Declare your unabashed love for the season and its cinnamon-scented trappings with a front porch decked out in fall decor. Along with showcasing some of our favorite displays, we chatted with local design gurus and green thumbs about the best ways to create a festive doorway.
Pile up the pumpkins
When life gives you pumpkins, pile them up on your porch for a grand fall display. If your trunk can’t handle gobs of gourdes, call on Heather Torres of Porch Pumpkins. They’ll bring the squash — yes, pumpkin is a kind of squash — to you, set them up and remove them at season’s end. (She’s booked for 2023, but you can check out her photos for inspiration and get on the list for next year.)
For your own perfect pumpkin display, Dallas interior designer Javier Burkle of Burkle Creative offers this advice: “Start with some beautiful Cinderella pumpkins for interest and layer in an assortment of sizes and colors to create a really full look.” For extra effect, nestle your pumpkins among flora. “I love adding in some seasonal crotons or mums for interest and variety,” he says, recommending you consult a local nursery for more suggestions.
You can also call on Dallas-based Bee Contained, known for its pumpkin displays that are often paired with gorgeous fall planters — which can stand on their own as well.
Fill planters with colorful fall foliage
Creating a planter bursting with seasonal flora can be a DIY job, but you’ll get the most impact with skill and experience. Bee Contained’s Courtney Esposito lets you borrow her expertise; she’ll design, deliver and install expertly arranged plants right at your front door. If you are in the mood to make your own arrangement, she has some advice: go bold. Use all the colors Mother Nature is offering, and add more plants.
“Double down on the traditional method of ‘filler, spiller and thriller’ and add two of everything for extra interest and texture,” Esposito says.
Next, mix in unexpected flowers. “Add winter-hardy plants such as pansies and snapdragons, even if they aren’t in bloom. They’ll be putting on a show before the first frost and can extend the life of your potted arrangement.”
For another autumnal look with little maintenance required, try dried flowers.
Add lights to your porch display
Let it glow by bathing your gorgeous gourds in light. Placed at the level of your pumpkins, lights will allow you to enjoy your display around the clock. You could also use strands of whimsical fairy lights or sprinkle in LED pillars for a flame-free glow.
Create a cozy nook
All that’s missing is a steaming mug of your favorite warm beverage in this picture-perfect bench draped with a chunky knit blanket at the entryway of Dallas design influencer Taryn Whitaker’s home. The vignette also shows you don’t have to use a huge pile of pumpkins to make an impression.
Use color in surprising ways
For most people, pumpkins and the color orange go hand in hand. But there are a variety of colors out there. All-white pumpkins make for an autumn scene that’s more sophisticated than ghostly, as seen in this design by Bee Contained. We also spotted a pretty Dallas front porch with white pumpkins on the Instagram of Christina Dandar’s The Potted Boxwood, whose account will have you drooling over the city’s most timeless entryway designs.
And don’t limit unexpected colors to your seasonal decor. On the Instagram of Abbe Stanton Fenimore (interior designer behind Studio Ten 25), cobalt blue patio chairs look every bit at home next an autumn color palette.
