Personal Space Northwest Arkansas

Talya Boerner's favorite space in her historic Fayetteville home is her front porch.
Talya Boerner's favorite space in her historic Fayetteville home is her front porch.

Talya Boerner

Where I live: Washington-Willow Historic District in Fayetteville

Occupation: About three years ago, I left a successful Dallas banking career to pursue my writing dream. Now I freelance for several Arkansas print and online publications and on my personal blog, "Grace Grits and Gardening."

My favorite space is: While, my husband, John, and I agree that every room in our house is ideal for our empty-nest lifestyle, if we were to choose a favorite space, it would be our porches. We have three and each is completely different: a wrap-around front porch, a screened porch that overlooks our backyard and an upstairs sleeping porch.

Why? Porches are such a part of Southern architecture. For me, they tap into childhood memories of shelling peas, sipping iced tea and watching the cotton crops grow. The front porch is social: folks wave hello, dogs wag tails, neighbors enjoy our Little Free Library. Across the back of our house, the screened porch is a quiet, private, shady spot for writing or napping or watching the birds (my obsessive new hobby). Our upstairs sleeping porch provides the perfect view of brilliant sunsets.

If I could make one change to improve this space, I would: While our front porch ceiling is painted the perfect historical "haint" blue, our back porch ceiling is beige. We have plans to paint the back porch ceiling blue as well ; otherwise, what's to keep a haint from sneaking in the back door?

HomeStyle on 07/04/2015

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