Aside from aesthetics, I usually prefer some sense of enclosure also. Shrubs along the perimeter can also provide that feeling, and some privacy (we had that growing up, with an open porch). It's a nice lush look, although I've always loved rails, too.

Brutuses, yes now I remember your beautiful porch and that it is raised. I love the columns. They're just so perfect. I can see how much it opens everything visually to go without the railings. Your home is fabulous.

Squirrel - wow! What can I say, but thank you so much for your time and consideration?!! If we do go with railings, they look SO much better at a lower level, don't you think, as you did in your mock ups? I'm also loving the walnut railing. What a difference! Does the whole railing system have to be wood to get the railing like that?

See, here's the thing. I know nothing about porch styles and railing options. And it seems that with builders, if you don't know exactly what you want, you get whatever they give you.

At first, I thought I liked it open, but now, I do really like the lower railing too. Which is your favorite? Also, do you think it's necessary to have railings coming down to the sidewalk? It's only one step, and I guess, I'm thinking not. My only hesitation, is that my mother is aging and has difficulty walking, so it might be harder for her to get up into the porch area without the railing. I think it looks better without the railings coming down to the sidewalk, and I also really like the posts spaced farther apart by the steps, as you did it, because it makes the entry seem larger and more open.

Again, thanks so much for the Photoshop work! It's phenomenal!

Jan

Slinkey, great thoughts. I hadn't thought about how it would "feel" sitting on the porch with or without the railings. It's not visible in the picture, but the side of our house (left side of porch from front view) has a steep drop off, because the house is on a hill. So it probably wouldn't be too cool to step off that end - LOL - whoops! and down to the hydrangeas one goes! Also, my dh has told me in the past that he prefers railings. I can't wait to show him the Photoshopping on this.

Squirrel, the lower railings definitely seem to provide the best of everything - enclosure and yet, they are not too obstructive. I love them! Shrubs could work, as you mentioned, too, but I do think the railings are very pretty.

Jan

Jan,

Check building codes for your area before you decide. Here ( in NC ) the rails need to be 36" in height total and the spindals not more than 9" apart to meet code. Also if your porch is elevated more than 36" off the ground by code you need a railing.

As far as open or enclosed, I really like both looks .. they both bring a nice but different look to the table.

Your contractor works for you, take some time, clip pictures to show them exactly what you want. Also don't let them talk you out of exactly what you want!

My husband is a contractor ( but he builds log homes, he doesn't do remodeling except here ) .. when I'm getting ready to do anything, I always draw something up for him to go by or have a picture to follow. He's fairly creative on his own, but he's not in my head to know exactly what I want, even though sometimes he thinks he is. ;) So I've found sitting down and being very clear on what I want the finished product to look like and having something to show him the best way to go.

Hi Jan, here's a straight header on the porch, and some different colors in front of the house : ) Will have to look for a rail. Gutter was put back on the far post (looks like it is on its side, and might need adjustment with a rounded or tapered column).

I love the walnut rail.

Ooh, I think I love the straight header the best. Also, really like more color in the front, as you posted. Is it okay to do shades of pink with deep red brick? I love flowers and flowering trees and shrubs. It's awesome.

zipdee, yes, I know we should check with the building codes here. I'm hoping that since our house isn't elevated enough to require railings that we'll have more options if we do decide to go with them. We'll definitely clip these pictures to show the contractor. What a big help!

Jan

Here are some shrubs in front of the open porch. One just small mounded, the other larger, fuller, more irregular, maybe boxwood. Filled out a bit more so it doesn't look too dark and heavy right in front of the porch.

{{!gwi}}

good point zipdee...'building codes' do dictate the height of the rails. Here in CT, we were able to go without side railings, as the porch at the entry is only 2 1/2 feet off the ground..(with two steps up to the landing) then the ground gradully slopes to 3 feet...and on the side where it wrapsaround...it's 4 feet. On that side, the side stairway, has a railing.
Jan... The front stairway is 7 feet wide.. The front door, with sidelites and moulding, is 6 feet wide. As you can see, the front door is centered between the steps and the posts..and there is no obstruction

Squirrel, wow, the color is great! I love it. The shrubs could work, but I still think I like the railings (lower style, as you posted) better than none at all in our case. Also, I like the tapered square posts over the round variety for our house style. I hope code permits the lower railings.

I love the calico kitty, by the way! Can I keep her? We used to have a calico cat, and we called her the "mini kitty" because even full grown, she only weighed three pounds - LOL. Now we have a deaf white, 15-year-old kitty. She's eccentric, but oh so adorable.

slinkey, your porch is an inspiration, for sure. I would have loved a wraparound porch, but the grade of the land with the hill we're on didn't make it practical. Your entry area is so pretty. I love porches, and yours has that inviting feeling. You must love it!

Jan

Here's a shallow handrail. With only one step, I'd think you could do something less than the original.

ok, straight posts were next! The ones in the photo are a bit shadowed and hard to clip out well.

Wasn't sure if you wanted more color, but just played off of the hot ones that were there and remembering those in the back. This is probably another variation of some sort : )

Yes, pinks can work with brick. It's just in the tones of each. Yours looks as if it would work with pinks and blue-reds.

I found that kitty in another neighborhood, still wandering around -- please adopt her! Though she does look well fed :/

Here are some square tapered posts, a bit wider than what's currently on there, but not much I don't think.

This is a warmer lighter pink, picking up more on the siding, for a more delicate, subtle look.

Do you like the wider porch header? A nice trim detail can sort of be seen, and they are really pretty finishing details.

Squirrel,

Super work, as usual! Yes, I LOVE the wider porch header, and I agree that the detail adds a lot. I can see the warm pinks look great in the flowers too. Thanks for doing the rails to the sidewalk, just in case. That's definitely a case of less is more, I think. The siding is kind of difficult to pinpoint - somewhere between taupe and light gray, and it looks very different in color depending on the daylight and time of day.

There is a place online called Pacific Columns that offers all sorts of column and railing materials, as well as mill work, etc. Beautiful stuff there!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pacific Columns

Here the posts are a bit wider and I tried to make the taper a little more pronounced; handrails removed again. With and w/o the dark rail.

No collar :/

{{!gwi}}

Great link! Thank you.

I really like the wider posts. Wider than this, it starts to look Craftsman, though. If you have a wider shot of the house, same view, maybe I can attach the garage for a full view, important in the overall scale. Looks really good, though : )

Is the taper ok?

The taper is great. I do like the wider posts, and I understand that going wider yet would look Craftsman, which I don't think our house style really is. Maybe all of my indecisiveness shows up in the mixture of styles inside and out with my house??? :o) We were going for more of a casual shingle style/farmhouse look. I hope that's how it appears. The driveway will be paved next spring.

Anyway, I do have a wider shot, and a storm is brewing, as you can see, but I think it should work. We hope to someday incorporate carriage style garage doors and maybe one of those circular thingees for in the peak of the garage (see how design literate I am :o)). Do you think that would look good? Again, I'm ignorant about styles and stuff.

I see there are some shadows on that one, but not as much on this one (sheez, and I only took these photos minutes apart):

Jan... I have to agree, the wider header is the way to go. It gives the porch a nice substantial look along with
the wider tapering posts. I think that would look fabulous for your house.
AS far as the circular 'thingie' ... lol... I think you mean a 'Coupola' ! That would be a nice added touch, however that's something you might want to consider, after you redo the porch, driveway, and as you said new garage doors...You don't want too many things competing with each other... as the eye would not know where to look.
Just a thought.
Hope that storm passed you up..LOL
Jane

slinkey, can you take a full picture of the front of you house. My front door is inset like yours and I was thinking about a porch but am not sure how to attach to rest of house so it looks as good as yours.

Hey Jan, doodling away over here : ) The more substantial porch looks awesome overall. Maybe pick out some carriage house doors while we're at it : )

With the porch in such shadow, I think the brown rail will just disappear. Is the ceiling painted quite light already?

I can't believe the difference! It looks so nice. Now I'm wishing we had chosen the garage door colors to match the siding somehow. That seems to look better. I'm also loving the coupola (ooh, my decorating vocab is improving already). Of course your details, including the kitty, are just outstanding. :o)

How about carriage doors something like this?

I like the look, but I'm not sure if these can be raised or not. If not, they might be impractical. Hmmmm . . .

There she is! I do believe those gorgeous doors lift. The sections are slightly visible. They do come that way, anyway. I thought maybe the doors could be painted, in the meantime. So they're not so pronounced.

I see more and more of the beautiful gd's going in around here. It makes such a difference. Must have seen four new sets yesterday in a neighborhood I usually sightsee through when driving.

Let me go clip those out and install them, lol.

rddso...thanks for the compliment. I will take a picture , and post it here. I'm seeing more and more homes that are adding on porches, and am amazed at what a difference it makes. Seems to be a returning trend.
Below is a website that might interest you. They show porch designs, and before and after pics...lots to look at.
Hope this is also helpful. In the upper left side click on (Photos) and that should bring up lots of info.
jane
vintagewoodworks.com

jan, DH couldn't remember the brand name of the columns. He said they are a lightweight fiberglass and the purchased them at the local lumber yard. I think I posted information about them a long time ago. I'll go search and see if I can find it. You'll have to pardon DH, his brain is fried from being so tired.

BTW, did you know your cat is sitting at the edge of the walkway. Too cute Squirrel!!

No collar, Brutuses ...

These had to be reframed.

{{!gwi}}

Jan, I have not read all the replies but wanted to add alot of people are leaving railings off nowadays , so I hear. The landscape guy when I mentioned our builder purposely left them off back when we first moved in 4 yrs. ago( our framer likes homes without them) & we were still considering adding them, said they would cut your windows in half. It does add more of a formal attitude without I think & more of a cozy, warm attitude with them. YOur home is great with or without honestly. We also have the fiberglass columns & love them. You can't tell the difference once they are painted. If you are in the country, there should be no building restrictions on porch height & railing rstrictions but if you are in town, I read in Southern Living 28" or above had to have railing. Check with the building permit dept I would assume. On our particular house plan I am glad we left them off now. YOur home is beautiful & I know you will make it even more beautiful with your tweaking....have fun with it!
Bonnie

Interesting. It sure makes the garage look different. Again, I have no idea what works in terms of style. I do like the interesting doors, though.

I did find these as well. What do you think in terms of style?

I'm thinking something simpler. Those make me think Arts & Crafts. I had an idea but haven't found a good picture. It might be way out there for you, but a beautiful and interesting hay door might be interesting in that peak. This is kind of crude (I ripped it off an old building), so it's small -- and squint. Just kind of look at the shapes and style to see if there's anything there that appeals to you. Second pic is a decorative vent cover.

I do like the trim piece across there, to break it up. Do you like that, or not really?

A big tree to the left balancing the garage out.

Here's a more shallow arch on the doors and back to a taller porch rail. (Actually, I'm not sure it really looks taller! I was raising it, lol.) First two pics also have the dark rail (with its lower edging in white).

Was out looking for a home with a hay door and farmhouses -- check out the pdf link which shows a farmhouse with a dark porch rail, with some white showing beneath so it doesn't get lost (it also gets a lot of light, though). Notice it has the higher porch rail. Also notice all the peak work.

Is that area for a room over the garage?

{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Nantucket Farmhouse

Oh no you don't sqirrel!! HA!

Squirrel,

Oh, those are much better! I like the hay door. It's so charming. Also, I agree the white trim piece looks great too.

Of course, I'm drooling over the Nantucket farmhouse. Oh, it's so pretty . . . sigh . . . We probably sacrificed somewhat on our home's exterior appearance to make the best use of space inside. While the house looks small on the outside, because of the use of space behind and over the back of the garage, in the back, the house has nearly 3,000 square feet of living space, which we love with our active boys! The master bedroom is located on top of the garage toward the back of the house. There is definitely room over the garage toward the front for a large attic space, as the ceiling is very high inside the garage. In fact, our builder put a door in the ceiling to access the attic if we would like to do something with it someday. So, your idea to put a hay door or possibly even a window there would be great. By the way, the Nantucket link indicates that Clopay Coachman carriage garage doors were used for that house, and the third garage door picture in my most recent post shows the Clopay Coachman style. I checked it out, and the Clopay Coachman can be completely tailored in terms of the panels, windows, no windows, arch, no arch, etc.

I love the peak work in the nantucket farmhouse, as well as the fantastic porch. I see the porch rail is higher. It's awesome. The porch gets a lot of light in the afternoon. The porch ceiling is white. While they don't show in the picture, we do have some very large trees in teh front yard, and they do shadow the house somewhat in the morning.

Do you think the arched doors look better than squared off ones? I think I'm liking the arched doors, but I'm not sure if their lines fight with the sharp peak angles.

I'm so glad you mentioned to get an overall shot of the house and the feel of the porch with it. What a bit difference it all makes. Maybe someday we'll even make the porch into a wraparound, if possible. The house is on a hill, and the slope drops off on the side of the house, so I'm not sure how that would work.

You have such talent with the Photoshopping and design ideas, you should think about marketing yourself. I'm totally serious.

Jan...love the look with the carriage doors...DH is kicking himself that he didn't have them installed..now is rethinking...
squirrel did an awsome job. Forgive me for just adding one thought...If you don't have any side windows in your garage, you would want to opt for doors that DO have windows...or your garage during the day, will be very dark. We have actually added side windows in the garage along with the garage windows...makes a HUGE difference every time you step in there. (my 2 cents) LOL
JANE
PS to rddso...I've sent a seperate post to you..

Hi Jan, that Nantucket is a pretty elaborate farmhouse style : ) I do love the New England style homes, though, very much.

So do you think the dark rail would actually work then? I thought that looked really nice and is a bit different.

I had been looking for the type of garage doors used with a farmhouse style, also, but didn't read the Coachman thing in the article (I usually just look at pictures! lol). Will have to check which one that is and try some of the other ones you posted, above. I did try a straight edge on the last ones, but it just looked like a regular garage door, probably because the door is so plain on that one. Overall, I like this last one, but think maybe it has a more European look to it, or needs some squared edges brought in, as you say. I think it's the simplicity that I like, as your porch and front does have that simple farmhouse style. And some curves are always nice : )

Well, I'm over in Preview now! and can't see the rest, lol.

Pulled the porch rail up some more. Second pic is the current rail's height.

I really like these. Doesn't look like too much to me. This is a barn door style, so maybe this is the Coachman on the Nantucket house? I think you need to tie to the house windows.

{{!gwi}}

Here's the other set. These look very nice also!

Was looking for a child for the front door -- there sure are some beautiful images out there.

{{!gwi}}

Well, if you like New England style homes...I live in New England, and this last set of doors 'fit the bill'...There are many homes here with this look..These doors are beautiful, with a simple elegance. That is the look you see here in New England.......AND, they also allow light into the garage.. Squirrel...excellent research!
Jane

With the very first set of carriage doors, I think the amount of iron was too much but, also, it has an old English look to it, I think.

lol, Slinky, I'm just followin' Jan. Those are her door finds! : ) I was very happy to see that walnut railing, though, on the Nantucket : ))

OT - I just love New England -- is it terribly cold up there a lot of the time???

been having trouble posting a follow up..
Squirrel..you were faster than my post...I was referring to the next to the last set of doors that were shown here..the ones with the Cross/Buck panels..they are just perfect.
I agree with you that the ones with the iron were too much..Your eye was drawn right to that feature...to distracting.

Thanks for clarifying. I was wondering, due to the times.

OT...don't know where you are squirrel..but yes, it does get cold here...but not much colder than when I lived in NY..
Just more snow !! lol However, we've been really having some hot..hot..weather, and no relief in sight...weeds are out of control!!

I'm in PA, Zone 5. Our winters are much milder now and we really don't get much snow anymore. Maybe one or two storms a year. I do love the snow, though : ) Not sure I'd want realllly cold weather much of the year, though. (In my mind), I'd say our summers/warm weather rolls right into October now, even late October. It just seems the summers are so much longer than years ago. I feel like, in February, I'm wondering where winter is, lol.

I guess I'm under the impression that New England is quite cold and snowy, and that the winters are longer. Buffalo, too. What part of NY do you compare it to? I think we're much like lower NY. I really haven't traveled that much. Loved Boston and Connecticut, but that was Summer/Fall.

PA is pretty..was there years ago in 'Amish Country'..are you anywhere near there? We lived about half hr from NYC.
Easy commute...(Westchester County). We could go anywhere from there...Now we are about an hour further up in CT.
Buffalo is COLD for sure...that's waaaaay up there...lol
It seems the weather patterns are changing all over. I know one thing for sure, when it snows, dh..shudders...he's broken bones twice, slipping on ice...I like snow too, but it's awful driving around in.

Actually, am not too far from the AC, although haven't been out there in years. We used to take trips there when growing up. I'm probably thinking Maine or something : ) I just loved CT when we were there. It was one of my favorite vacations.

Here's the other arch, Jan. And showing added hardware again. It's a beautiful garage, but feels, carriage house! : ) or A&C rather than farmhouse. I think it's the top story on the house that's too different in feel to carry them.

Wow! I just got back from my grandma's 92nd birthday bash . . .

Squirrel, I'm just speechless looking at the options, and I think that while they're all very nice that the barn door style (cross/buck panels) really jumps out at me (as both you and slinkey mentioned). They seem to tie in with the house windows so well. Also, they are in fact the Coachman style from Clopay, as described in the Nantucket sample you found. The lines really seem to blend very well with the house. It's just what I had in mind but couldn't seem to articulate in detail. It's great. As you mentioned, the others don't seem to jive style-wise (although I otherwise love the arches) with what we have now. The garage just looks so much better - more interesting than your plain jane (or should I say, plain jan? punchy tonight - it's late) variety.

Slinkey, we do have two windows on the side of the garage (third stall), and even with those, it could certainly be lighter. So that's a great thought. We wanted the nice doors right away too when we built, but there ended up being certain things that we defined as "wants" over "needs", and the carriage doors fell into that category, plus, being Miss Indecisive here, I just didn't know which to choose anyway.

Squirrel, I'm loving the walnut railing. My hubby is ultra conservative when it comes to color (note house exterior color), and he's thinking white. I like the contrast of the walnut and can likely persuade him, as I think it's a really interesting detail - something different. Higher or lower railings? Hmmmm . . . I'm up in the air about that. On the one hand, I think the lower railings open up the view of the front windows (from the inside of the house perspective) and the view of the yard from the porch perspective. On the other hand, the Nantucket looked really great with the higher railings, and maybe that's more true to style? I like both. What do you think?

Also, are the columns in the Photoshop of the barn door style that we like square or round? It's a little hard to discern in 2-D. I actually like the garage doors in white, as you photoshopped, as our exterior trim is white. What do you think?

Anyway, thanks so much again. Those doors are the cat's (and dog's lol) meow (woof)! I'm on cloud nine because those doors just really capture exactly the idea I'd had in mind. As always, your attention to detail is what makes all the difference.

Jan

92 is something. I hope she's still pretty well and active.

Those doors fit your house beautifully, I think. After the first doors had gone on, I thought they were going to be too much, with all the details, but the styling fits.

Funny, looking back at some of the first pics, I see your upper windows have panes that don't show in the other pic. I should have put those in so they're visible. Thought they were plain windows and it does change the look of things.

Hmm, on the rail, if it were me, I'd probably go just a little lower than your current height. Before seeing the whole house and what you were going for, I was actually going to say that the higher rails had a farmhouse look. Although, I think I've seen them lower too. I'm sure farm houses come in many shapes and sizes, different than today. I don't know if it's the porch height or what, but the current height feels too closed in to me and just looks a bit high. Could be all what we're accustomed to seeing. I would think for viewing it would be nice a little lower too. The last virtual is in between the current height and the first lower virtual. The more farmhouse styling that you bring in, the more the higher rails may be what appeals to you, iykwim. It has a very distinct look about it.

Yes, I did a double-take on those columns too, as to looking round again, but it's just the more distant shot. They are the same square ones.

Glad you have fine-tuned what you're looking for! Now we can, hopefully, watch it all unfold some day ... into something totally different, lol. Garage doors really add so much beauty when they're included as a part of the overall architecture. No need to hide them!

Your home looks gorgeous and you are very lucky to be able to enjoy such a beautiful setting.

Oh, I so enjoyed going through this thread. Fabulous as always, squirrelheaven.

I agree that too much iron work on the doors doesn't look good. A little distracting. I have a carriage door and opted to keep them off.

Great home, Jan!

Thanks, Kelly : )

Jan, I did want to post the doors in the color of the house for you. The porch rail is up to your current height. Note the picture headings. And stand back to get the long shot, lol. The options are endless, of course, but I know this helps : )

Beautiful home. Enjoy : )

Beige doors:

Narrower porch header (so taller columns and a bit more open):

Porch header somewhere in the middle, posts a bit wider (sorry, the taper got lost and is hard to get back):

Squirrel,

Sorry so long in getting back to you on this. I've been really busy with work stuff.

Anyway, awesome! I love having choices, and not just any choices, but really great choices, at that. The Photoshopping is so realistic. It helps a LOT!

I can see that the porch definitely needs a header. I think the beige doors look warmer. If they would have to be painted that color, though, I'm not sure if they would stand up well to our winters. I'll have to check into that. The white looks good too, and it's probably pretty classic. The wider columns are really nice, and the option to narrow the header is a great thought. It does look like the higher railing will work fine if we go that route.

Our builder is stopping out tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to showing him these Photoshops.

Thanks again. Your work is phenomenal!

Jan

So glad you saw the last options and that the pics have helped! I can't imagine making choices like this without visuals.

You're so sweet! Thanks so much : ))

WOW! I hadn't opened this thread since Friday when Jan posted a full view with all the garage doors. It's nothing short of amazing what changing those doors does! Windows make all the difference in the world!

Squirrel, another job well done!!!

Tank you verdy mucho!