Porch Designs for Small Families

Finding the right porch designs for your small family will help keep everyone safe, relaxed and comfortable while they enjoy the outdoors. More planning is involved when thinking about porch decorations that will accommodate an entire family. Here are some porch design ideas that might work for your family:

Outdoor Area Rugs

These are not standard area rugs, but ones that are specific for use on porches, patios and decks. They work well underneath tables, and provide an extra seating space for young children who want to play on the porch floor. The area rugs you choose should match any furniture you put on the porch, so plan on what colors you want for porch furniture first.

Lighting

Small families can benefit from a well thought out porch design that incorporates enough lighting for them to enjoy at night. Like the living room in your apartment, think of ways to make your porch light up, with properly placed lamps. Use floor and table lamps that are made for the outdoors, including solar powered ones. This will create a safe and warm atmosphere when dining or entertaining on your porch in the evenings.

Enough Chairs for Everyone

A porch design for a small family must take in to account enough seating for everyone.  Buying an entire furniture set for your porch solves any seating problem, however, that’s not feasible for many budgets. You may need to pool together a combination of seating options, including what came with the apartment, to have enough seats. For example, if the apartment came with a porch swing which can seat at least two adults, you may only have to worry about finding two, three or four wood chairs, a rocking chair of a combination of the two. Gather the chairs around the porch swing to form a circle, so that the family can sit together and easily talk to one another.

Draperies

Draperies for your porch make a decorative statement, but also makes it safe for families to sit on the porch for a long time. The draperies will give you shade and shield you from penetrating sunlight on hot summer days. This makes for fewer sun burns, less dehydration and other health concerns. Place draperies as a backdrop behind a major piece of furniture, such as a couch or swing. While some professional recommend white draperies, it’s not a practical choice for small families unless you want to wash them all the time. Country green, bold colors or draperies with a floral pattern work for a porch design, and you won’t have to wash them as often as white draperies.

Tables

This is a necessity for small families who plan to spend time on the porch. You’ll need something to hold sippy cups, reading materials, a diaper bag, snacks, your laptop and more. The porch is just an extension of your apartment, and the same reasons why your end tables and coffee tables are useful indoors applies to the porch.

Use these porch design ideas to help you plan  porch space that meets your family needs.