With the official onset of autumn comes the opportunity to decorate your porch in festive fall decor. Whether you have a balcony, a wraparound porch, or a modest stoop, your front entryway is where your home makes its first impression. Creating a fall-themed entrance isn’t only a fun project to wrangle the fam into, but can boost your entire neighborhood’s morale, encouraging guests and neighbors to take pause and celebrate autumn’s arrival. Here, we dive into some festive fall porch decorating ideas that’ll be sure to make your home the apple of your eye!
Hello, Harvest!
While pumpkins are usually the star of the season, never underestimate the decorating prowess of gourds, hay bales, apples, mums, and other fall foliage. The sheer bounty of fall produce means there are near endless ways to style your front entryway with a festive atmosphere. A word to the wise: a little goes a long way with fall decor—good news for those of us not endowed with a dreamy, wraparound porch.
Although fresh squash and pumpkins will make your entryway feel vibrant, your squash-turned-decor will eventually spoil, potentially leaving behind some unfortunate residue on your porch. Instead, opt for everlasting sculptures that mimic freshly-picked gourds. Consider a collection of terracotta pumpkins and huddle them on either side of your doorway or let them artfully spill down your front steps. Also keep a lookout for other sculptural creations like gourds, apples, and pinecones crafted of outdoor-friendly materials like ceramic or concrete.
If filling your porch with constructed crops feels too stagnant for you, consider tucking fall cabbages or chrysanthemums into patina-ed planters. With their vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows, pansies, crotons, violas, and celosias are also floral favorites perfect for bringing a pop of color to your doorstep. Have leftover summer blooms that have dried in their vases? No problem! Dried summertime plants like zinnias and hydrangeas complement autumnal color schemes perfectly. Thread your dehydrated florals through a willow wreath to hang on your door, or arrange them in planters to flank your entryway.
Create an Autumnal Alcove
If there was ever a time to create a permanent seating arrangement on your porch, autumn is it. Add a wooden bench to your porch to tee up a prime spot to watch the turning leaves. Embrace the spirit of the season and layer blankets and throw pillows in fall hues atop your outdoor seating. A vintage plaid tartan throw or a pair of mustard yellow pillows will do wonders to inspire a festive mood. Underfoot, outdoor rugs in beiges and creams are an easy way to ground outdoor compositions. Surround your seating area with the aforementioned harvest decor and floral arrangements to cue up a picture-perfect autumn vignette.
Get Spooky With It
All fans of the creepy and eerie know that autumn is incomplete without Halloween. What better way to pay homage to the spooky season than to envelop your front porch with Halloween decorations? From spiders with wrought iron bodies to vintage hand-carved skulls to postmodern ceramic figures of black cats, there’s no shortage of festive ornaments that will playfully conjure the Halloween spell. If outfitting your porch in traditional shades of orange and black feels too obvious for you, consider muted tones like ambers, caramels, brass, and matte blacks for outdoor pillows, blankets, and other decorative items. Looking to mimic a haunted house to delight trick-or-treaters? Pepper entry tables and porch steps with candles in antique brass holders to create a cozy, yet mysterious ambiance. Textural elements like cobwebs and smokey glass hurricane lamps can also be used to achieve an haute haunted house vibe.
Life on the Farmhouse
Not feeling a porch filled with creepy, crawly Halloween decorations? Consider instead emulating a rustic farmhouse style for your front entryway. Farmhouse-inspired decor such as a wooden step ladder or a wicker basket will bring a touch of charm and lend a feeling of coziness to your porch. With their thin spindles and natural wood tones, antique Windsor chairs encapsulate the homey character of the farmhouse style, making one the perfect addition to any wooden porch. Champion the casual coziness of the season and arrange your front entryway flowers in rattan baskets or brass buckets for a more homespun look. Dress up your door with a festive, fall wreath that’ll evoke warmth and boost your curb appeal. Lastly, embrace the season right by donning your favorite chunky, cable knit, and cozying up on your fabulous, autum-bedecked porch!
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Featured Image: Photo by Andrei Ianovskii
