The last couple of winters have wreaked havoc on the porch – if I could do it all over again, I would have waited to do the porch until we could afford a more outdoor wood, but maybe we can do that whenever we have to replace – I think the steps might come sooner than we wished!
With the magazine photo shoot, I wanted to make things look a little fresher – so I went over the porch with another coat of stain, and we added some flowers in pots, and it made SUCH a difference! 
The steps definitely (and understandably) get the worst of it in the winter.
Much better!
Also while staining, I discovered this next in one of the porch lights! And it made me wish I could forevermore live in a chandelier.
Then I started doing the porch. I’ve learned with I can get migraines with stressed back, so I’ve learned with projects like painting ceilings and doing anything with floors, if I can, to just set a time for 20 minutes, do work for that much time, and then go do something else. It definitely makes things go slow, but my body thanks me for it.
Some of the floor looks brand new now!
Flowers!
My supervisor.
The landscape almost looks like I tried!
It all looks so much better!
And – by the end of the project, we met the nest’s occupant. I’ve named her Myrtle. (She’s a Mourning Dove, so “Mourning Myrtle” as a play on “Moaning Myrtle” from Harry Potter!)
Just a simple thing like refreshing the stain and adding some flowers, and it looks so much more inviting!
It looks so pretty! The house looks so loved. We have the same problem with our wooden porch stairs, and we purchased mahogany. We have to re-coat them each spring (we use Cabot Timber Oil). I saw elsewhere where someone used wood risers and bluestone slate slabs for treads. We’re thinking about that for when our mahogany just can’t take it any more.
I used cypress for the porch floor. It is put in with a clip system. The clips allow for contraction and expansion year round. Cypress is naturally pest resistant, and will last about 100 years ! I had Specialty Concrete do the steps at each end of the wrap around porch. It looks great.