With these six easy tips, you'll be decorating your own porch like a pro this fall season.
FALL | Updated September 17, 2023
When decorating for fall, the outside of your home is just as important as the inside.
You don't have to spend a lot of time or money adding a seasonal touch, but just a little effort can have a welcoming effect for anyone coming to your door and for your own well being during the upcoming months. A few pumpkins, mums, corn husks, or other fall decor are sure to put a smile on your face as you pull in the driveway.
With the fall season upon us, I've decided to start the decorating tours right at the front door of MacTavish House. While there is still much more to do out here on the porch in terms of the home's renovations, adding fresh flowers, a pop of color, and quite frankly just giving this space a little love has dramatically increased the looks of things back here.
There are a few things I did specifically to make it feel like fall without going overboard. I am all about simplicity this year, while at the same time working to fill each space with things I love.
The good news for you is the things I did out here on the front porch are just simple tips you can apply to your own home! I don't know about you, but I love when someone can spell things out for me and let me pick and choose little nuggets of wisdom to try out for myself.
TIPS FOR DECORATING YOUR FRONT PORCH FOR FALL
Pick a "Look"
While true throughout your home, having a particular color palette, style, or theme for your outdoor space will make things come together easily and look more cohesive when done.
My goal for the year was to focus on shades of green, purple, and white out here with accents of black from my garden pots, metal lantern, and outdoor rug.
Remember, the color and finish of your siding, door, and furnishings also have an impact on the look you're attempting to create. It's great to have a vision, but you also have to work with what you've got.
Start With the Door
A simple grapevine wreath adorned with dried oak leaves was where I started first when decorating the porch. There are many wreath options available on the market for everyone's tastes and style. And you can always make one as I did here.
If a wreath isn't your thing, a flat hanging basket full of fall leaves or flowers or a garland draped around the door is equally as beautiful.
Go Big with a Planter
The plan when making a quick trip to Lowes to pick up mums was that I wanted a few smaller pots of light purple and a darker magenta color to accent some other things that I had already bought to fill a very large clay pot on the porch.
Unfortunately when I got to the store I found lots of mums for sale, none of which had any open flowers.
So my original idea wasn't going to work in order to get this post done, but Lowes did have large planters filled with multiple mums and a pretty purple grass. A lot more expensive that the original plan, but I really do love the statement that the combination makes (even if it did mean that all the plans I had made wouldn't work now).
You can try this idea on your own with various plants or buy a premade version as I did to make that powerful statement in a single planter. You want that one large, eyecatching display to enhance everything else you design on the porch.
Add a Smaller Accent Plant
The original plan I mentioned involved mixing faux and real plants for an extended pop of color through the season. I had purchased purple cabbage and faux sedum from Hobby Lobby to accent the mums I had planned on buying.
Even though I tabled that idea for now, I did pick up a real sedum plant in the same purple shades. Adding an accent flower really adds interest to your porch and many perennials can then be planted in the ground before the cold season arrives to add to your landscaping next year.
In addition to sedum or cabbage, you could look into ornamental grasses, flowering kale, coral bells, dusty miller, and succulents. Take a look around your local stores just to see what they have that may work with the look and color palette you're trying to achieve. Try a single accent or choose a few in various pots.
FYI: In many climates, if dusty miller is left outside in the ground or in pots throughout the winter, it will grow again the following year even though it is considered an annual!
But, You Need More Than Just Flowers
While you don't want things to look cluttered, it is important to include more than just flowers outside if you're going for a "decorated" porch.
To accompany the two pots of flowers, I also included a cast iron lantern I picked up at Goodwill to hold an outdoor flameless candle and a couple stone pumpkins painted white.
And just as I do inside, I tucked in some dried leaves to add some more pops of green through the outdoor "vignettes."
You may want to consider hay bales, a bench with fall-inspired pillows or throw, or a large painted sign for the season. Keep in mind, that if your front porch is normally viewed from quite a distance from the road, you'll want to choose larger scale items that can be well seen to keep things from looking chaotic.
Layer Your Doormats
Such a simple idea, I know, and it may even seem like overkill. I mean, do you really need two doormats? Of course, not.....But there isn't much opportunity to add texture or patterns on a front porch unless you have outdoor furniture cushions or drape a throw over a bench.
Doormats generally don't have a lot of wow to them. Adding that outdoor rug underneath a basic doormat really makes it all pop. It makes the whole entryway seem more grand.
Since it is an indoor/outdoor rug, I moved the rug I had originally used in my entryway out here underneath my HELLO PUMPKIN fall doormat. I really love the pattern peeking out from under it! I bought my doormat from JoAnn Fabrics a few years ago, but there are similar versions on Etsy.
I hope at least one of these tips inspired you to do something new with your outdoor space this fall.
Regardless of what your style is or the type of place you live, it is always nice to have a pleasant entry that welcomes you home.
WANT MORE INSPIRATION + TIPS FOR DECORATING YOUR PORCH THIS SEASON?
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