Today’s column is a public service for all those who live near neighbors who treat their porches and patios like storage units, sheds, or way stations. (Warning: You might be that neighbor.)
It is a plea on behalf of those sick of looking at porches and patios cluttered with rusty tricycles, dilapidated dog houses, step ladders, plastic slides, last year’s Christmas lights and every faded tchotchke that didn’t quite make it to the garbage bin but should have.
These reluctant onlookers unite in their cry to End Porch Pollution! We don’t care how you treat the inside of your home. (Well, I kind of do.) We have to look at the outside, and we’re asking you to clean up.
The idea for today’s missive came to me a few weeks ago from a fed-up reader, who wrote:
“Marni, You once wrote an article about how to decorate your porch. How about an article on how to undecorate your porch? Honestly, it has gotten out of hand. In my neighborhood, porches are “decorated” with signs, chairs, tables, lamps, stools, end tables, pillows, rugs, plants, planters, wreaths, string lights, mini refrigerators, lawn statues, fake trees, wicker deer, swings, hammocks and more, sometimes all on one porch!
“Can you please tell your readers to throw away half of what they have on their porches, then stand back and take a good look, and throw away half of what is still left? Thanks, Marlene”
So, Marlene, how do you really feel? I kid, but her email makes a good point. We talk a lot in this column about decluttering the inside of our homes, but we shouldn’t ignore the rooms outside.
In fact, decluttering and thoughtfully furnishing our porches and patios may be more important because so many more people see them.
