One of the most exciting parts of the holidays (besides baking, buying gifts, cooler weather, etc…) is decorating! I always include my front porch in my seasonal decor Oct.-Dec. because it puts me (and hopefully my visitors!) in a festive mood! That being said – have you ever wondered what to include in your front porch fall decor?
There are a few simple things that can be traded out and reused during the same seasons each year! I love that I can store most of this stuff and easily pull it out the next year so I'm not constantly accruing decorating expenses. Come join me on a tour of this year's fall inspired front porch!
Wreath
I pulled out a wreath that I've had for a couple of years and wanted to rotate it back into this year's decor since it's been a few years that I've used it! I found this super cute pumpkin wreath at a local boutique a while back, but my team has found a few really cute ones that are similar to this style on Etsy. I'm so excited to share these with you!! I especially LOVE the olive branch wreath – it's so cute. A wreath really does wonders to a simple front door and brings all the fall vibes!
Cascading pumpkins
For the last few years we've utilized the space to the sides of the front door to stack pumpkins. Since we have our beautiful mums flowering in their pots this year, we decided to put the pumpkins cascading down our steps instead!
We painted our front porch black a little while ago and I LOVE it!! The old paint was chipping, so it was time for a front porch paint refresh, which coincidentally acts as the perfect backdrop to my front porch fall decor theme!
The big white pumpkin is from HomeGoods years ago. But I always like to mix faux pumpkins with real ones, too! I also added a few new fake pumpkins to my collection last year from Target and Pottery Barn for different textures and colors to make the whole arrangement really pop.
It definitely cuts down on the expense if you invest in a couple fake pumpkins each fall that you can reuse for years to come. That way you only have to buy a couple real ones to add into the mix if you want, since they can get expensive to continually repurchase.
Door mats
It's totally a trend right now to layer a smaller rug over a larger rug, and I'm here for it!! I found this black and white mat on Amazon and it's the perfect neutral base to layer a fun door mat on like this “hey there pumpkin” mat! I found this cute festive door mat on Etsy a few years back, and it's still in pristine shape!
Mums & planters
I chose these planters because I really love the aesthetic and how they look on each side of my front door. But THEN I realized they are self watering and I.WAS.SOLD. I've killed so many plants in my day, and this takes all the work out of fresh greenery! With these planters, you just put water in them once a week, and then it slowly waters the plant each day. GENIUS right?!?!
How to keep mums alive:
Mums are such a fun, festive flower to decorate your porch with during this fall season! But because they can be tricky to plant and keep alive, a lot of us ask ourselves how in the world do I keep them alive and looking beautiful throughout the whole season without needing to replace them?! I was grateful that my friend Aubry sent me over this article on how to keep mums alive! Between that and the self-watering planter, I feel like quoting Dumb & Dumber, “so you're saying there's a chance?!” Here are a few additional simple tips to maintain fresh-looking mums:
- Keep in bright, indirect sunlight – avoid putting them in direct sunlight! If you have a covered porch, that is the perfect home for your mums.
- Water your mums from the bottom (thank you self-watering flower boxes!!) Protect them from rain or any splashing of water on the foliage or blooms – this will keep your mums from browning and spotting!
- Deadhead your mums often! Remove any wilted blooms or dead stems/leaves. This not only makes your potted blooms prettier, but allows it to bloom longer.
- Never let them endure a freeze in their pot! Mums can survive light frosts and colder weather, but anything below that will kill your mums.
Easy as pumpkin pie
Gradually acquiring front porch fall decor lets me really go all out on my porch without having to buy everything new each year! It makes me so happy to see seasonal themes and colors right as you come to my house. It especially sets the mood for the holidays coming up! Whether you choose flowers or pumpkins or just a festive wreath and door mat, little touches add a huge impact for an inviting home. All of our favorites we've decorated with are rounded up below!