It’s hard to think of fall without thinking about mums and pumpkins. Is it any surprise that I love decorating the exterior of my home with them? Through the years, I’ve started a tradition on how I shop for and decorate my home’s exterior during the fall season. Here are 5 tips I’d love to share with you:
1) SHOP LOCAL NURSERIES.
Local nurseries offer the best variety of plants as well as different colored pumpkins and gourds. I’m partial to supporting local small businesses so despite the convenience of purchasing mums and pumpkins at the supermarket, I usually start the season by visiting my local nursery. During this trip, I typically bring a loved one or two with me. Here’s Lauren, my youngest, blending in well with the scenery. 🙂
2) OKAY TO MIX AND MATCH DIFFERENT PLANT TYPES.
Don’t see a color you like in the same plant family? No worries – just mix and match different varieties. In my recent trip, I picked up an aster plant to complement the color of the mums I chose. I love how the lilac color of the aster enhances the grouping!
3. ARRANGE ITEMS IN VARYING HEIGHTS AND COLORS.
In photo below, you’ll note that I placed one of my mums on a plant stand to give it height. I simply left my aster plant and pumpkin on the ground. For added interest, I placed a lantern (filled with gourds) in front of plant stand. Having a cluster of things certainly draws more interest.
4. SAME COLOR FAMILY STILL ENHANCES COLOR SCHEME.
In my planter, I used coleus (a flowering plant known for its variegated foliage) in the same purple color family as the mums I placed in front of it. I think the colors, although similar, still provide contrasting hues.
5. ADD FUN DECOR ITEMS.
Nothing is wrong with adding cartoony characters to your front yard. It’s going to be Halloween after all! It doesn’t matter if you have kids at home or not, there will be kids at your door so why not make them s–m–i–l–e! 🙂
Here’s the full view of our front steps. I think we’re ready to welcome guests this month as well as the adorable trick-or-treaters we get each year! 🙂
Do you decorate the exterior of your home for fall? Like this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading!
Great tips. I love mums. They’re so festive this time of the year.
We just have a tiny tiny tiny patio area that I usually will decorate with a mum and a couple of pumpkins. I long for a bigger porch!
I love the purple flowers and these are great tips that I’ll share with my husband. He is the one with the green thumb. 🙂
I’m glad you found the tips handy. That’s great that your husband has a green thumb. 🙂
We tend to get stuff from a local farm (hay bales, pumpkins, corn stalks). I’d love to do more with our front porch/yard but I’m also a tad paranoid that the neighborhood misfits will mess it up.
I hear you on the possibility of people messing up with the decor items on front porch. Local farms are great to get fall items too. I get pumpkins from there too! 🙂
Those look great! It gets too chilly here for that kind of decorating, but we love to put out pumpkins and scarecrows for Autumn!
I love the use of purple in fall decorating. Most people stick to the orangish rustics but purple is a hidden gem in fall decorating! Beautiful decorations!
I love your front porch! It is just the right blend of fun and pretty. I always enjoy going to local farms for my flowers.
Thanks, Emily. Local farms are awesome for flowers, pumpkins, gourds, etc! 🙂
I love your choices of flowers! They look fantastic!
Beautiful pictures! My mom used to buy from local nurseries all the time. Here it’s all about farmer’s markets. That’s where you get the flowers.
Looks great! I love fall mums, but haven’t seen orange ones like that around here. I like your idea of having things for the kids even if you don’t have kids since they’ll be knocking at your door for candy!
This is so nice. Love Asters, they add the perfect touch of colour for fall!
I love all the beautiful fall foliage. Sadly.. we have deer and deer like the fall foliage also.
I loved your entry way, it made me giggle too 🙂 and what a cutie is your youngest one !
Thanks so much, Joanna! That flag of Frankenstein makes my kids laugh every time they’re at front steps 🙂
So beautiful! I need to start decorating for Halloween!
I absolutely love mums and would buy them all the time in the Fall when I lived in NC. Your photos are beautiful!
Thanks. I’m always snap-happy :).
Me too 🙂
That coleus is gorgeous! Hooray for shopping at local stores.
We do pumpkins on each step of our deck. I think it’s simple and festive.
I love how you broke down the elements of front porch decorations! They’ve always overwhelmed me & I end up just hanging something on the door. I can’t wait to experiment on our new front porch!
Thanks! Good luck & have fun decorating your porch, Robin.