Front Porch Privacy Screen

Today I’m bringing back a popular post, our Front Porch Privacy Screen, but showing you more detail of the process.

When our neighbours decided to store their garbage bins (and sometimes old tires) at the side of their house, we had more than just a curb appeal problem. Every time we came and went out the front door we were met with an unappealing view.

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Even after installing a new walkway, screen door, painting the front door red, and adding flower pots, although it was a big improvement, it still wasn’t enough to detract.

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Here’s what the view looked like from our front door – yuck.

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Front Porch Privacy Screen

Our solution was to build a custom privacy screen. Privacy screens are a fun weekend build and a great way to use up scrap wood. Hubs ripped wider pieces of cedar left over from a fence project for me to work with.

I set up a cutting station on the driveway to cut the pieces to length with our mitre saw.

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I came up with a quick sketch of what I had in mind to visualize it. Then I set up sawhorses and laid out my pattern according to my plan, starting with the side pieces, then filling in the cross pieces and lastly the lattice. I built the lattice section in the centre piece-by-piece, but you could also add pre-made lattice and save yourself some work.

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Building the Privacy Screen

Once I had my design finalized and figured out, I moved it all over to the garage floor because it was easier to glue and pin-nail on the ground (below I’m working on a different screen).

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Once everything was complete, here’s how the privacy screen for the front porch turned out (with hubs doing his best Vanna White impression).

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Add a Planter

Hubs then built a cedar planter box so we could train vines up the lattice and further hide the unsightly view.

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We used L-brackets screwed into the brick to support the screen on the top and bottom. and the planter box just sits right in front of it on the porch itself.

The screen is so much nicer to look at from all angles!

Other side of lattice Front Porch Privacy Screen with custom cedar planter at the bottom, resting on the porch

Here’s a reminder of the same view of the before.

Here’s another before and after from the other direction:

View of neighbours garbage before installing a Front Porch Privacy Screen

After of Front Porch Privacy Screen

The vines start out sparse but by summer we have a lush wall of green 🙂

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There’s really nothing better than when the vines get to the very top of the screen and bloom:

Front Porch Privacy Screen with vines growing up the wooden lattice

Here’s a final side-by-side comparison before we planted the vines:

Before and after of cedar wood lattice Front Porch Privacy Screen

In the winter we tuck the screen away in the garage and replace it with this solid one. It helps protect the front entryway from blustery winter winds! No waiting for vines to grow; they’re already on the fabric 🙂

Front Porch Privacy Screen with solid fabric to block view

For more on how to add privacy screens around your property, see our outdoor privacy screen ideas.

For anyone wondering about our neighbour’s eyesore view, the garbage cans are still there. However the curb appeal is drastically better with a new garden and walkway. Not perfect, but so much prettier to look at than before these updates!

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Pin Front Porch Privacy Screen

Don’t forget to pin for later:

Pinnable image for Front Porch Privacy Screen

Another great idea to camouflage the view by the front door would be to plant an entire vertical garden. Use soda bottles and aircraft cable, like the one shown below in the video for our kitchen. It would look fantastic as a privacy screen outdoors by staggering 3 or more columns side-by-side for better coverage. Below is a super quick video of just how easy a vertical garden is to make or click for the full tutorial on the soda bottle vertical garden.

Before we finished our front yard, Hubs and I transformed our backyard too. It went from this sad bit of landscaping done by the previous owners…

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…to a lush oasis. Thankfully by the time we were done, our neighbour in the back removed the gargantuan satellite dish! For tips and tricks on how to plan a full-blown small backyard makeover, be sure to check out our post ‘Small Backyard Landscape Ideas‘. It will break down the steps we took to achieve our dream garden – from planning the space to laying a patio to even installing a pond – and show you how you can do it too! You’ll also find individual links to most of our backyard projects!

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