When Jo and I completely remodeled my front porch, one of the biggest changes we made that totally transformed the space was installing a porch railing. I came up with a unique, modern porch railing design that gave the porch a fresh new look that greatly increased our house's curb appeal.

The key design element to this porch railing is the flat balusters I used, rather than the typical rounded ones. And the pattern is super simple, too. The balusters are parallel, but just a slight tweak to the spacing between them made all the difference, and made this an easy DIY project.

Materials Needed

For the balusters, I used 1x3 common planks (which technically measure 3/4" x 2.5"), cut to the length I needed. It's a good idea to paint them before assembly, to make it easier.

For the rest of the railing, I used a few common 2x4 boards and two strips of lattice trim that measures 1" x 1.25". I laid everything out on the floor first to be sure I had a plan for how assembly would go.

Building the main rails

The first step was to create the main rail and attach it to the columns. I cut two 2x4s to the height I wanted the overall railing to be and screwed them (from the outside) to the main horizontal 2x4 railing.

Then I held the frame in place and screwed the vertical piece into the columns to secure it.

Then I added another 2x4 flat across the top, and screwed it down into both pieces below, so that everything was solid and secure.

Building the baluster panel

To build the baluster panel as seamlessly as I could with as few visible screw holes as possible, I first attached the lattice strip to the ends of the balusters, securing them with my Ryobi One+ 16gauge nail gun. It's battery-operated, which means no air compressor is necessary!

I kept going, spacing them evenly and centering them on the lattice, until they were all attached at the top.

Then I nailed another piece of lattice across the bottom of the planks, securing it in the same way.

Installing the baluster panel

To attach the baluster panel to the railing, I held it up against the horizontal railing and screwed it in place through the lattice. (That Ryobi One+ Drill uses the same battery as the nailer... how convenient!)

To support the panel from the bottom, I added another 2x4 railing that stretched from column to column. I pushed it up against the panel's bottom lattice strip, then secured the 2x4 to the columns using toe-nailed screws.

Then I attached the lattice strip to the railing with screws, as I had done on the top.

Final touches

To finish the railing off and give it a substantial top surface, I added a 1x6 plank of PVC molding across the top, screwing it down into the 2x4 below.

I caulked all the seams, gave everything two good coats of outdoor enamel paint, and it was good to go!

This unique and modern porch railing turned out so great that my neighbors are always commenting on it. It made such a huge impact to the overall look of the porch, and was surprisingly easy to do.