This post series is sponsored by Lowe’s Home Improvement.
For about eight months of the year, Arizona has amazing weather for outdoor living! One of the things that I was most excited with about the Evergreen house is this great little porch area off the kitchen on the right side of the house.
The side porch didn’t look all that amazing when we first toured the house, but I knew it had potential! It was smaller, with lots of awkward step, a giant hole for burning trash (!) and tons of dead, overgrown trees.
We’ve been working with Lowe’s on the exterior renovation of the Evergreen house and I was SO excited to tackle this side porch with all the gorgeous Lowe’s landscaping and outdoor living products! They have so many beautiful outdoor products in stock that have me soo excited for spring! Also pro tip: Lowe’s price matches so you know you’re always able to get the best deals when you shop in store! Here’s the plan I have for the porch layout:
1 – Herb Garden Wall // 2 – Herringbone Brick Pavers // 3 – Raised Porch in Checkerboard Tile // 4 – Outdoor Dining Table //
5 – Grill // 6 – Built In Bench // 7 – Outdoor Seating Area // 8 – Step down to Grass Yard
We ended up extending the porch quite a bit and I think the extra hosting space will be well worth the costs! To extend the porch my contractor poured a few support footers and then created a new slab perimeter with cinder block. They filled the new area with inert waste before pouring and filling with concrete to extend the slab a few feet in each direction.
Here’s what the side porch looks like today, all ready for paint and tile!
This porch faces north, which is a soft and indirect light, so it’s really perfect for evening hosting! Here are some of my picks for making this porch the ultimate in outdoor living. The goal is for this space to be super flexible and functional! Things I’m most excited about? The herb garden wall, the checkerboard floors and the trellis planters! This space is going to be so cute!
4 – White Birdhouse
10 – Green Outdoor Pillow
14 – Air Plant
17 – White Stone Pot
20 – Live Plant in Basket
The tile is getting laid this week and the house is getting painted tomorrow! Things are moving quickly and I can’t wait to start bringing in furniture!
Everything looks so much nicer. I have a question about the floor plan. Is there anyway not to have entrance doors to the bedrooms come off of the kitchen? It seems that the rooms would be noisy along with extra traffic from the kitchen
The door to this room was in the living room before! We felt like the kitchen gave a little more privacy! :)
Hi Jenny!
Absolutely LOVE this design and think you’re just an adorable human…I’ve been a long time fan and it’s so fun to see how your business is growing! I have sort of a random question…what program do you use to create your sourcing gallery? I recently launched an experiential interior design studio in Sacramento, CA and need to up my game with blogging about my projects, particularly with sharing the sources for my viewers, as you’ve done here. Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated!! Thank you!
Hi Sadye! We use Photoshop and Illustrator to make our design boards! I hope that helps! xo
Also thank you so much for being here and for your kind words! xo
Love everything about the layout except the herb wall. Unless you are integrating irrigation into the wall all you are gonna have is dried herbs! Making it a succulent wall would be a much better plan.
Also wanted to make sure I say how much I love, respect and reference your work for my own home. We are working on a backyard remodel and I’m better sure I’ll be referencing this as much as I do your bookshelf stylings!
With all the internet haters out there I just wanted to say something positive after I gave, what I hope to be constructive criticism.
Carrie
What design software do you use for your projects?
Hi Kacie! We used CAD, Sketch Up and Adobe software (Photoshop and Illustrator) for our design projects. I used Sketch Up to make this floor plan. It’s free and easy to learn!
Hi Jenny. This is going to be FABULOUS. I can’t wait to see the reveal. We just bought a new model home two days ago, and I think I’m going to use the same tile on the back patio. Did you use colors cement and concrete? Thx.
Yes! Concrete and Cement! You’ll love them!
I love coming back to this beautiful patio. I cannot find this tile anywhere. Any suggestions for something similar? Also is the color close to what is shown on screen despite the “concrete” and “cement” colors looking more on the grey side on Lowe’s website. Thank you in advance for any insights! Stay safe and be well!