Commentary: Porches make comeback as hot spots for homeowners

Barbara Tabak actually gasped when I told her that my husband and I have a front porch.

This is a professional decorator, mind you. Shes seen and created interiors that would make magazine covers.

But when it comes to exteriors, the front porch is a rare breed.

The front porch is great, but the demise of the front porch really corresponds with the loss of neighborly interaction, Tabak said, hitting the nail on the head. Weve all moved to the back porch and lost that front porch feel.

Sigh. But hope is on the way. The National Association of Home Builders reports that by 2015, front porches will be standard in new homes. NAHBs Home of the Future uses resources efficiently and features a front porch, smaller square footage and a two-story design.

Hmmm. Sounds like the Home of the Future steals a few ideas from my home. You know the one built when William Howard Taft was president and a ship called the Titanic was just blueprints on a drafting table.

These last couple of weeks, we are all marveling at our sudden spring. Even without a bad winter behind us, were celebrating. Scarves and mittens go back into mothballs. T-shirts come out of storage. Women everywhere, afraid of cringing with embarrassment the first time they slip into sandals, are scrambling to schedule pedicures.

And were getting outside. Yards are getting cleaned of their winter debris. One photographer I know is planting lettuce already. When friends came over the other night, we had pre-dinner drinks on the front porch. Conversation seemed more sparkling from a porch swing, surrounded by warm evening air and the sight of tulips and daffodils pushing out of the ground in random but cheerful profusion.

Its no secret that outdoor living is integral to todays lifestyles, but Tabak, the decorator of Decorators Den in Susquehanna Twp., said that the industry is really catching up to those of us living in northern climes.

Outdoor furniture has greatly evolved from the folding vinyl strap pieces we had in the past, she said. Now we have teak, steel, rattan, wicker. It looks like outdoor furniture but for northeastern homes. Usually, outdoor living was confined to Florida and the south.

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Commentary: Porches make comeback as hot spots for homeowners