Five Things I Love About Our Back Porch

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One of my favorite rooms in our home is our back porch veranda. It’s where we dine, where we sit by the fire, and where we enjoy our backyard view.  

back porch

I have always wanted a porch. We have never had a front porch that was large enough to sit and enjoy. When we remodeled our home twenty years ago, we added a porch in the back, And I love our “outside room” that I fondly call our veranda. I love the covered veranda, the view, our table, the fireplace, and our heaters!

This is our back yard. Our back porch is the area on the right. It’s a covered area. I added curtains so we could feel as if it was a private room. That’s kind of funny because the only time we closed the curtains is if it is really cold!

There are so many things about our veranda that I love. Today I thought I would share my five favorite things about our porch.

I am sharing this because a lot of you have asked me how you can to incorporate some of the things we have done on our porch into your home. So here are the details.

Five Things I Love About Our Veranda

Our Covered Porch

outside back porch

It never rains in sunny Southern California. Which might make you question why we need a covered porch! It’s the sun that we need to get shelter from and this area has been perfect for that. Over the years we have had both seating and dining in this area. I can’t decide which I like the most. 

The covered veranda is wonderful. It has a bead board ceiling and has never leaked in over twenty years.

The View

back porch view

I sit on our back porch a lot. I love sitting out here to work on my blog. I love just sitting and reading. And I love watching the squirrels and other animals play. (We have birds, squirls, raccoons, and have even spotted a deer!)

Potted Plants on the Back Porch Table

I do love the view. Especially when it’s raining.

Our Patio Furniture

Last year I worked with Arhaus and we acquired this amazing dining room table and chairs. It’s from the Arhaus Hamptons Outdoor Dining Collection. The chairs are the Hamptons Outdoor Dining Side and Arm Chairs.

Summer Dining on the Patio

We eat out here all spring and summer long and I love this Arhaus dining room set. Isn’t it just fabulous?

porch dining table

Already this year we have had some amazing dinners out here on our back porch. We have family in town this weekend and I can promise you we will be dining under the veranda!

dinner party on the back porch

Do you remember the Nutcracker dinner I created last year for the holidays? It was so perfect on our back veranda.

Isn’t this a great setting?

outdoor dinner

The Fireplace

Obviously the highlight of our porch is the fireplace. When we remodeled our home is 2000, I knew we wanted an outdoor fireplace. We found all of the bricks in the middle of our “soon to be family room”. It was not a good surprise at first, as we had no idea there was a three-story brick fireplace hiding inside our walls.

But once we discovered we could reuse the bricks, we were thrilled to have found 100 year old bricks! 

Fall Decor Ideas

The fireplace is wood burning and just wonderful. 

back porch fireplace

This is a much older photo of our veranda before we got our amazing patio furniture.

view of the fireplace

The Heaters

dining on the back porch

A few years after we built this patio, I surprised my husband with heaters that I had installed in the ceiling. Dave is always cold and these seemed like the perfect addition to our patio. Eighteen years later and the heaters are still working perfectly. Our heaters are made by Infratech although there are a lot of brands available when you search for “ceiling heaters”. 

The heaters aren’t that noticeable and I love that they provide so much warmth whether we are dining or just sitting out on our back porch and enjoying the view.

back porch flowers

I really love our veranda. By the way, the bucket is vintage. I bought it at a flea market. The flowers are faux and I love that they look so great and last all year long. 

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29 Comments

  1. This is so beautiful and serene! Luckily you live where it rarely rains. Unfortunately, your beautiful oasis would be impractical where I live in southwestern Ontario. Rains, wind, snow…that beautiful table would not work in our outdoor climate. But…I do have a lovely four seasons room, where I sit every single day and watch the birds and geese fly by, and watch the squirrels and rabbits and occasional deer pass through our property. Just as lovely as sitting in your porch. In the summer, we sit on our front porch and drink tea or coffee and watch the world go by.

  2. So pretty! I live in central Ca., so the sun and heat are definitely factors to sitting outside. We have a covered patio too. While not as stylish as yours, I love sitting out there too!

  3. I just love your back porch. Could you please give the dimensions of your porch.? I’m particularly interested in the height. We just moved into a new old house and I’m thinking of adding a porch attached to the house or a free standing pavilion. Thank you so much, I enjoy following you . We live in Northern California now, but I grew up in Ventura and look forward to seeing the things you do to your beach house.

  4. Love covered porches! Our house in the desert had one with a beautiful view of a lake, golf course and mountains, those heaters were a bonus as we were only there in the winter. They were common all over the place. Restaurant patios etc. I never saw them until we went there. Love your cozy outdoor room, wish we had one here in Colorado as the sun is killer at this altitude.

  5. I love your porch. It’s amazing, so warm and cozy. The fireplace is just so beautiful. It’s a wonderful place to wile away the day.
    Hugs to you.

    1. It really is Renae! The fireplace is wonderful in the winter and also in the evenings when it is cooler. I can spend a whole day out here! Thank you for reaching out!

  6. I’m in LOVE with your outdoor spaces. We have several at our house (outside of Austin) and each is enjoyed to the max. Weather here is nearly perfect year-round EXCEPT for the craZy hot days of Summer when it’s Pool-time during the day but lovely in the evenings. I grab lots of ideas from your blog posts … thank you for your inspirations (and Amazon thanks you, as well !!!)

    1. Thank you so much for reaching out Kathie. I love that you have several outdoor spaces at your home. Austin is a wonderful city! I am so happy that you are sparked by my ideas!

  7. Hi Leslie – Your veranda is beautiful! We just renovated our (New England) patio/yard and I’m considering the Arhaus Hampton table. Not sure if I should go with 84 or 96”. We have the space. What size is your table? Thanks so much!

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