It’s been a long time tradition to photograph the first day of school. Have you noticed how most of the pictures are taken outside, either on the front porch, by the front door or in the yard? Well, that’s where I come in with some tips to spruce up your front porch so you can take those awesome pictures.

The easiest way to SPRUCE UP your FRONT PORCH is…

1. De-clutter by clearing out those items collecting on the front porch that you are not using.

2. Clean it by grabbing your leaf blower and blowing down the porch, steps and all. Don’t forget to do the cracks around the window and doors. Takes about 5 minutes tops.

3. Arrange the furniture you’re keeping. Be sure to have at least two cairs or one bench and one chair. These encourage conversation. Add a few side tables in between for drinks or a magazine. Finish it all up with some colorful outdoor pillows.

4. Plant your container pots. It’s a good time of year to plant chrysanthemums. They are perennials so they return each year and they’ll provide all kinds of fall color come Halloween time. (cause we’ve got to plan ahead for trick or treat pictures!)

Your porch is now ready! Let’s make your first day photo even more awesome by staging it just a little bit more. No, and I don’t just mean making sure your kid has the best designed paper sign that reads, first day of third grade. (I actually prefer using a small chalkboard found at a local craft store).

Kids are not the only ones that change year after year, so does your garden! What if you took a picture in front of the same tree each August or September? You’ll not only have documentation of how adorable your kiddos were on that first day but how tall the tree gets each year. It’s also fun to remember what you did in your front porch container pots each year, perhaps in the summer you and the kiddos plant the pots in preparation for that school picture.

Brilliant right, yep you can thank me later. Or perhaps I’m the only one who cares about how my trees grow year in and year out. I sometimes look back on those pictures my parents took of my in our front patio and am in awe at how much has changed in those 30 somewhat years. Didn’t everything seem so big back then?

No matter what you do take some time to enjoy the yearly changes in both your kiddos and your yard!