Easy fall ideas for a small porch

October 05, 2011

fall display with hay and pumpkins
Our fall front porch started with a big change  -- yes, I painted our front door! I have to admit -- it was nerve-racking. I had been thinking of painting our door red for months, but was worried it wouldn't look like I envisioned. 

But we love it! 

Our door was actually a grayish brown -- but it always photographed blue:
dark gray front door with welcome
Many of you have asked the paint color of my “blue” door! ;) The color matched our shutters and I’ve always loved it…I was just ready for a change.

I think your front door should make a statement, and I knew if I got the right color, a red door would look fantastic!

Well. It was definitely a lesson in picking out REDS. GoodNESS. It took three different colors. I wanted brick red -- and the first “brick” color was orange. The second was pink. 

But just like Goldilocks, the third was just right:
chocolate cosmos red front door
This is the color what I think of when I think of brick. 

The color is Chocolate Cosmos and it’s from the Martha Stewart line at Home Depot. 

I changed out the hardware as well -- our old set was seven years old and was showing it’s age. It was brass, which I actually didn’t mind because it wasn’t so shiny anymore. ;) But it was in sad, sad shape.

The new oil rubbed bronze set is so sharp against the red:
square fall wreath on red door
I took down the light fixture and cleaned up the glass, then sprayed it in the same oil rubbed bronze as well:
oil rubbed bronze porch light
It’s AMAZING what some cleaning and spray paint does for…well, anything. See how I transformed our coach lights with spray paint the same way last year.

The red door is actually more of a reddish brown, which works PERFECTLY with our other brown accents:
cottage curved window shutters
Because I cleaned up the front beds a few weeks ago, I was able to add a hay bale next to the porch for the first time ever:
hay bale and mums fall display
I’ve always wanted one – I was so giddy about that silly bale of hay! Now that the landscaping bricks aren’t there anymore, it just fits. 

We’ve been picking up pumpkins here and there over the past few weeks, and I piled them all on the hay. Most will go inside eventually, but I LOVE the big cluster of them, snuggled up with the mums. 

I LOVE FALL!

I was going to put the mums in the pots, but I found Cinderella pumpkins for a steal at a local pumpkin patch. I’ve seen these for as much as $12 each this year! Craziness!

I stacked them three high and they are so fun:
small front porch fall decor
I love how the front has changed this fall -- the landscaping, the door, the hay. ;) 

Of course it isn’t fall around here without my corn stalks – I love how they cozy up our small front porch:
brick red door and fall decor
Now I just need to decide if I’m putting the “Welcome” vinyl back! For now I like it simple -- but we all know that could change fast.

The new color works perfectly with the colors in the window boxes:
fall window boxes
I would like to say I planned that, but no. It took three tries, remember? ;) 

See my heart in the window? 

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Comments

  1. Your door and decorations are so gorgeous! So classy and pretty!
    Jo-Anna

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  2. Thanks so much for hosting! I love seeing all the beautiful outdoor decorations for Fall!
    ~Liz

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  3. Thanks for all the fall inspiration! I love your new front door color, fall decor, hay bale and that cute face in the window :)
    Debbie

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  4. All of the warm colors look fantastic! Love the new light color and door color. Thanks for hosting!
    Sherry

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  5. Thanks for hosting the Fall Outdoor Decor Party! I DO love the new color of your front door. I'm really bad at picking paint colors so it helps to know that it happens to most of us.

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  6. There is nothing like a red door. It looks beautiful. It's always amazing the power of color and the change painting something fresh can bring. Enjoy & Happy Fall.

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  7. omg your cinderella pumpkin "topiaries" look amazing!!! i just made something quite similar this past weekend for our front porch but since i live in CA and our weather can very easily stay in the 90s thru October i went Faux with the pumpkins and i adore them!! looks amazing

    todayimet(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  8. Love the square wreath! I am partial to a red door. Thanks for inspiring me today!
    ~Danylle

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  9. First of all, LOVE your orange mums. Either we don't have them that color or they photograph different colors :)

    then love that your flag is still flying - ours is too. :) considered taking it down but then it was Sept. 11th and I have just left it up - beautiful weather here so it will stay till it gets cold.

    and I am anxious to read about your door. we have a burgundy/red door (matched the shutters too) but I am actually wanting to paint it something different! :) maybe black?? or maybe just back red - want to read how you deal with different seasons and always having red as backdrop for wreaths, etc - spring can be hard sometimes.

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  10. I loved your "before" door, but holy buckets I LOVE THE RED!
    Thank you for hosting!
    Kerry at housetalkn.blogspot.com

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  11. Sarah, your Fall front porch outdoor area looks fantastic! So welcoming! Thank you so much to you all for hosting such an AMAZING fun PARTAY:) As a newer blogger workin' on gaining my audience it was great exposure. Can't thank y'all enough. Carrie

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  12. I love your entry door and fall decor! New follower and thanks for hosting, linking up is fun and there are so many talents out there!

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  13. Sarah it looks great! And that is definitely the color I think of when I think of barn red. Very nice. I knew you were going to paint your front door. I even mentioned it in a couple different comments. And I don't even follow Twitter. heehee The whole front of your house looks amazing! If I was driving by, I'd be rubber-neckin' fo sho!! lol Nicely done. =)

    ~ Catie

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  14. OH that linky party looks so good with all those Fall colors. I am glad I could add mine to it.
    Your new door looks fab. Makes me want to change my white plastic one pronto.
    Thanks for the inspiration and the linky. I am off now to visit some of those gorgeous looking links.

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  15. The door and your decorations are beautiful! They really work together well. The Cinderella Pumpkins you point out on your front porch are actually Long Island Cheese pumpkins. They store really well and go great in pies!

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  16. Looks great! I love the color of the door. I'm a new visitor (jumped over from Rhoda's) & wow you have the best blue shutters & window boxes! They look SO good with the festive decor! Hopefully I can throw something together today and link up later....I'm so behind on these parties. Thank you for the inspiration :) Look forward to following you!

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  17. Yay, Sarah! Your new door color looks pretty & all the Fall stuff too. Loved having these linky parties with you, my friend!! xoxo

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  18. Gorgeous!! I love love love the red door!!! I so badly want to paint our door some color, but my husband thinks it'll take too much time. Looking forward to your door painting post so I can convince him otherwise!! :)

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  19. Now that my planters are all finished I need to get all the pumpkins and hay bales! I love the color of the door! I love the whole look! Great job :)

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  20. Hi Sarah! Thanks so much for hosting your wonderful outdoor Fall party. I love all that you have done to your yard both front and back. Funny too as you and I were undergoing a backyard makeover at the same time. I know you are enjoying yours very much too! Happy Fall, my favorite time of year too.

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  21. Love your new front door color as well as the hardware and light redo. Your autumn decorations are just the perfect accent to your entrance. I linked up to the party. Thanks for hosting. I can't wait to see what everyone has been doing!

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  22. I love your 'new' door and your fall/Hallowe'en decor. So beautiful. And thanks for all the fall inspiration provided in the links. So much fun! [but still, I can hardly wait to see what you come up with for Christmas:)]

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  23. So jealous!!!! I live in Florida. I grew up in Connecticut.So I remember the beauty of fall. Your house looks wonderful . I'm going to try and have pumpkins outside this year for a fall look.But Florida isn't to kind to them.Moldy in days!!! So I think I'll poly them 1st. Wish me luck.
    Mary
    RENONFL@YAHOO.COM

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  24. Ooooo, I LOVE your new red door!!! It's something I've always wanted myself. Right now my door is actually green, and it's not too bad; but it isn't something I would have picked myself (it was painted green by the seller, and hubby and I just left it that way).

    I'm looking forward to you post on how to actually paint a door - I might get adventurous!

    The rest of your outdoor decor looks just lovely as well. It's also really reminding me that it's time for me to let go of summer and get to work on my outdoor fall decor (hubby just pushed me to do the inside of the house this past weekend).

    Thanks so much for the inspiration!

    Take care,
    Christina
    designingbynumbers.blogspot.com

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  25. Your red door really stands out. Love it. Thanks for hosting the party!

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  26. Hello Sarah,

    Happy to be joining this week and I hope my 'tongue in cheek' Fall Decor doesn't offend you.

    Janet xox
    http://theemptynest-janet.blogsot.com/

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  27. Doors really do make all the difference. I painted mine red in the spring & literally have neighbors stopping to comment.

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  28. The red door looks aaamazing! I love everything about your outdoor entry space and especially love that your flag is still flying. What do you think of adding your house numbers in vinyl? I have been seeing it more and more lately and Holly Mathis just posted her new front door and it looks so cool. I'd be more than happy to send you the vinyl to add a welcome or your house number to your door.
    Great job!

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  29. The red door looks amazing! So does the decor, especially the square wreath! Did you purchase the new door hardware at Home Depot as well? I love it!

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  30. Thank you for all the fun ideas...Do you happen to do the same thing for other seasons and or holidays?

    Happy Fall...

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  31. Sarah...your home is so beautiful decorated for fall! Love your window boxes!

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  32. Thanks so much for hosting!! I have enjoyed these Fall decor parties so much!

    Hugs,
    Debbie

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  33. The full view of your front porch makes me want to invite myself in for a steaming cup of cider by the fire! You've really created the autumn mood...

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  34. Thanks for hosting! I have loved this series! So much great inspiration.

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  35. Love your "new" door ... perfect Fall color, too. And, your Fall touches are fabulous ... so colorful and festive. Thanks for hosting ... I'm off to mingle. *Becca*

    www.adventuresindecorating1.blogspot.com

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  36. Thank you for hosting! I love seeing all of the fall door ideas! I'm so inspired now.

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  37. What a great idea for a party. Thanks for hosting!
    Fran

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  38. A fall party...how fun!!! I love fall and only wish there were more hours in the day, so I could see all the lovely posts linked to the party.

    Thanks for hosting!

    Liz @ The Brambleberry Cottage
    http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

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  39. I live in Noblesville and I have been looking for Cinderella pumpkins but they are so expensive. Would you care to share where you found yours? Love all your fallish ideas!

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  40. LOVE all this. . .great inspiration. . .I'm going to pin some pictures for sure :)
    I just painted my front door Thursday on a whim. . .then had to go by the "right" color Friday. . .I got a flat paint but now wish I would have done a semi-gloss. Anxious to see your tips. . .what I did right and wrong -- ha!
    Love your red door. . .it really does make a great statement. Happy Fall!

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  41. Thanks so much for hosting the party! Love the red door! You're always an inspiration!

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  42. Oh my gosh the decorating ideas are awesome. The square wreath rocks! I would LOVE for you to stop over and link these and anything Halloween in my Halloween link up! I'd love to have you!

    Thanks for sharing, Kelli
    http://3boysandadog.com/deals/2011/halloween-post-round-up-with-linky/

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  43. I'm so glad you posted about your front door. I just painted mine a very similar color as your original and am having trouble highlighting the gray color when I photograph it. Hmmm...got my wheels spinning now for other color options. Thanks for the beautiful inspiration!!!

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  44. Hi! Love your blog!I've given you "The Versatile Blogger" award on my blog today! Come check it out!

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  45. I love the red! I'm actually a coat of primer and 1 coat of paint into painting my door. I couldn't decide whether to match the shutters or go accent (was thinking about this red color actually). Anyway, I hope you do a how-to post about it. My latex paint is sticking to ancient weather stripping. :( Frustrating. Anyway, I'm a fellow Hoosier and long-time follower! Love your blog! Sorry for the novel!

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  46. Your entry way is beautiful. Love all the colors. It looks amazing.
    ~Heidi

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  47. This is a little late... But I'm hoping your read anyway because fall is just around the corner!!! We just bought a new home and are making the red door plunge. The fixtures are currently gold....and that's a no go! Haha. I love your ORB fixtures on your door but my question is....Your kickplate....is that ORB as well or is that like an antiqued bronze? It looks lighter in the pictures but I wasn't sure if that was the lighting. Thanks so much for your help!

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  48. Hi! I love this! So fun! Wondering where you got your hay bale from? I LOVE them and want to know the best AND CHEAPEST way to get them?
    Thanks so much!!

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If you have a specific question I will do my best to answer you back here!

You can find our paint colors and links to items at the "Our Home" tab at the top of my site.

THANKS so much for reading!