3 porch ideas for Ashley’s adorable midcentury house

Reader Ashley has an outdoor Retro Design Dilemma — our first exterior challenge — how exciting! Ashley’s house looks pretty darn cute already, but there is something perplexing about her front porch. Read on to find out more about Ashley’s dilemma and three possible solutions to her porch problem…

Ashley writes:

I’m trying to get more information on round metal porch posts. My house was built in 1949. The previous owners did something weird with the porch, but I can’t completely figure out what they did. The metal posts seem original to me. As you can see from the pictures, they spray painted the entire house a taupe/beige color, and didn’t bother to cover the posts, which look to be originally black. It seems odd to me that there are no railings or anything. I’ve seen the article on the pretty ornamental porch railings and posts, but I’ve never seen any pictures of just plain round black posts with no railings before. What do I do with them? Just repaint them black? Add railings? I can’t find any pictures on the internet of any old houses with plain black posts like this. I have NO idea what to do with the front of my house! PLEASE help me!

My first thought regarding these round metal poles on Ashley’s porch — they surely couldn’t be original. I doubt porches in 1949 were typically held up by the kind of round, metal poles that we most commonly see used to reinforce support beams in basements. If they are indeed original, I’ve never seen a midcentury house with porch posts like this before. I’m thinking that somewhere along the line, the original posts (and possibly even railings) rotted or gave out causing the need for some structural support — and the previous owners went with this very basic, effective — but aesthetically blah — solution. Regardless of their origins, I can see why Ashley wants our help.

Pam was quick to remind me of a post she wrote a while back about midcentury homes with a lack of curb appeal, which had a great illustration from a vintage Dutch Boy flyer depicting a cute little house with an even cuter little porch. I instantly knew this type of porch railing would look great on Ashley’s house. Using the power of Photoshop, Ashley’s porch was instantly transformed.

But what happened to the poles? In my opinion, you could do one of two things:

1. Build boxes around the poles — wrapping them in wood — to make them into square wooden porch posts
2. Replace the current metal poles with solid wooden porch posts (after consulting with a pro of course!)

Once the poles are replaced/wrapped, you could then attach any sort of railing you desired. In the solution above, I added a railing similar to the retro Dutch Boy ad from Pam’s midcentury curb appeal post. I’d make the posts and railings white, to blend with the soffit and trim and then add an accent color (I chose an aqua) to the front door, garage door and newly added shutters. The shutters have the same raised panel design as Ashley’s current front door and help to add interest as well as give a more finished look to the front of the house.

To spruce up the yard, tall shrubs were placed at the edges of the house — which nicely frame the porch and garden space.  Planting shorter shrubs in between helps to fill in the gaps. These shorter shrubs were chosen for their coloration — one being a blueish evergreen shrub — to echo the aqua trim color — and the others are bright pink knock out rose bushes to dial up the color making the overall view of Ashley’s house a little less neutral. A few more clumps of pink flowers out by the pole light help to hide its cement base and repeat the pink — just like an indoor room design, repeating colors helps to make the exterior of a house feel more cohesive and finished. I’m not sure exactly what part of the country Ashley lives in, so I’d advise checking with a local garden center to help suggest which species of plants and shrubs would work best in her yard.

For the second solution, I’d use the same method of either wrapping or replacing the metal porch posts mentioned above. Once that is done, installing some easy horizontal railings would give Ashley’s house more of a ranch vibe, which could also be repeated on the shutters. Instead of painting the poles and trim bright white, using a beige several shades lighter than the siding would create a less stark affect —  painting the other white trim beige to match would complete the look. Painting the garage door and front window trim would add some color and a new door (or door kit) from Crestview doors, painted in a terra cotta would really liven up the entry. Once again, I would plant tall shrubs to act as a frame around the edges of the house and fill in with shorter shrubs. A reddish hued shrub (like a crimson barberry) would blend nicely with the terra cotta front door.

For the third solution — after wrapping or replacing the porch poles — I would install a classic white vertical railing. The pizazz in this design comes from the retro diamond patterns on the shutters and the front door in addition to a Crestview door kit, or a new door and a fun shade of purple on the shutters, front door and garage door. Tall shrubs once again frame the space and add height, but this time a secondary focal point — a large landscape rock — is placed near the curve of Ashley’s sidewalk. Planting purple flowers (like petunias or pansies) around the rock help distribute the purple trim color out into the yard. An arrangement of yellow rose bushes, forsythia and marigolds complement the purple trim (purple and yellow are complementary colors) and finish the look of this solution.

Pam interjects here: Ashley, I presume you had a house inspection and were told your front porch is effectively supported. If not — consult with a properly licensed professional to ensure it is. Also, check with your local building inspector to ensure that any work you are planning is done to code, pull permits, as required, etc. Oh, and I wholeheartedly agree with Kate: What a sweetheart house!

Back to Kate: I hope I’ve given you a few ideas you can use Ashley! Please let us know what you end up doing to your porch!

Which solution do you prefer for Ashley’s porch?

Have you ever seen round, metal porch posts like this on a midcentury house?