Here are some easy tips and tricks to create a simple & neutral fall porch
Hip hip hooray, it’s fall ya’ll! One of the things that I LOVE (with a capital L and heart for the O) to welcome the season is to decorate our front porch. It’s become a tradition in our home and I really look forward to it every year.
This year is no exception! In the past, I’ve typically decorated with the traditional fall colors. You know, all of the reds, oranges, browns, and golds. Whenever I see the fall decor hit the retail stores, it always gives me a little-excited flutter in my tummy! I love big orange pumpkins, hay barrels, and colorful mums. Oh yes, please!
This year I decided that I was going to switch things up a bit. I’ve been drooling over the white pumpkin decor all over Pinterest…and since we changed the color of our front door this past spring, I knew that I wanted to go with a lighter and more neutral colors scheme for fall.
Fresh Front Door Color
I’m in love with our new front door color. It’s called Waterscape by Sherwin Williams. It’s the perfect aqua color and coordinates well with our gray siding and black shutters. I’ve received so many compliments from friends and family that come to visit. Even neighbors have stopped and asked about the color of my door. ?
I’m sure I could have made the traditional warm colors work with the aqua door, but I took the new paint color as an opportunity to go a different, more neutral route. Can you say ‘white pumpkins?!’
White pumpkins, gourds, and mums
Knowing that I wanted a ton of white pumpkins, the family and I set out last Saturday to our local Amish farm. (Yes, we have Amish communities in Southern Maryland!) We grabbed coffee for the drive and headed out to the countryside. Our local Amish farms always carry the prettiest flowers and awesome produce. We visit them a few times in the summer for their fresh fruits and veggies, and we always get our pumpkins and mums from them in the fall.
The boys love visiting our local pumpkin patch for hayrides and other fall fun, but we usually end up buying our pumpkins from the Amish. We can’t beat the quality and the prices are super affordable. I was so excited when we pulled up and saw a field full of white pumpkins. EEEEEEEEEP! ?
While we were there I also gathered a fun mix of gourds and a couple of white mums. I didn’t know they existed, but there were white colored gourds too. How cool is that? Did you notice the large gourds? They are a light greenish gray color and I knew I could use them to compliment the door color.
The boys were in charge of pulling the wagons and they also helped to pick out all of the pumpkins and fall goodies. For being such good helpers, they were able to pick out a few pumpkins for themselves. They picked big orange ones for their jack-o-lanterns, of course! ?
Setting it all up
Once we got home, I couldn’t wait to set everything up on the porch. Before the decorating could begin though, I gave our front door trim a quick coat of paint. (Alabaster from Sherwin Williams)
Our front door used to be covered with a storm door. When we gave our front door a makeover last spring, Ian took off the storm door for me. (Best esthetic design decision ever!) and there were still screw holes that needed to be patched and painted.
While this was a tedious task, I’m glad that I finally got it done. (Another job checked off the to-do list!) The trim now looks fresh and bright.
Once the trim was dry, I started with the layered rugs. I already had the gray-blue chevron rug, (bought from Marshalls a couple of years ago) and the natural welcome mat is from the Hearth and Hand line at Target. I’ve been dying to layer my front doormats and I like how these two compliment each other.
With the rugs in place, I then went to town layering in the fall foliage. First the mums, then the pumpkins and gourds. The big pots of ferns were already in place (I planted those in late spring) and I debated whether to keep them on the porch for fall. Ferns just scream “summer” to me, but when I started adding in the mums and pumpkins, I liked the fullness and extra greenery that they added to the porch-so they stayed!
To finish the porch, I wanted some sort of fall sign and a lantern or two. I ran over to Hobby Lobby and used their 40% off coupon. I snagged this gorgeous lantern, fall sign, and a small barrel of hay. I like the shape and design of this lantern and I really love the distressed finished.
Final Touches
While setting up the porch, I played around with different pumpkin and gourd arrangements. Ultimately I found a combination that felt “just right.” It’s really about a mix of heights and textures. In my opinion, there’s not one right way to do this. I do like to group items in odd numbers. That’s an easy trick to remember when decorating with groups of objects. Odd numbers are pleasing to the eye and create happy little vignettes. ?
I added this pretty white pumpkin wreath to the front door. I picked it up at Marshalls a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been patiently waiting to whip it out. I love how it ties all the pieces together and polishes off the entire porch.
Now the porch is ready for greeting friends and family. As a matter of fact, the very next day, we had my mother-in-law and some of the cousins over. I’m so thrilled that I was able to get the fall porch done in time to welcome them over. The hubby and boys are also loving the festive porch and I can’t help but smile when I come home every day. 
*This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
Resources
Door Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Waterscape
White Pumpkin Wreath: Marshalls. Similar
Oil-Rubbed Bronze Kick Plate. Lowe’s
Oil-Rubbed Bronze Door Handle. Lowe’s
Gray Blue Chevron Rug: Marshalls. Similar
White pumpkins, mums, gourds: local Amish farm.
Fall Sweet Fall Sign: Hobby Lobby
Hay: Hobby Lobby. Similar
How do you decorate for fall?
Now that I’ve been able to share my fall porch with you, let me know how you like to decorate for fall. Do you decorate for Halloween or just for the fall season? Do you decorate with the traditional fall colors, or do you like to switch it up? Let me know in the comments below.
Happy Fall!
I wish I could 
