Adorable Small Front Porch Makeover on a Budget

Looking for some small front porch makeover ideas that are budget friendly? Come along with me as I beautify the little porch on our tiny lake house & share some decorating ideas that are easy to achieve!

Now that Spring is here, I thought it was time to spruce up the little porch on our Tiny Lake House. In case you’re new here, my husband Sean and I purchased a tiny lake cabin last year and renovated the whole thing from the studs up. If you want to see all of the room makeovers in this small home, click right here. We’re starting to rent it out to some guests, and we’re excited to use the cabin ourselves this summer!

Here’s how our Tiny Lake House front porch looked last Fall:

This was shortly after we painted the house and completely redid the front porch decking and railing. It looked fine, but it needed a bit of life and colour for Spring!

I love small porches, and I was excited to decorate this one for the season. Here’s how I gave it a little update on a budget.

Painting the front door

Applying a cheerful coat of paint on the front door can make a huge difference in how your entrance looks and feels. It can also truly increase your home’s curb appeal! For this one, I’ve used a fresh mint colour called Copper Patina by Behr. It’s a nice contrast to the dark green siding colour (Behr Alpine Trail), and I also like how it looks with the wide white trim on the cabin. A colourful door like this can be a beautiful focal point for a front porch, and I find this mint green especially fresh and welcoming!

I’ve learned that it’s very important to prime a new door with some bonding primer before painting. Otherwise, you might experience scraping and peeling of the paint which is extremely frustrating! I primed the door, and then I painted it with exterior latex paint in a satin sheen.

Normally I love a good wreath at the front door to welcome the season. However, this particular door style looks gorgeous without one. If you want some DIY wreath inspiration for your own door, though, click right here for a simple lavender wreath idea!

Refreshing an old bistro set

To stay on a budget, I reused an old bistro set I had at home. I bought this one from Real Canadian Superstore about 10 years ago and it’s a nice, compact size. While I love the size and texture of this set, the turquoise colour wasn’t quite right for this porch. Using some mint coloured spray paint, I was able to give this set a whole new life with a quick new paint job! I love how this colour turned out and the set now looks like it was made for this porch.

Outdoor furniture can be very expensive, so it’s a good idea to reuse something you have or find used pieces on Facebook Marketplace or at a garage sale. It’s amazing what a fresh coat of spray paint can do to old furniture! Small bistro sets are a good scale for a small front porch, but so are combos like a side table and a rocking chair. This could create a cozy nook for reading or watching the sunset on the front porch.

From the dollar store, I purchased some simple accessories for the bistro table: a citrus themed tray and some plastic cups. Now, our guests can enjoy this intimate seating area for a cozy morning breakfast outside, or a relaxing evening drink gazing at the stars.

Making a wooden lantern from dollar store canvases

I think lanterns are a great way to add some coziness to a porch, so I made a simple DIY wooden lantern with dollar store canvases. By taking the fabric and staples off of the canvases, I was able to use the wooden frames for the lantern. I glued 4 frames onto an 8 x 8 wooden canvas base I found at Dollarama. Using Gorilla Hot glue will help this lantern last a long time! Then, I spray painted this lantern the same mint green colour as my bistro set. I love how some potted faux flowers look in this lantern, or I could place a battery operated pillar candle inside for a cozy nighttime look.

For a more farmhouse inspired look, you could stain this lantern instead of spray paint it. Or, you could paint it with chalk style paint and distress the edges for a vintage look. The finishing options are endless, and you could match it perfectly to your decor.

Watch my video below to see this small front porch makeover with a tutorial on how to make this wooden lantern:

Creating a faux fern hanging basket

Because it’s still too cold to have real plants outside, I wanted to add some life with some faux greenery. Dollar Tree has some affordable hanging planters, and their faux fern stems look quite realistic this year. I find that using a lot of dollar store stems at once can help make them look better, and so can bending the stems to make them look more realistic. I swapped out this terracotta planter’s original rope hanger with a black metal one from Dollar Tree. Then, I placed some floral foam inside of the planter, and pushed about 10 faux fern stems into the floral foam. I bent the stems to give them more movement, and then I hung this planter from an eye hook on this little porch.

If you’re on a budget, there are a lot of good looking plant pots at places like Dollar Tree and Dollarama. You can leave them as-is, or give them a quick coat of spray paint or chalk style paint to match your aesthetic. Adding greenery – real or faux – to your entryway is always a good idea!

Making throw pillows from dollar store placemats

Adding various textiles makes an outdoor space look more inviting, so when I saw some brightly patterned placemats at Dollar Tree I wanted to make some DIY cushions! I opened up one side of a placemat, and stuffed the inside with some upcycled polyester fiberfill. Then, I used my sewing machine to stitch the placemat shut once again. You could also use fabric glue for this if you want to skip the sewing. I repeated these steps to make a second cushion, and I placed these on my bistro chairs. The lemon pattern and the yellow colour adds such a cheerful accent and the perfect pop of color to this front entry area!

Adding charm with a welcome mat and a throw blanket

An outdoor rug is another great way to add some colour and personality to an outdoor space like this porch. I found a small doormat at Walmart with some bright colours, and I love how it looks in front of the door. A simple buffalo check throw blanket draped over one of the chairs adds more coziness for the chilly evenings and completes this adorable small front porch makeover.

Accents like outdoor rugs, blankets and outdoor cushions can be a good source of inspiration if you want to nail down a colour scheme for your front porch. Pull colours and shades from these pieces, and use them to paint your door, planters, or old patio furniture!

I hope you enjoyed this Spring makeover, and I hope that it gave you a few budget friendly small front porch ideas for your own space! Let me know what you think of our Tiny Lake House porch in the comments. We still need to landscape the front yard and the back yard of this home as soon as the ground thaws. I can’t wait to share that progress with you soon. Happy decorating!