Fall is the easiest season to decorate a porch. Pumpkins and mums are meant to be outside, so most of the work is arranging them with a bit of thought. And since Christmas lights go up only days after Thanksgiving, several of these ideas are about making the switch easy.
Pumpkins
Grouped at different heights. Three, five or seven pumpkins on the steps, beside the door, or on an upturned crate. Mix sizes from 6-inch minis to one big 16-inch pumpkin, and mix orange, white and green. Varying the heights is what makes it look arranged rather than dropped off.
A pumpkin stack. Three pumpkins, large, medium and small, stacked by the door with a wooden dowel through the middle to hold them. Pumpkins with flat bottoms stack best; check the balance before you push the dowel through.
White and green only. White pumpkins, pale green heirlooms and silver dollar eucalyptus in the planters. It looks modern, and for Christmas you just add red berries.
Plants
Two big mums. Mums come in rust, gold, burgundy and cream. Choose two colors at most, buy the biggest pots you can (3-gallon rather than the little 6-inch ones), and put one on each side of the door. Pinch off dead flowers and they’ll last through Thanksgiving.
Reuse the summer planters. Pull out the dead annuals and put in mums, ornamental kale and a couple of small pumpkins at the base. Ten minutes a pot, no new pots needed.
Ornamental kale and cabbage. They survive frosts that finish off mums, and their purple and green ruffles still look good at Christmas. Line the edge of the porch or tuck them in among the pumpkins.
Texture and height
A hay bale. One square bale by the door with pumpkins and a plaid throw on top. It gives the pumpkins height without buying a stand. Afterward it can go to a garden, a friend with chickens, or under your Christmas greenery.
Corn stalks on the columns. Bundles of three dried stalks tied with twine at top and bottom to the porch posts or either side of the door. Cut the bottoms straight so they stand evenly.
A chair that looks lived in. A plaid throw, a small pumpkin on the seat and a mum beside it. A porch chair that looks like someone sits there is the most welcoming thing a porch can have.
Switching to Christmas
The wreath. Hang a fall wreath (on Amazon) of wheat, small pumpkins or leaves on the door now. The week after Thanksgiving, swap it for evergreen (on Amazon) on the same hook (on Amazon). The fall one can be inexpensive; the evergreen one is worth spending on, since it stays up through January.
Lights, installed early. String warm white lights along the porch now, tucked among the pumpkins and wrapped around the posts. They’re subtle for Thanksgiving. Add more strands afterward and they’re Christmas lights.
Two doormats. A plain coir mat (on Amazon) underneath with a patterned fall mat on top. After Thanksgiving, swap only the top one for a Christmas mat.