My So-Connecticut Life: The Porch Refresh That Marks the Start of Summer at My House

I have spent more than a decade writing about homes and interiors, but My So-Connecticut Life is personal. I live in a 1937 Colonial in the small town of Easton, Connecticut, with my husband, three children, and our dog. Seven years in this house have taught me which farm stands and vintage markets are worth the detour, how to set a table without stress, and the small routines that make a home feel like home. Every other Saturday, I’ll share a glimpse into life in Connecticut – where I’m shopping, how I’m hosting, and the seasonal rituals that shape the year.

Each year, there is a specific Saturday in June when I walk outside, look at the porch on the side of my house, and decide I can’t live with it like that for another day. The outdoor furniture has that post-winter look. Dirty, but also defeated. There’s not a living plant or pop of color in sight. The porch, which is my favorite architectural feature of our house, looks like it missed the memo that summer is coming.

Our porch is our main outdoor space; we don't have a back deck or patio, so this is where we host our friends and family, and where we sit to watch our kids play in the yard, so it's a key player in every summer season. The good news is that giving it a reset for the warmer months has become one of my favorite annual rituals. When it’s done, I feel like I’ve accomplished something and like summer has officially arrived.

This year, I started my reset the first morning we didn’t have to be out the door early for a kid’s baseball or lacrosse game. I always begin with a good sweep and wipe down, because almost everything is covered in pollen, dirt, or a combination of both. Then I plant my hanging baskets, bring out the patio cushions and a few indoor plants, and finish it off with a few decorative accents.

While I don’t typically go for a theme on my porch, this year, America is celebrating its 250th birthday on the Fourth of July, which felt like a reason to be a bit more patriotic than usual.

I've done enough trial and error with hanging baskets over the years to know what works (or should I say, what lives) on our porch and what doesn't. I tend toward lower-maintenance plants, but this year the theme won out. Red geraniums need regular deadheading, so I balanced them with blue lobelia and white calibrachoa, both of which are 'self-cleaning' and don't need as much plucking. The three together give you height, fullness, and a little overflow at the edges, and the baskets will continue to fill out and spill over as the summer goes on.

I also love to incorporate ferns whenever I can outdoors, but they're one of the plants I learned doesn't do well in my hanging baskets. So instead, I popped a pair into a set of black planters I've owned for years, and added a small flag in each. They echo larger planters on our front steps.

When it comes to outdoor decor, I tend to keep it simple. Too many throw pillows, and lanterns can start to look cluttered, and I always find string lights blow over or tangle, and generally cause more trouble than they're worth. So, to add some festivity, I settled on bunting. Bunting I can do, and I've always loved the way it looks hung from beneath the windows of old homes during the summer. Three flags hung along the porch railing feel celebratory without being fussy.

Outside of the bunting, I have a handful of accessories that help underscore the All-American color palette without getting too themed or kitschy: A pair of block print bolster pillows in blue and cream and blue-and-white planters that I've owned for years, potted with herbs. I also bought a new tablecloth, white with navy stripes, and a set of blue-and-white melamine plates to complement this year's scheme. Since our porch is covered and I don't leave textiles out indefinitely, I chose pillows and a tablecloth meant for inside, just because there's more variety.

To finish it off, I like to bring out some of my indoor plants (I call it their summer vacation), and when I'm hosting, I'll even occasionally bring some of the indoor furniture outside, like side tables or ottomans, to make the space feel more collected and inviting.

I don't give the porch a huge makeover each season, but the reset makes it feel like its old self again. I'll keep the porch this way until Labor Day, when I'll give it a little fall reset. The flags will come down, and I'll swap out the cushions and plantings for a more seasonal feel. Until then, it's time for summer.

The Edit

A few of my must haves for summer outdoors, especially on the eve of America's 250th...

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