HGTV’s Jenny Marrs Uses This Antique Piece as a Beautiful Outdoor Organizer

Sometimes, it’s an unexpected detail that makes a home feel expertly curated — and Jenny Marrs just proved that in a recent Instagram post. After sourcing an entire collection’s worth of Italian antiques for a recent sale, Jenny admitted that she couldn’t say goodbye to one of the armoires she immediately fell in love with. She decided to place it in the most unexpected place in her home: The back porch.

“Y’all know I couldn’t part with all of the Italian antiques. I had to keep one!” the HGTV star wrote in the caption of her post. “I rearranged the back porch to make it work, and I can’t get over how much I love it here. This is your sign to add antiques throughout your home!” 

She then asked her followers, “Who else moves their furniture and favorite things onto the back patio the moment spring arrives?”

If you have a back porch or outdoor patio that you live in all summer long, making it an extension of your indoor living room will just make it feel cozier and function better for you and your family. And adding a storage piece like a traditional armoire gives you so much more storage and entertaining space to play with.

Jenny shared how she stores glassware and dishes in the top section of her antique piece, visible to guests. She hides clutter in the bottom drawers for items like sunscreen, towels, and other pool accessories. “Instant character,” she wrote over the video.

Like Jenny, you can source an armoire secondhand if you love a good antique. Or, you can shop something new like this Farmhouse Armoire from Pottery Barn. The gray-wash color would look beautiful on a back porch, and inside, there’s so much space for storing pillows, blankets, bar essentials, serveware, and more.

And even if you’re working with a small space, you can still use an armoire for extra storage — just grab one that works with a smaller floorplan. This one from Wayfair, for example, still has so much storage space with its included shelves, but is compact enough to fit snugly in a corner.

No matter which armoire you choose, just make sure it’s under cover, and a good distance away from screens or openings to the outdoors to ensure that it doesn’t get damaged. During colder or snowy winter months, bring the armoire inside or cover it in order to maintain its antique charm.

And just like that, your back porch looks less like a back porch — and more like a cozy living room.