Front porch is definitely an attractive feature of a house. It is the first thing that a visitor will notice and will create for a good impression about your home. Having a cozy front porch will also allow you to have comfortable sitting arrangement. It is a sheer delight to relax in an attractive porch setting. One should never ignore the beauty of the porch as it is an indication of your hospitality and taste. If you could spend just a little time on creating the best possible arrangement, your visitors will be more tempted to visit your home.

The first rule is of cleaning. You should definitely clean the porch at least once a week. Dead leaves, dust, dried mud etc can get stored up there. If you are living in a cold area, you should definitely clean the steps leading to porch so that no icy patch gets formed. These patches can prove dangerous for the safety of the family members. Painted porch has a different beauty appeal. As per the requirement, keep your porch painted every two years or so. Faded paint creates bad impression. Along with the porch, window shutters, railings and steps also need to be painted to maintain the overall aesthetic appeal of the house.

Entrance of the house should always be in proper shape. Have porch furniture like couple of lawn chairs or hard plastic seats, or even bench so that one can sit and relax in the comfortable surrounding view. For outdoor people, having a porch swing or a glider will be must. You can also add decorative items like a window box for seasonal flowers, potted or hanging plants, and a wreath on the door etc. This will add to the overall impression of the house.

There are many types of building stones that are available in the market today like sandstones, limestone, slatestone, quartzite, marble, cobbles, pebbles etc. These can be used for building your home.

Classification of building stones depends on their mineral content and the process of their formation. Good stones are characterized by hardness, weight, strength, porosity, amenability to dressing, appearance, durability, texture, compactness and absorption.

Granite, sandstone, limestone, marble are stones that are used for building and construction purposes are widely available in India.

Composed mainly of silica, sandstones are hard homogeneous rocks that are known for their strength. These stones have a low water absorption property and they are available in varied colours like white, red, green, pink, beige and many others. Coloured sandstone walls are very much in vogue. You can have the edges of these stones machine cut or hand dressed. The texture of the stone can be kept natural or can be sawn. You can buy these stones from stones suppliers that offer sandstones in different sizes and thickness in the form of slabs, tiles, blocks, bricks and cobbles.

Other types of stones are marbles which are commonly used for home floorings. Besides this, many interior designers have used colored marbles on walls facings and other exteriors.