Elegant Top 5 Decorating Ideas to Enhance a Porch for Maximum Curb Appeal

A front porch can be a place where you spend a lot of time outdoors. There are many design ideas in terms of what you can do with your porch to make it the way you want it. Porches can be used as social gatherings for interaction with people, opportunities to blend with nature, or welcoming displays and opportunities to show off personality. Try these ideas in my top 5 design themes to decorate a porch for maximum curb appeal.

1. Comfort Living: Creating a porch for comfort living means making a porch that you would want to spend lots of time at. Having the right furniture and atmosphere of relaxation is crucial. Rocking chairs and swings are old ideas that you might consider. But you might also consider installing outdoor ceiling fans or new flooring that allows you to walk barefoot comfortably. Comfort living may require a certain amount of space. At times you may see an opportunity to expand or enlarge your front porch to accommodate you.

2. Back to Nature: This theme is one of my favorites. Try incorporating your landscaping with your deck. You can add deck rail planters to your railings and add tall flowers or hanging vines to flow right out of them. Hanging baskets between the columns are a great way to show off flowers in creative ways. Panels of trellis covered in ivy or other climbing foliage can be installed between columns also to create a privacy screen. Simple freestanding planters can be delicately placed in ideal spots to show off plants and flowers where needed or to create a magnificent entrance of curb appeal.

3. Welcome Wagon: This decorating theme is for the individual with lots of creative ideas and personality who want to show them off. Add lots of folk art, trinkets, and hanging decor to your porch. Welcome signs and inviting colors in unexpected places are a great way to create a relaxed and interested mood for the visitor. Lit walkways with landscape lighting can be added. Outdoor shelving and furniture help create an inviting mood by bring the indoors outside and creating opportunities to hold trinkets.

4. Architectural Display: You can rarely go wrong with architectural upgrades. They appeal to everyone and put value back in the house. Try installing new decorative railings that set your porch apart. A new remodel can be used to highlight or add new architectural accents, but even an old porch can get an enhancement. Brackets between columns help highlight the porch. Extending a porches range can also make it a focal point by adding a wrap around section or replacing the posts with new, more decorative columns.

5. Social Haven: How about a porch that is ideal for hanging out with friends and family. If the porch is big enough tables and seating may be in order. Opportunities for eating, reading, or simply playing cards allow for great interaction. Try installing outdoor speakers which can bring music to the forefront. Outdoor lighting for late night gatherings is crucial and can be strategically placed to invite people outside and make the space more functional.

New Ways to Enhance the Environment and Look of Your Outdoor Space

Your home is not perfectly designed, if you miss the opportunity to enhance the outdoor areas of your residential premises.If your house does not contain good outdoor area, then it will be able to replicate poor image. With the assistance of outdoor areas that are decorated in a better way, you will be able to attract most of the visitors.It is advisable for you to spend required amount of time and money that will help you to enhance your outdoor area.  

It is a known fact that most of the people will not be able to undergo the process of gardening because of busy routine. It is better to have a deck, instead of having a garden that requires you to spend time for its maintenance. However, you must plan to have some plants that will be an added advantage, when enhancing the look and environment of your outdoor space. There are many ways that will help you to purchase plants at reasonable price.During spring season, installing bulbs in your outdoor space can be a great idea. Various types of colorful bulbs are especially available for spring season. In case, you are willing to have flower plants, then plan to purchase shrubberies that will need less time for safeguarding.

It is essential to keep your outdoor area up to date. You should know that cleaning is the most important task that you should plan to undergo. You will come across dust particles, unwanted leaves on floors that can ruin environment of outdoor space.You must plan to sweep the entire outdoor space because it can enhance the environment and look. At the same time, it is better to clean windows on a regular basis. You should be aware about the fact that windows that are not properly clean will not noticed by visitors easily. Bad impression can be created, if the windows remain unclean.

In case, you are interested in getting rid of your house, then you can plan to create a fascinating outdoor area. This is a great idea to sell your property on instant basis.It is true that the look of your outdoor area will be able to represent your impression in front of your guest. Therefore, you should keep the above mentioned information in mind, because it helps in enhancing your outdoor space in a better way.

Lovely Pond Flowers Enhance Your Backyard Water Garden

Pond flowers are those beautiful flowers and plants that bring color to the surface of a water garden. Most varieties of pond flowers will not be able to survive in any other type of living conditions.

Water lilies, including the tropical and hardy types, are the most vibrant flowers that one sees in a water garden. Both tropical day blooming and the tropical night blooming lilies are capable of being hardy and robust but only in a climate that is frost-free. They will grow as annual flowers in the areas that receive frost; this means you must replace them each year. The stems of all tropical lilies are so stout that the flowers will stand above the surface of the water while their leaves float on the surface. The hardy water lily is able to thrive all year long as long the roots of the plant have enough soil or water covering them so they do not freeze. The leaves and the flowers of the hardy lily will float on the waters surface. These flowers open up on sunny days during the morning and close up in the middle of the afternoon sun. You can purchase water lilies in almost any color except for any shade of blue.

Some water plants that float on the surface but the roots of these plants are not in any soil will most likely reproduce at a high rate of speed forcing you to thin them out in order to keep them under control. You will need oxygenator plants and floating plants to keep a balance of both plant life and animal life.

Some water plants that grow in shallow water can give you a visual progression between the water plants and the rest of the plants and flowers in the remainder of your garden beds. Many of the ornamental grasses are excellent progression plants that need plenty of moisture but must be planted in soil that is very well drained.  

A pond that is just for the sounds of bubbling water or ornamental fish can be placed in the shade and it will do very well. If the garden pond is for growing colorful plants and beautiful water lilies or for both the plants and ornamental fish you will need to have an area that receives as much sun as possible. The fish and water flowers must have a perfect balance if both are to survive. You may not have a choice but to place your pond in an area that gets minimal sun, you just need to realize that your selection of plants will be limited but you can still enjoy all the color and beauty you want. Most water garden flowers need 4 to 6 hours of direct sunlight in order to thrive, but come of the water lily varieties and others that float may need only 3 to 4 hours of direct sun such as Pink Sensation, Comanche, and Texas Dawn Siox hardy water lilies.

Some water garden maintenance will be needed for a delightful pond. When winter season is over you need to remove plants that are just lingering around and mulch your water garden with well composted peat. The organic material contained in the mulch helps improve the condition of the soil each year. The mulch should be low in nutrients, if it is too high an algae bloom will happen once it seeps into the pond. This is also a good time to check the pond plants for dividing and also to remove any stray roots.  

Backyard ponds and water gardens with all those beautiful pond flowers will also attract wildlife for your enjoyment besides adding value to your home and landscaping. All these water plants and flowers will provide birds, butterflies, amphibians, reptiles, and beneficial insects with some protection, shade, food, and shelter.