Elsie’s holiday house is located in one of our very favorite neighborhoods in Springfield. It’s the kind of place where people sit outside on their front porches (weather permitting) and say hi when you walk by. There are lots of kids playing and riding bikes around. I promise, it’s insanely charming, like a movie. For this reason, we felt it was important to give the front porch of this house some extra love, and I’m SO excited to show you the final reveal today!
Once again, we got to work with The Home Depot for this post (did you see the kitchen yet???). I was blown away with how many tile options they really have. Of course they have lots of cute tile in store—that’s exactly how we picked out the tile for my home’s kitchen backsplash. We just went to The Home Depot and picked one off the shelf. But for this porch we shopped their online offerings and there was SO much to choose from, even with our project needs. We knew we needed tile that could hold up to the outdoors in the Midwest, including frost. We fell in love with this polka dot tile as it felt like the right amount of cute but still understated and a good fit for the neighborhood/age of the house.
We updated a few other things in this space as well, but the tile really steals the show. 🙂 Here’s a closer look at where we started from when we first purchased the house.
We loved this front porch immediately! It’s such a great size and totally charming, although we felt it could certainly use a little more personality. It was Elsie’s idea to explore tiling the steps and porch. I can only think of a handful of houses in Springfield that have tiled porches–it’s not a super common thing here. But we both loved the idea and felt it would also hold up much longer than a painted porch (or other option for more color/personality). We also wanted to update the details of this space including the swing, mailbox, and street number.
Initially, I was concerned about adding tile because there were some pretty substantial cracks in the cement of the porch. This house is nearly 100 years old, so a fair amount of settling is totally normal. These cracks didn’t indicate a structural issue, but they also wouldn’t be easy to tile over. So this was something I explored with a professional.
Once the cracks were removed and filled in, tiling began. We’ve had SO much rain this spring that the timeline for this project ended up quite a bit longer than we initially planned. But I’m so happy with the final results!
We painted the front door and shutters a grey to match the polka dots in the tile. We also updated the mailbox and street numbers to something similar but a little more modern. I was feeling ambitious and got REAL plants from The Home Depot for the front porch. At the moment, it feels like I’m over there so often I feel like I’ll water them … but if you see fake plants on this porch in a few months then you’ll know I failed as a plant mom. But for now I’m just having faith. 🙂
Thanks to The Home Depot for sponsoring this post, and thank you for letting me share! Can’t wait for the Larsons to visit and for Nova to meet some of the neighborhood kids. This might be a little bit crazy but sometimes I imagine her playing with them when I’m over working on the house and see kids out in their yards. I think the Larsons are gonna love this house when they visit. 🙂 xo. Emma
Porch Details: Tile / Mailbox / Street Numbers / Wreath / Door Mat / Pillows / Water Can / Smart Lock / Smart Door Bell Camera
16 Comments
Amazing transformation!! I love the tiles.
So charming! That tile is so so cute!
That tile is A+++++++++. What a transformation. The neighbours must love you guys for it! What a beautiful spot to sit with some sweet tea.
Tiny constructive criticisms – I love the look you are going for with the potted plants around but the scale of some of the pots is just too tiny and they look a little weird – particularly the two by the door. I think terracotta pots would look SO quaint with that tile and the paint colors. I also don’t love the door mat with everything else. I think something without a phrase (or maybe just no dark lettering) would look a lot nicer.
I love the green planters. It’s nice to see a bold pop of color that plays well with the yellow home.
Gorgeous front porch! I love the pale yellow colour, and the welcome mat is the cutest! ❤️✨
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Are the tiles going to get slippery when it is wet out?
Hi! It’s outdoor tile under a covered porch, so we’re not too concerned about it. 🙂
Gorgeous!! Great job as usual, ladies!
Thank you!!
That tile is adorable! I would have never thought to choose it for a porch but it works perfectly. The crooked Yale lock is making me crazy though.
Omg me too!!!!!! Everything else is super cute .
I noticed a screen/storm door in the progress photos. Did you remove that? We’ve been having quite the debate down here in Florida over storm doors. Decoratively I know they aren’t ideal but functionally they are so useful to cut heating and air costs. I need ABM’s thoughts!
Also wondered about slippery tiles! Can’t wait to swing by next time I’m in Springfield and see it in person! Is that stalker-like? ????
No, of course you can come stalk. haha
What an amazing transformation! I love the tile. You’re right. It does steal the show.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tiled porch and now I LOVE IT!
This looks AMAZING!!!!!! You did an awesome job!! 🙂 I love love loveeeeeee the tile!!!!
XO, Katie | http://www.meshkomoments.com