Porchin'

The summer is almost half over and I haven't even been able to enjoy my front porch at all! Currently I have one chair sitting out there but mostly I just sit on the top step whenever I go out there. Since I feel this year is already wasted, and there's no WAY I'm going to have time to do anything to my porch until the wedding and honeymoon are over (which will also almost be the end of porch season), I will go ahead and start planning the most awesomest porch for next year's enjoyment.

Of course, any good porch must have a porch swing. For this porch project at the Miami County Parks Main office (also known as the Knoop House at Lost Preserve) I designed these swings, my dad built them, and Brian's mom sewed the custom cushions. A real family project, how cute :) The swings had to be custom designed because the porch was so small. I also wanted swings with really wide arms to put a drink on and that is a hard characteristic to find in ready-made ones. They have deeper than usual seats, and I added some "farmhouse charm" to their design like the "x" under the arms that mimic farm fences. The facing swings make it cozy for conversations and turn a previously unusable space to the park employees' favorite spot to eat lunch!


I would like to design another porch swing for my porch that would incorporate some arts and crafts elements. That too, will have to wait. But in the meantime, here's some great inspiration that makes it that much harder to wait until next year!



If you are fortunate enough to currently have a porch swing, you had better be using it!