I bought both of the houses I've owned in my lifetime partly because I love front porches and both houses had front porches. In this house in San Jose, I had to add the swing, which is one of the features I loved in the old house in Northeast Minneapapolis

Soot was ground into the blue painted floor, so the insurance company paid for the floor to be repainted. I added filmy white cotton curtains, which add privacy and heat protection from the late afteroon sun which beats into the porch The sun catchers my sister, Martha, gave me are pretty on the windows, and my collection of glass bottles and other knicknacks line the window sills.