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A Beautiful Front Porch Makeover

When Stacie told us she was redoing the front of her amazingly glorious home in Richmond’s Historic Fan district, we knew she wouldn’t disappoint. I mean, she totally wowed us with her style here and here, so we were prepared to wet ourselves a little when we saw her exterior upgrade. Good thing we were prepared, because her overhaul was nothing short of insane. And like any sweet homeowner she wants to shout out her restoration guy for his commitment to keeping things historic and cutting no corners (his name is Eric Schmoldt at Advantage Construction, whose house we actually crashed here – small world). Hats off to Eric and Stacie. Between her vision and his amazing handiwork, it seriously doesn’t even look like the same house. So if we’re late to her annual Christmas party, Stacie will know why (because we might not recognize her place). Enough gabbing. Here’s the before:

Stacie Porch 1

And a few durings:

Stacie Porch 2

Stacie Porch 3

And here are the amazing after shots:

Stacie Porch 4

Stacie Porch 5

Stacie Porch 6

Stacie Porch 7

Stacie Porch 8

Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s so funny that the exterior in the before could ever become the one in the after. How is that even possible? It’s like a unicorn or a transported cupcake that doesn’t get smashed in the car. The stuff of legends. Anyway, thanks for sharing your gem with us Stacie! It’s a great reminder that houses that don’t always look lovely from the front often leave the most room for improvement! Off to stare at our new house’s exterior with renewed enthusiasm…

Pssst- We’re selling our slipcovered Pottery Barn sofa (which looks like new, thanks to those handy washable slipcovers) for nearly 60% off what we paid for it over on craigslist. And since we know you locals like a heads up about those things, we thought we’d share the link. If you’re interested, just respond to the craigslist ad and we’ll get back to you.

Comments

  1. carole says

    so, so, so pretty…I liked the ‘before’, but the ‘after’…I don’t even know what else to say!

    I bet you will *love* a sectional in your new place. our u-shaped sectional (a splurge from c&b) is the main hangout for our two kids + puppy–the 5 of us fit perfectly without being on top of each other, and the amount of use we get out of it justified the cost…family time together=priceless! Microfiber fabric means it still looks like new after 5 years….

    Reply

  3. Caitie says

    That is amazing!! That porch seriously looks like something you only find on the Better Homes & Gardens website!! I love it! =)

    Reply

  6. Hilary says

    Kasey, we ripped off our porch and replaced it about three years ago. Our contractor purchased salvage rights to a foreclosed house being torn down. We had to disassemble and move the porch from the foreclosed house, tear off our old porch, stabilize it, pour new concrete, put in place new beadboard, new roofing, new soffits, new gutters, new light fixture, and have some of the spindles replaced on the porch. It was definitely costly, but our house was purchased at Sheriff’s auction, so in the grand scheme it was worth it. We also had a custom paint job. I’d imagine white would be less expensive- but white trim isn’t to historic code in my neighborhood. I’d be more than happy to give you a cost breakdown- follow the link to my blog and message me.

    Reply

  8. Rachie at a chi chi affair says

    Looks amazing! I wish we could do things like that in the UK without having to get planing permission which seriously takes ages and costs a fortune! You americans are so lucky ;-)

    So excited that you are moving soon – cant wait to see all the new house posts.
    Rachie xo

    Reply

  9. Carol Ann says

    Since we are looking for inspiration on our upcoming front steps re-do, I’m curious if you know why the railing is on the inside of the column on one side, but on the outside of the column on the other.

    Reply

  12. Rachel says

    PLEASE tell me Stacie is kind enough to share the paint selections! We live in NC and are about to paint our exterior…

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  14. jo says

    It is a very beautiful new porch, but I really hope the iron trellis work on the old one was salvaged and re-used – it was really cool. I’d love to see what happened to it. It might make a great backyard or side yard feature, for example.

    Reply

  15. Stefanie says

    If you guys are looking for a new sofa, check out csnsofas.com. We’ve ordered from them before and they have Rowe (same as PB) for much cheaper than in the store! Plus they run sale coupons from time to time and have free shipping…what could be better than that!? Good luck in the new house…I’m going to live vicariously through you guys, as we’ve (almost) finished renovating our house after 4 years of re-doing every room, and I don’t think I’m ready to do it all again JUST yet!!!

    Reply

  19. Stacie says

    Hi Everyone!
    Thanks for your nice comments. We are in LOVE with the new porch and i practically lived on it until the weather got so crazy cold. The paint colors are Griffin and Imperial White, both by Duron. For you iron lovers , the trellis was saved…. my awesome contractor, Eric, repurposed it in HIS backyard for a garden interest.
    As far as the placement of the black railing, my neighbor, who has the exact, mirror image original porch (she was our blueprint) already had a handrail on the side we share, so we only had to put up one side and decided to put it up on the opposite side of hers.
    I think that answers all of it. Thanks Sherry and John for the lovely post and see you soon!

    Reply

  22. Stacie says

    PS. I see someone asked about not being to code. This porch was being restored to the orignal design that was used in 1908 when the house was built. True, and 18″ railing is not to code nowadays, but the building inspectors allowed it in order to bring it back to the original. We did use some repurposed flooring, but alot of the porch had to be hand done. You cant find those exact spindles anymore , for example, so they were hand turned. Eric is a master at staying true to the historical design.
    As far as painting the brick. YES SCARY!!! But the original brick had some damage and water staining, and im a fan of mixing original with modern so I went for it… more upkeep for sure, but worth it for me :)

    Reply

  23. Sara says

    Wow. I even loved the charm of the BEFORE! The AFTER is gorgeous. We live here in northern Canada and our city is too young to have beautiful charming houses like this. I want brick sooo bad!

    Reply

  24. Holly says

    GORGEOUS. I absolutely love this – it reminds me of a historic home in my favorite city, Charleston SC. Great job, Stacie!!

    Reply

  26. Josh I. says

    I live on the 2000 block of Grove Ave. (also recently went through extensive renovation of our home) and I run/walk by this house all the time. The new porch looks amazing!! However, everytime I run/walk by I can’t stop staring at that ugly little coil hose. For the love of god please disconnect it when it’s not in use (yeah, I have OCD), it takes away from the beautiful new porch! :)

    Reply

  30. Stacie says

    Hahaha!! My neighbor at the 2000 block just cracked me up!!! I know I should take the coil hose in…..but we had to water the new lawn like every 4 hours!!! I guess i can take it now.. :)

    Reply

  33. Kate says

    Though the “after” is amazing and seems to flow better with the neighboring house, I have to agree with Mia and Jo and some of the other comment-ers: the iron-work entrance was gorgeous as well! So historical and southern! I loved the diagonal stairs!
    I know I’d probably enjoy the new porch way more though, just like I hope/know they do!

    Reply

  35. susan says

    Porch sitting is one of my favorite things to do. We do a lot of it here in Ohio on our front porch. Amazing how you can get to know your neighbors that way. I loved the redo! susan

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  36. jo says

    John and Sherry,
    please, please, pretty please, do you think you could you get Eric to show us what he did with that trellis in his back yard?
    Jo

    Reply

  37. Alina says

    Beautiful renovation! However, that window a/c unit is an eyesore. I have an old row house in the city of Richmond, too, so I get that a/c can be a challenge. It just seems to me that if you’re going to spend all that money to renovate the exterior, there has to be a solution for a window a/c unit.

    Reply

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