It’s that time of the year. Pumpkins, Indian Corn and autumn plants all help to make this front porch decor for fall a hit with visitors!
Each year, I use supplies from the previous porch but mix them up a bit to make my fall front porch decor a little extra special.
This year, I added some new plants and decided to add in freshly harvested heirloom pumpkins, pie pumpkins and lots of fancy gourds.
I find that harvest decoration ideas are easy because of the abundance of color that comes from natural elements. Pumpkins (both real and faux) are everywhere and the Dollar Store also has a big supply of cheap fall decor items.
Spooky looking plants and those with Halloween inspired names are also a great choice for front porches.
Carved pumpkins with LED lights inside add a spooky look to any front porch or entry.
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What do you need for this front porch decor for fall?
I have a small front entry so I mainly decorate my front door with some sort of wreath or swag and I use plants and other decorating items to add color and pizzazz to the front steps as well.
I also like to stick to a small budget, which means that I re-use items from year to year. This means that after the first year, my fall entry can be put together for very little extra cost.
Since both Halloween and Thanksgiving come so close together, I also like to make sure that my outdoor fall decor does double duty for both holidays.
In the tutorial below, I will show you how to make your own supplies stretch a little further without having to purchase everything at the store. You’ll be amazed what you can find around the house to add to your autumn decorations.
Fall porch supplies:
You will need these supplies to duplicate these autumn decorating ideas:
- a door wreath or swag. (I re-used a mantle garland from two years ago and looped into a swag in 1 minute flat!)
- 2 fall mums – Tricolor
- sprigs of dried Japanese silver grass (free is nice!)
- a galvanized jug (from my dining room table)
- a black lantern (an old standby from my mother)
- Mini pumpkin hanging for the shutter (an old Dollar Store recycle)
- small faux leaves, gourds and pumpkins (from my left over Halloween projects)
- 2 celosia plants – Dragon’s Breath
- small tray of pansies
- 2 flowering kale plants
- 1 green heirloom pumpkin
- 1 pie pumpkin (will get made into a pie later!)
- 1 orange pumpkin
- 3 ears of Indian corn
- 1 large pine cone
- 4 interesting gourds
- Fall decor picks (left over from previous crafts)
- 1 Faux pumpkin (from my first porch makeover project)
- Thanksgiving door mat (an old standby)
This seems like a long list but the only new items that were purchased were the plants and real pumpkins. Everything else was a stand by from previous years which made my project a budget makeover.
Fall front porch ideas
I have two large blue planters that sit at my door year round. I painted them with a Sherwin Williams paint called “Naval” and my door and shutters are the same color.
The planters had begonias and ivy in them for the summer and those got planted up as indoor plants and brought inside. In their place, I added some new tricolor garden mums. 
Behind the mums I pushed in some of the flowering sprigs from Japanese Silver Grass. I have a row of it on my back fence line and the sprigs keep FOREVER when you cut them.
I had those sprigs on my dining room table for the past year and into the planter they went to give some height!
The front door gets my standby mantle wreath made into a swag. It is already decorated with faux leaves, gourds and pumpkins and fits right in.
A cute little pumpkin trio that I recovered from a previous craft project hangs on one of the shutters and faux sunflowers add a cheery touch to the door swag.
A Thanksgiving mat adds a welcome to visitors for the holidays. If you have a Halloween mat, you could also use that instead.
Making an entry lantern
I have a black lantern with a white candle that sits near the two blue planters year round. I gave it a good clean and dressed it up by layering left over mini gourds, mini pumpkins and faux fall leaves from a previous craft project.
The end result is a stunner and the favorite part of my fall decor this year. It took all of 10 minutes to make and that includes giving it a clean!
To balance the left side of the doorway, I added the galvanized watering jug that sat on my dining room table recently. It is about the same height and makes both sides even. More Japanese silver grass plumes go into the jug
Decorating the front steps with fall harvest decorations
Now that the front door area is finished, let’s move forward to the top of the steps. I had two terracotta pots to spare and some leftover Indian corn, as well as a tall faux pumpkin from the previous year.
I made two small vignettes for the sides of the top setp. I filled each pot with a celosia plant called Dragon’s Breath and added some pansies in front for filler.
Mini gourds on picks and some other fall greenery from an old galvanized table centerpiece filled the pots up nicely.
One of these pots sits on each side of the porch end. The vignette on the right side contains a huge pine cone, the leftover Indian corn, and my old faux pumpkin as well as the new real one.
The other side has the same pot but the green heirloom pumpkin, a small pie pumpkin, and some very cool gourds complete the look there.
I love the pumpkin thing I have going. Everything coordinates so well, even though each pumpkin and gourd is different!
Time to finish off the steps. Normally, my side planters contain caladiums but once the weather goes below 50 degrees, they will die, so I dug them up and planted flowering kale in them.
I have never seen such big kale plants. I got these for $4.99 each and they fill a 12″ planter side to side with just enough room to stick in some faux picks for fall.
Everything goes so well together. Have I mentioned how much I love fall?
These fall porch ideas cost me less than $50 and took a few hours to assemble. The look is autumn harvest, don’t you agree?
All of the plants are those that do well as the cool weather approaches and will take me through fall until I get a yen to turn my front entry into a Christmas scene.
Pin these fall front porch ideas for later
Would you like a reminder of these ideas for front porch decor for fall? Just pin this photo to one of your fall decor boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.
Front Porch Decor for Fall - Autumn Entry Decorating Ideas
This front porch fall decor is easily assembled in just a few hours using left over items from previous projects plus a few new plants and pumpkins.
Materials
- a door wreath or swag.
- 2 fall mums
- sprigs of dried Japanese silver grass
- a galvanized jug
- a black lantern
- small faux leaves, gourds and pumpkins
- 2 celosia plants - Dragon's Breath
- small tray of pansies
- 2 flowering kale plants
- 1 green heirloom pumpkin
- 1 pie pumpkin
- 1 orange pumpkin
- 3 ears of Indian corn
- 1 large pine cone
- 4 interesting gourds
- Fall decor picks
- 1 Faux pumpkin
- Thanksgiving door mat
Tools
- Garden gloves and old flower pots
Instructions
- Add the door swag to the front door.
- Fill the tall blue planters with tricolor garden mums and add Japanese silver grass flowers for height.
- Fill a black lantern with mini gourds and pumpkins and faux leaves. Place near one tall planter.
- Fill a galvanized jug with more Japanese silver grass. Position this near the other tall planter.
- Fill 2 10 inch terracotta pots with celosia plants and add pansies to the front of them.
- Position these on either side of the front porch.
- Add pumpkins to one side with Indian corn and a large pine cone.
- Add an heirloom pumpkin and a pie pumpkin with gourds.
- Place picks with mini pumpkins and greenery in these two pots.
- Plant flowering kale in the two front planters (12 inches wide) and add fall picks and sprigs of greenery to them.
- Finish with a small mini planter hanging on one shutter.
Notes
My cost was about $50 for the plants and pumpkins. Yours may be more since I reused many of the supplies to make the rest of my decor.
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