thanks for coming along on the real life tour of my porches on our hilltop farm!

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Until our gravel roads cross again… so long.

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Dori