Welcome to the Fall Front Porch

Hi friends, Happy October! It's taken me awhile to get the porch decorated this season because it's been so warm around here and the yard has been a mess because of the drought we're in. No sense drawing attention to the porch when the yard looks atrocious. Although...  we have a long school pick-up line each afternoon at 3:30 on the street in front and I sort of feel an obligation to have something nice for them to look at. Nothing like a line of 40 cars coming by critiquing your outdoor décor each afternoon!

Christmas Front Porch

Invariably I get down to the last few days before Christmas and I start running out of time to share all my pics of Christmas around my house. So here are a few from the front porch. We went through a really cold snap about the time I was decorating it, so it sort of got lost in the fact that I wasn't going to turn into a popsicle working on more fluffing.

Autumn Greetings from the Cottage Front Porch

Hello friends, so hard to imagine we've now moved into October, my favorite month of the year. And my favorite season to decorate the front porch. Welcome to the "Falling for Porches" Porch Hop hosted by our dear friend Laura from Decor to Adore.

Early Fall Door Basket and Front Porch

Last week I shared my 5 Quick and Easy Ideas to Get in the Mood for Fall . I added a bonus tip and that was to do a mini refresh on the front door with a basket or wreath that bridges the gap between summer and fall.

Summer Patriotic Door Basket with Ticking Fabric Ribbon

Last week I worked on getting my front porch presentable and decked out with a Patriotic Summer vibe. During the summer months I keep a red/white/blue theme with pillows, flowers, and my door basket. I add in flags the last couple of weeks of June into July and then remove them after that first week of July. That color scheme works throughout Summer until late August when I start bringing in some sunflowers and early Fall colors.

Patriotic Color on the Summer Front Porch

I start thinking about Patriotic decorating in early June in anticipation of July 4th. For Memorial Day we usually put out a flag at the front of the house, but I start bringing out the red/white/blue in early June, which I keep out usually until the end of July.

Merry Christmas in the Candlelit Entry

Hello dear Friends, I just wanted to come by to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! This year we have a new little member of the family so it's an extra special time for all of us. Our first grandbaby has arrived and we're all thrilled.

Autumn Greetings from the Front Porch

Decorating the front porch for Fall has been a work in progress this last month since we were gone for a week. It started in early September with a change up for the pillows on the metal depot bench. By the end of summer the porch and flowers start looking a bit tired and in need of a pick-me-up. I like keeping a lighter look in September because the temps are still really warm, but I'll add a few darker colors as it gets further into October.

Fall Carts and Wagons and a Porch Peek

Hi Friends and Happy Weekend!

I've been decorating the front porch for Fall this week and was contemplating bringing out one of the goat carts to "fallify". I love using it as a focal point in Fall decorating. My hubby took me to buy a few pumpkins and mums at my favorite pumpkin barn; just a few... because we have hoodlum squirrels here and nothing is safe. Here are a few pics of the progress on the porch with most everything sprayed with peppermint concentrate. We live on a street with a lot of school traffic, so I guess I'll not try to put anything out here that I can't live without. So I'll share some Pinterest cart and wagon inspiration instead. Maybe I'll just put together a fun look out on the back porch.

Elegant Urns for Fall

The Creeping Fig

If you're looking for a way to make a statement with your Fall decor, especially in an Entry, Dining Room, or really, anywhere you want to grab attention, use an urn as your focal point. Whether it's inside or out, urns command a second look and always seem to elevate the French Elegance factor. Today I'm sharing a load of inspiration and ideas on ways to create a one-of-a-kind decor centerpiece.

Mid-Summer Door Basket with Ticking

Hi Friends, I just wanted to pop in with a quick few pics of my current Mid-Summer Front Door Basket. You may remember we have a bit of a bird problem on the front porch, as they try to make nests in the basket within about 15 minutes of me hanging it out. But this year we put up a nesting box in the corner, so the illegal nesting in the basket has stopped...

Patriotic Front Porch in the RWB

I started thinking about decorating the front porch for the July 4th holiday back in late May when I joined in on a roundup for patriotic ideas and inspiration. This house has a nice sized front porch where I have an old train depot bench so there's plenty of room for some fun seasonal and holiday decor. I really prefer using a basket on the door for faux florals with coordinating color and decorative ribbon, but since I have a problem with birds making nests in the basket from late March to June I usually just do a wreath in early spring to summer. I took a chance that by late June the birdie problem would be over. I think I'm safe...

Fall Cottage Front Porch

It's taken me a minute to get things rounded up for the Fall Front Porch this year. Every project takes me three times as long since the back surgery. I'm on track with recovery, it's just a lengthy recovery and I can't move too fast or work too long. I started with a few mums which replaced the sad moth-eaten impatiens that we planted in the vintage concrete pots on either side of the steps. Then I added a few pumpkins, but before I even finished up the first stage of fall the squirrels had started eating them.

Summer Containers on the Porch and in the Garden

Hi Friends, I thought I'd share a quick post with some pics of my containers out back and on the front porch. These were taken a couple of weeks ago, so they are just barely blooming, not really filled out at all. This is my first time posting since I had the back surgery a week ago today. I had to have my husband help with all the "heavy lifting" to get these containers put together. He's not a gardening fan; I can barely wring enough sympathy out of him to water them while I've been "indisposed". He enjoys seeing how much color they add to the porch and the pretty blooms, he's just been trapped in an office for years, so his mind doesn't gravitate to extra stuff outdoors that might be considered work.

Christmas Mix on the Front Porch

Happy December, Everyone!

Hi Friends, are you having fun transforming your home to Christmas?

We had a couple of nice days over last weekend, so I wanted to get the outside decorating done while we wouldn't be freezing. Missouri weather is notoriously crazy at best, but after Thanksgiving it's just as easy to be a snowy wintry mix as anything above 50. So Thanksgiving weekend is when we all shoot for porch and outside decorating. 

Vintage Fall Front Porch

Well, I finally got my front porch put together for Fall a few weeks ago. This year's version is much more enjoyable than last, since last year we were in the middle of a big landscape ordeal. Which means even though my front porch was intact, the rest of the yard was a disaster. Well hey, the front porch wasn't even that great because the workmen would tromp all over things, leave their fast-food drink and lunch debris and generally thought of it as their "personal closet" for all their junk. That meant daily clean up, but it was worth it.

this year

(no overgrown and claustrophobic shrubbery)

Mid-Summer Front Door Basket

In late June I "summerfied" the old bucket on the farmtable in the Garden Room with a wild "just picked" humongous bouquet. In mid-summer I like to have a crazy mix of sunflowers, hydrangeas, and geraniums that look like they just came in from the backyard. I shared the "Summer" ice cream bucket last week, so this week I gathered up some of the same faux flower mix and filled a gray wash wicker basket for the front door.

Front Porch and Landscaping Update

I've been trying to get this post out for awhile, waiting on warmer weather to get some flowers and a fern for the front porch. We had a lot of rain and chilly weather with freezing temps even at the beginning of May. My Cervical Spine problems and surgery have kept me from being able to get plants and flowers potted, so I had to wait for last weekend to persuade my husband to take me out to find some. We tried 3 different places and since I'm about 4 weeks behind on this project all the plants were picked over and way overpriced. I had to make choices in a hurry because the nurseries were crowded and 3/4 of the customers weren't bothering to wear masks. I ended up with a bit of a hodge podge, but at least I have a few colorful blooms.

Christmas Door Decor and Porch Peek

Hi Friends, do you have your Christmas decorating finished up? I hope you've had some good weather to get you in the Holiday mood. I had to get busy this weekend and put together a few things for the front porch and a change up for my door basket so I could join in with Amber's Christmas Door Decor Blog Hop. If you're coming from Amber at Follow the Yellow Brick Home, I'm so glad you're here!

Fall Front Porch and Landscape Beginnings

With temperatures in the 80's and 90's till a week ago, it's taken me a bit to get my front porch decorated for Fall. I didn't go all out this season because I knew that we would be starting our landscape work here in October... and then last weekend we had a killing frost that took out my flowers out back. Thankfully I went ahead and covered the mums out here, not really thinking it would get that cold.