Embrace Autumn’s Arrival with a Charming Fall Porch Makeover

Officially, it’s still summer until Saturday, but temperatures have dropped a bit and I’m ready to embrace the autumn season. What better way to get started than by sprucing up your home with a fall porch or entryway? Grab a cup of coffee and get ready to feel cozy with today’s roundup of autumn-inspired porches.

A pair of pretty, wooden rocking chairs sets the stage for this farmhouse porch. Tiny pumpkins are added to the fading window boxes to bring a touch of color. I love this idea and was inspired to do the same with my own flower boxes. An outdoor rug and sunflower wreath finish off the look. Isn’t it picture perfect?

 

The traditional way of decorating a porch for autumn is to incorporate mums and pumpkins. Orange and yellow always look vibrant when paired with blue. This front door is especially beautiful with its transom windows and sidelights, not to mention the beautiful brass knocker. Now that pumpkins are available in an array of colors, it’s easy to mix and match them with your house colors.

 

When you have golden trees in the front yard, you can keep fall porch decorating to a minimum and let Mother Nature take center stage. The blue clapboard house below reminds me of the cozy homes we saw during our autumn trip to Lake Geneva a few years back.

I’m now dreaming of going back to Lake Geneva this coming October. We don’t need to stay overnight since it’s only an hour away. There’s a trail that winds around the entire lake and I’ve always wanted to walk it during the fall when all the trees are ablaze with color. And then maybe stay for a nice dinner before heading back home.

 

When you have a white house, you can choose any fall color scheme for your front entry. And when you have a beautifully embellished door like this one, you don’t need a lot of decorations. The trim on the door is pretty fantastic, and wouldn’t be hard to add to an existing plain door. Just visit your Home Depot or Lowe’s store for running trim molding. The finishing touch is the door knob and lock plate. You can find those, as well. Rejuvenation offers a variety, as does Signature Hardware.

 

If you prefer to keep your fall porch simple, or don’t have a porch, consider a pair of attractive, colorful chairs. Here, a pair of red wicker chairs mimic the red leaves overhead. When painting the house, I always like to consider how the color of the home will appear against the surrounding landscape. Blue is the perfect color for this Cape Cod home nestled beneath a sugar maple with its vibrant fiery color.

 

Keep your fall porch simple with a grouping of simple cotton stems or leafy branches tucked inside a wire basket, or similar. Small gourds and pumpkins can be added for color.

 

If you have summer plants that enjoy cooler weather, you can add them to your outdoor fall decorations. Here a bronzy coleus snuggles next to a pale green wicker chair with an autumn pillow. I always try to keep my cool-loving blooms thriving for as long as possible. I’ve had impatiens last through the entire month of October here in northern Illinois.

 

A Victorian cottage makes the best of its porch with pumpkins, mums, and scarecrows. The owner didn’t neglect the upper balcony which features a row of fall and summer flowers mixed together.

 

A line of mounded mums replace summer blooms in the upper window box of this contemporary Victorian home. The glow of the windows as the sun sets matches the golden hues of the surrounding landscape. This is the time of day during the fall season that I like to go for walks and enjoy the fall porch decorations of surrounding neighborhoods. It always lifts my spirits and the temperature is usually perfect for walking outdoors.

 

Of course, there’s always a special magic if you choose to walk after the sun sets. Crisper air and darker skies call to mind evenings spent trick-or-treating. And what’s more fun than resurrecting the kid in you with fond childhood memories?

Rather than decorate with the standard mums and pumpkins, you can enhance your porch or entry with small lanterns like the cozy house below. I have Sonnenglas mason jar lanterns that work beautifully outside because they’re solar-powered. I’ve had them for four years, have kept them outside the entire time (even during the worst of winter) and they still work today. I’ve used them indoors, too. You can read about them here.

 

In addition to its glowing entry, the home above also enjoys an eclectic patio with a cozy conversational area. It’s the perfect spot to enjoy the evening hours with a charcuterie board and cup of hot cider.

 

I hope you found some inspiration and ideas to create a pretty fall porch or entryway. Keep it simple, or go all out. Sometimes even one large mum or pumpkin will do the trick and fortunately, mums and pumpkins aren’t that expensive.