DECORATING Fall Front Porch Decor Ideas

A decorative bowl with small orange pumpkins covered in a light dusting sits inside a metal wire cage. Below the bowl, a white pumpkin and a cluster of vibrant red and pink flowers are visible. The scene has an autumnal feel.

I just finished adding the last pumpkin to the front porch.

A true pumpkin decorating labor of love.

Inside?

I’m decorating with mushrooms—but outside—all the pumpkins showed up to stay.

I was just going to add a couple of pumpkins, but then my husband brought down those oversized grapevine pumpkins from the attic and I was staring at them and came up with the cutest idea inside of my brain.

And that led to one thing.

And another thing.

And another pumpkin.

And now?

The fall front porch looks like this.

A black front door with white sidelights is adorned with a festive fall wreath. The porch is decorated with an assortment of colorful pumpkins, flowers, and rustic lanterns. Planters on both sides of the door contain fall foliage, and “GWD” is painted on them.

There are just a few pumpkins.

Right?

At least that’s what I told my husband when I had him help me carry the bags of pumpkins outside.

An outdoor scene featuring small orange pumpkins inside a decorative metal pumpkin-shaped holder placed on a concrete pedestal. Surrounding the pedestal are pots of purple and white flowers, and more pumpkins in various colors, predominantly orange and white.

Close-up of a colorful floral and fruit arrangement featuring red and pink flowers and red apples. The out-of-focus letters "RWD" are visible in the background.

I was once on a podcast about clutter and design and how to create a home that you love and in the middle of the interview, the host asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks.

How much input does your husband have on decorating?

Husband?

Decorating input?

I literally had to press pause and think.

Close-up of a vibrant fall floral arrangement, featuring pink chrysanthemums, orange hydrangeas, red berries, and autumn leaves in shades of red and orange. The background is softly blurred, making the colorful flowers and foliage stand out prominently.

Really? Truly? Just between you and me and this cup of coffee?

Not so much.

But he does have two requests:

  1.  It has to be comfortable
  2.  Can we put a limit on freshy decorating?

A festive front porch displays vibrant autumn decorations. The black front door is adorned with a large fall wreath, and flanked by white planters filled with red and orange flowers. Pumpkins are scattered around, and a doormat reads "Home Sweet Home.

Freshy decorating.

You know.

Decorating that’s freshly.

A close-up of a decorative arrangement featuring pink flowers and small orange pumpkins, enclosed by rustic brown metal rods, possibly forming a lantern structure. The background is blurred, focusing attention on the vibrant flowers and pumpkins.

A decorative outdoor staircase is adorned with an assortment of pumpkins in various sizes and colors, including white, orange, and yellow. Pots of red flowering plants are interspersed among the pumpkins. A black planter holds several small orange pumpkins.

If you’ve read this blog for more than a minute—you’ve heard me mention freshy decorating before.

It’s a term my husband came up with. He explained to me what he means when he calls decorating freshy.

With freshy decorating there’s freshy stuff on every surface. Like baskets of mums and grapevine pumpkins perched kind of precariously and fall garlands and a fall wreath and more pumpkins than consonants in the word “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

Things that look amazing on Instagram.

But that sometimes totally, literally, indisputably make absolutely no sense in real life.

A front porch of a house decorated for autumn, featuring numerous pumpkins of various colors and sizes arranged on and around the steps. The entrance is adorned with a garland of fall leaves and there are two metallic pumpkin-shaped sculptures on either side of the door.

I’m not sure exactly where he came up with that term.  It just showed up one day. Actually I think the exact quote was, “Why do we have to have so much freshy decorating around here?”

Hmm.

I remember thinking…what? Come again? Freshy decorating?

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that referred to on HGTV before.

And I’m pretty sure there’s not a DIY Network show called “Freshy Decorators and the Houses That Love Them.”

A vibrant floral wreath adorns a black door. The wreath features a mix of colorful flowers, including purple hydrangeas, orange roses, and pink blossoms. Green foliage and smaller accent flowers complete the arrangement, creating a festive and lively display.

When he first said it, I remember staring at him blankly.

Willing him to go on.

Willing him to make me understand.

Willing him to explain the almost inscrutable, yet oddly almost understandable term, “freshy decorating.”

A festive autumn display with assorted pumpkins, some white and some orange, arranged on a stone surface. Accompanying the pumpkins are clusters of small, vibrant red and yellow flowers, adding a touch of seasonal color to the scene.

“Can you explain it to me?” I asked him.

He just stared back at me and shrugged and said, “You know.  It’s like when the decorating takes over the house.  When there’s freshy stuff everywhere.”

Then he paused and stated with great dramatic emphasis:

“Seriously.  It’s like nothing ever stays in the same place around here.  I can’t ever find anything. And it’s all…well…it’s all so freshy.”

Oh.

I see.

THAT’S what freshy decorating is.

A front door with a glass panel is adorned with a vibrant autumn wreath composed of orange, red, and purple flowers. Flanking the door are two large planters filled with colorful seasonal blooms. Above the door, a fall-themed garland is draped across the porch.

Close-up of a colorful floral and fruit arrangement featuring red and pink flowers and red apples. The out-of-focus letters "RWD" are visible in the background.

And after that discussion, I tried to unfreshy everything when I could.

When I remembered.

When I thought of it.

A small, light brown, pumpkin-shaped object with a long stem is resting on white napkins in a woven basket. Perfect for budget fall decorating, this charming setup stands out against the blurred background on the marble countertop.

But sometimes when you least expect it, a little freshy shows up.

The other day I walked into the kitchen to find him searching frantically for a napkin.

He had a bowl of Cheerios and milk in his hand and he couldn’t find a napkin anywhere.

I simply walked across the room to the new basket I had bought for napkins (remember—the one with the pumpkin top) and pointed.

“Here they are,” I said. “See, I put them right here under the pumpkin in the basket.”

He sighed the sigh of someone with a bowl of Cheerios who is married to a blogger with never-ending brilliant ideas (like putting all these mini pumpkins inside of the large grapevine pumpkin).

“What was I thinking,” he said. “Of course, they have their own basket now.”

And then he paused and smiled, “Even napkins have to be freshy.”

Shhhh….don’t tell him, but I just moved the plates, too.

PS This week we are having the trees trimmed and I’m collecting the branches for a project for fall.

Just between us? I think he thinks branch collecting was a little freshy.

But he’s overlooking it because this time? Freshy was free.

PPS I just got a KitchenAid mixer (WHY did it take me so long) and you can see what I made here (thanks for the idea, Victoria).

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Posted On: September 13, 2024

Written By: KariAnne Wood

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