How to update your front porch for $50

For a long time I have been wanting to update my front door. I live in a condo complex and to put it lightly, my curb appeal is a snooze. I can’t do any structural changes, but I do believe some small changes will make a big impact! Here’s where we are at now:

Let’s break this down- here are the hard parts:

• My door is white and it has to stay that way.
• Just to the right of my door is my neighbor’s door. Fun! (sarcasm :))
• The white circle is where my door number is- edited for a bit of privacy
• The beige blah siding has to stay.

Now here’s what I can do to fix it up! Let’s start with some front door inspiration photos:

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Very cute, but more cute because of the color of the door. In my head I have always wanted to do a door like this one:

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I did a TON of googling and couldn’t figure out what that kind of molding is called (if you know, please leave a comment!). But, I found this and used it for my inspiration:

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Her little square indents are 3″ wide and I thought it was too small, so I decided to do 6″. I was also nervous to cut much smaller pieces with my miter saw.

I set-up my saw in the garage while my baby was napping and went to town cutting. I use some quarter round I bought when I was doing the molding in my hall. We accidentally bought two pieces of a slightly bigger size than we normally use so I decided the front door would be a great place for them to not go to waste. When I usually cut trim, I make a list of which sizes to cut and go to town. Because I had never done the inverted corners, I cut a piece, laid it down, and then cut the next piece so I was definitely cutting the right angles. It took me about an hour to cut all of the pieces.

Next, I set up my nail gun in my entry and went to town nailing. I have figured out a few shortcuts with this that I thought I would share. I only do a little bit of measuring while install the trim on the door. For the first piece, I mark the spot it will go on the door- I find the height and center and draw that on the door. I then find center of my piece of trim and match those up. Finally, I use a level to make sure the trim is up straight and nail it to secure it.In the past, I have drawn the pattern on the wall first, but it saves SO much time to just use a level and go to town. In the past I have also used liquid nails to attach the trim. We had to take a piece down and it left SUCH a mess on our wall. So now I just skip the liquid nails step and attach with my trusty nail gun and then caulk and paint. Believe me, it’s on there just fine. Plus it’s not supporting any weight so I’m not worried about it.

So now the trim is up! I still need to caulk and paint and add some more finishing touches, but we are one step closer! I actually think my inverted corners are a little big. It’s fine, but I probably should have gone for 4″. So learn from my mistake :). I still love the doors, but the trim is a tiny bit exaggerated.

Next, I pulled out my caulk and filled in all of the nail holes and seams.

Then I gave the door a good cleaning. Plus I hosed the whole front entry off. It was surprising to me how dirty everything was! I mean it’s outside and I never clean it, but I was still surprised- haha.

Last, I pulled out my trusty white paint (Delicate White by Olympic) and gave it a good painting. Up to this point I had everything on hand so this was a FREE project. Yay! But even if you needed to buy trim and a sample pot of paint, this would be a $15 project. I wanted to take this project to the next level and I researched a TON of hardware options (I loved this article about stylish hardware). I was really in love with the option of changing out the hardware for antique brass. Ultimately, I decided against it. Here’s why I didn’t do it:

• It’s expensive. Even the cheaper options would have been around $100
• It’s a pain. My family and Preston’s family all have a spare key. I tend to lock myself out of my house 🙂 so changing all of our spares would have been not fun
• The domino effect. My whole house has nickel hardware and I don’t really want to go to the expense to change everything. It’s fine how it is.

So I left it. Instead, I made some budget friendly changes.

I updated the doormat to this one from Target. I really love it! Plus it was on sale for $12. I thought hard about painting my own. I was planning on it, but a blank doormat is $10 plus supplies. So I figured I should get one I loved and save myself some time. Plus, who knows how long a DIY option lasts?

I added a hydrangea wreath from Target (no longer available). Evidently, I shopped late in the season for a non-fall wreath so I was really happy to find this one! It was a little expensive, but I really love it. The last wreath I had up was too big and this one feels sweet and cozy. I already had that doorknocker (it’s from Pottery Barn).

Last I added a potted plant! The pot (which I am in love with!) is from Joanns and was on clearance for 70% off so I got it for $7- such a steal (and no longer available online- so sorry). I filled it with pink plants from Home Depot- $11. As a recap, here are my tips on how to update your front porch for $50:

Let’s check out the before and after:

And some more pretty pictures 🙂

my maxi skirt and crop top are from Pink Blush

So there you have it! I now have a front door that I love! I think it gives a good sneak peek for what the house is like and it just feels so fresh and clean. I spent $56 on the whole thing and am just thrilled with it.