Welcoming Early Fall on the Porch

Hey there friends! Can you believe how quick summer went by? Oh my word it was just late spring a blink ago. I’m always a tiny bit sad to see summer slip by. It’s my favorite, I want to dig my heels in and hold on tight to sandy beach days and blissful nothing on the agenda. As I turn my attention to one of our favorite seasons in New England in particular, FALL, I usually start with the porch and work my way inside. There’s nothing quite like mimicking nature–slow and neutral becoming bolder as September gives way to October’s splendor. So welcome to our early fall porch!

Make sure you visit all the talented bloggers for this month’s fall blog hop, they’re listed below and you’re not going to want to miss all the lovely.

For the front porch I wanted to stick with neutrals. I know I know, kinda boring sometimes but I’m a creature of habit. The porch set up doesn’t change much because the chairs and table stay pretty stationary and there’s only one set of steps leading up to the front door. But boy do those steps look pretty all pumpkined out and the accessories are easy to change. Our mailman Ralph is pretty funny when it comes to fall decorating. Last year he was quick to tell me that he wasn’t pleased that I put pumpkins out early. So I’m easing you in Ralph. I pulled out a vintage rug I had in the basement and wasn’t using in the house because it came and just looked too “brown” for my home. It turns out it’s perfect for a covered porch in fall just a teeny bit too wide to leave for a walking path to the front door, I folded once side in a bit (oh real life decorating woes) but hey, it works.

Playing off what I already had, the navy in the Turkish rug, I used navy this year instead of neutral greys seen in last years porch here. The navy plaid pillows are from Pier1 and were very reasonably priced. I think they’ve sold out online but our local store had a bunch in stock. I linked similar ones so you can get the look too. If you follow along on instagram than you saw me working hard on these fall wreaths a few weeks back. They couldn’t be simpler and several friends asked for a tutorial. I always forget to take pictures of my creative chaos and it’s not so pretty with hot glue everywhere but I’ll write out the steps and link products for you.

Neutral Pumpkin Wreaths

SUPPLIES:

Two 18″ grapevine wreaths

Several small artificial white pumpkins (about 9 per wreath)

Hot glue

Something to prop up the wreath as you glue the pumpkins on, I used a tall jar of canned tomatoes

INSTRUCTIONS:

1 )  I bought several bunches of white artificial pumpkins from Factory Direct Crafts online. Here was my entire order: 1 set of Assorted Harvest White Artificial Pumpkins (item #57631), 1 set of White Pumpkins and Gourds (item #54240WH) and 2 sets of Assorted Artificial Pumpkins (item #30060435). This was more than enough for the cluster of pumpkins on two 18″ grapevine wreaths. I had left over pumpkins and could have easily spread this out over 3 wreaths.

2)  Lay out your grapevine wreaths and prop them up against something like a soup can so it’s tilted down. This lets you visualize how the wreath will look hanging a little better than if they’re flat on the table. You almost want to place the pumpkins like they’re sitting in the inside of the bottom part of the wreath so that when the wreath is hanging, you can see grapevine under the pumpkins. I realized this a little late after hot gluing a bunch on one wreath and then having my hubby stand next to the window. Thankfully hot glue is forgiving and I peeled them off. It’s definitely easier to glue them on flat-ish front part of the wreath but this doesn’t give you the gathered look of them “sitting” in the wreath that I was going for. Keep in mind, placement is important.

3) Start with the biggest pumpkins in the middle and work your way out layer them so they look like they’re just sitting there. I finished with the smallest green pumpkins/gourds on the outside edges of the gathered pumpkins. That’s it! Easy once you get a feel for pumpkin placement. Hang them from a pretty ribbon and they’re just that right touch of fall without screaming it from the rooftops. Ralph hasn’t taken them down and thrown them at me yet so I’m counting this as a win!

I wanted the front door wreath to have some color so I brought in some artificial flowers and dried wheat but I layered the flowers so they were on the bottom of the wreath like the pumpkin ones. I’m still pondering making a third pumpkin for the front door for continuity. They’re so easy and I love the simplicity this time of year.

I found some vintage white washed baskets that went well with a new white rattan lantern from HomeGoods. I filled them with white mums–more of my neutral tip-toeing into fall. Our Home Depot has mums as early as mid-August so it was an easy find. I’ll replace them for coral colors and deep rust come later in the season when the leaves change and I can track down the fairy pumpkins. I’m pretty sure Trader Joes might call the police if they see me stalking their store anymore.

Now new to the tour from last year is our side entry. We completed our house remodel about 2 months ago and are settling in. The side door is a dutch door, painted the same color as the front door (Benjamin Moore Catalina Blue). My boys call it the “donkey door”. I completely forgot about it and didn’t make a wreath in time but it will be decked out more soon. I bought a different rug to layer under the doormat but wanted to tie it in to the front porch so it is a navy plaid, like the pillows. I’m super impressed with these rugs, both are from Annie Selke and are by Dash and Albert. They were a little more than a Target rug but the quality feels great.

I hope you enjoyed this early fall tour with lovely pictures by Ruth Eileen Photography. She’s wonderful. Make sure you hop over to the other sweet ladies in this blog tour for some pretty spectacular fall inspiration. So many talented ladies with great ideas to share.