Fall Porch Ideas

What is it about fall that is so warm and lovely..........around our house it means leaving the screen door open in the evening to let the cool night breeze waft through while we cuddle up with a soft blanket and relax after a long day.   Or sitting outside at dusk on the porch swing listening to all the night sounds that always sound different at this time of year.

Taking special care to decorate the front porch just as I would the inside of our home means a lot to me.  I like to think of it as the first impression others will have of your house.   And you don't have to spend a lot of money to do it.  Take a look........

Fall decorating outside is so much fun because there are so many decorating elements to choose from.  Pumpkins, hay, corn stalks, mums, the list is long and fun.

The first thing I did was build this chalkboard with 1 x 2's and left over bead board.  I've always wanted a chalkboard like this for the front porch because it reminds me of the kind you see outside of cute cafes or boutiques.  It wasn't hard to make at all and hopefully soon, I'll write up a tutorial for anyone interested in making one yourself.  Total cost was around $15.

For our statement row of hooks, I thought I would incorporate some warm color into the porch by making an apple garland with real apples.  Baby white pumpkins would also look great.  I drilled a hole into each apple, threaded rope I already had through it and knotted the end.  Then I coated the apples with spray polyurethane.  I've heard doing that will slow down the rotting process, not sure if it works, but hopefully they will look nice up until it's time to decorate for Christmas.

The copper sheet with a scarecrow on it is something hubby found in a box of junk from a yard sale.  I punched two holes in the top, threaded hemp twine through and hung it up.   I used leftover wood scraps from my bread boards and created these fun scrabble tile inspired wood blocks with letters on them by cutting each wood piece into a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2" square, printing stencils from the computer and painting them on.

I love these so much that I'm considering doing each letter in the alphabet and storing them in a large wire basket. 

After completing our salvaged bowling alley floor table, I needed to find a new place for our coffee sack ottoman, so, I sprayed on some fabric protector and moved it to the front porch.

I bought the white bucket for the mums sitting on the ottoman at the Dollar Tree, along with the tall jar candles.  I tied some jute twine around the slender, somewhat boring candle jars to pretty 'em up a bit.  The wood tray is a find from my hubby.

This year, I thought it would be fun to use gray pumpkins instead of orange, simply because I'm crazy about the calm color.  When it gets closer to Halloween, we'll carve up some scary jack-o-lanterns and put out there with them.  I wanted to keep the pumpkin decor pretty simple.

My hubby found this old bird cage and I just loved the lines, but not the color, so, I spray painted it my usual go to color, oil rubbed bronze.  To create a lantern with a soft glow, I cut out a small piece of unbleached kitchen parchment paper to line the inside of the cage with.  Then I put a strand of Christmas lights inside.  We also have a strand of outdoor lights up inside the trim around the porch.  The lantern, the candles and lights make a warm and cozy atmosphere at night that makes you want to sleep out there.  

On the other side of the porch, I changed out our summer pillows for some pretty fall natural pillows that I just wrapped in burlap and jute webbing.

And that's it!  Can't wait to make it spooky for Halloween!  Do you like to decorate for Halloween, too, or do you just stick to a fall theme?  I thought it would be a lot of fun to hang a witches hat on that row of hooks.  I am crazy about Carla's Bewitched hat door decor hanging on a vintage hanger.  So cool!

Here's a fun question.......do you all have a favorite holiday (any holiday) movie that you like to watch every year on that particular holiday?  For us and Halloween, it's The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.  I have seen it so many times that I could act it out in a one woman show.  LOL  What's your favorite?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

Fall Mantel/Ledge Ideas

Hey there!  It's only the beginning of the week and I'm exhausted already and wishing for Friday.  Can you believe we are nearing the beginning of October?  I can't!  It will be Christmas before you know it. 

I finished up our fall mantel/ledge this past weekend.  I think I changed it about a 100 times until I was satisfied with it.  I tried to use things I already had around the house cause I don't like spending extra dough on seasonal things.  First thing I did was top it with a wide plank of barn wood to warm up the ledge and give it a little more depth so I would have more room.  Here's a look.....

Remember those vintage music magazines from 1936 and 37?  Well, I didn't use them in the guest bathroom.  I decided to use them here but I didn't want to commit to actually sticking them to the wall, so I picked up 3 foam boards from the Dollar Tree and glued interesting ads from the magazines to each one, then nailed the boards to the wall.  The trays are also from the Dollar Tree, but I spray painted them oil rubbed bronze cause it's what I had.

The pumpkins were decor I had left over from last year, except the small white ones, which are real.  The old wood frame is one of the finds from our picking trip.  I love the the music ad centered in the frame.  I thought it tied in very nicely with the New York subway art also hanging in the room.

The books are vintage finds, the candles from the Dollar Tree.  I wrapped them in jute twine for a little texture.   These aren't going to be lit, so it's all good, no worries about all the paper and fire. :)

These iron pots were also found on our picking trip.  My kids love candy corn and caramel so I filled 'em up so they could grab a treat when they walk by.

That's it!  What do you think?

Happy Fall!  Have a great day!  Linking up with TLC!  Come join the fun and get some great ideas for fall!

Fall Transitions in the Living Room

Hey there!  Hope everyone has been having a great week!  Have any of you started your fall decorating yet?  I've been doing bits here and there.  I like to keep it simple when transitioning from season to season in decorating.  In the fall, I bring out the cozy throws, add more natural elements that remind me of nature and Thanksgiving, yummy scented candles and, of course, pumpkins.  My living room is finished and I wanted to give you a little peek.  I did a special fall mantel but I'm saving that reveal for another post.   Here's a look at the simple, inexpensive things I did to transition into fall in this room.

I brought out our cozy sherpa throw for those nights of cuddling on the couch.  I had trouble finding the perfect fall fabric for pillows, so, after seeing lots of jute or burlap wrapped pillows online, I decided to wrap some of my own linen covered pillows with jute webbing that I had from a leftover project.  I really prefer natural elements in my decorating, so I thought this was a fantastic idea and had to give it a try.

And I'm so glad I did!  I love the natural, calm and cozy feel and textures.

I wrapped another  pillow I made with part of a burlap coffee sack, attached grommets and then threaded hemp twine through it.  Love these pillows!

My hubby found this old wooden box by the side of the road and I LOVE it.   It will show up in another post coming soon.  It has perfect fall colors and I didn't have to do anything to it but clean the spider webs, grass and mud off.

We eat lots of apples around our house and they peak in the fall, so, I love to include them in decorating.  They really do add wonderful fall color.  That's about it for this side of the room.  I've decked out my mantel/ledge for fall on the cheap and I'm thrilled with how it turned out.  I'm posting about that soon, so stay tuned!  I'd love to hear what everyone else is doing to their homes for fall!  Have a great day!