Simple & Thrifty Fall Front Porch Decor & 25 Fab Fall Outdoor Spaces

Today I’m sharing my simple and thirty fall front porch decor as well as the before and after of our front porch makeover and am joined by 24 of my friends sharing their fall outdoor spaces.  

I know I’ve said it a million times, but I love a good before and after.  After weeks (or months) or working on a makeover or renovation project, it’s so fun to look back at how it looked before you started as a reminder about how far things have come along.  I’m really excited that later this week I’ll be sharing the before and after of the front exterior of our house and front yard; and today I’m sharing a little sneak peak with our fall front porch.

Fall Front Porch

Well, it’s more of a “stoop”, really. Or a covered entry way. So far, we’ve updated the entire front of the house with new paint/stone work/ cedar paneling.  We redid the driveway, stairs and sidewalk, switched the posts out to cedar, added a new door (and stained it to look like cedar), and changed out the exterior lights. And it’s almooooooost finished.  We still plan to refresh the original concrete on the porch and steps that lead down to the side/garage with some of the Rust-Oleum Stone Effects (that I shared in this post at our old house).  We also need a new mailbox and house numbers.  But I’m getting way ahead of myself here! Today is all about adding some simple and fun fall touches to the front porch…

I’m also really excited today to be hosting the Seasonal Simplicity Fall Outdoor Spaces hop!  24 of my blogging friends are sharing one of their outdoor spaces all dressed up and cozy for fall.  Make sure to check out all the beautiful inspiration and hop around to see what they are sharing – all the images and links are at the bottom of today’s post.

Well, here it was BEFORE.  Maybe you read my post last spring where I share all the details about how our yard was torn up the day before we moved in (without us knowing about it).  If not, it’s worth a read!  You can also see the rest of the “before” that we were working with after buying our new-to-us home last fall.

Cracked patio stones served as the sidewalk, and the grass had been torn apart (read about that here).  It also had decorative white posts and quite a traditional door and exterior light that didn’t suit the more modern aesthetic that I wanted to go with.  I felt like the straight lines of the 1968 architecture would work better with cleaner lines and more modern finishes.  Here is a sneak peak at how it came out (come back later this week for the full reveal!)….

So, since I’m pretty much in love with the new finishes on the exterior, I wanted to keep the fall decor pretty classic and simple. Just my DIY dollar store fall wreath, piles of mums and a mix of mini pumpkins in traditional orange and white.

I love how the door came out!  Guess what, it’s not real wood! I’ll share the tutorial for how I stained a non-wood front door really soon, as well.  The beautiful trim work was all treated to three coats of white paint to freshen it up and get rid of the brown.  I think it works much better with the dark grey/blue colour we chose for the exterior body of the house.

I shared my tutorial for this DIY dollar store wreath here…

And I didn’t even get a new door mat! Still loving this scrabble letter mat that I found at Walmart last spring.  Especially now that it really is starting to feel like home around here.

I mean, all you need to do is pick up some cute planters (I got this one at Home Depot for less than $20) and throw some adorable little pumpkins in it. Simple and thrifty!

You can see the concrete here that we plan to refinish with the Rust-Oleum Stone Effects.  Just ran out of time.  I would love to squeeze that job in before the colder weather really sets in, but the rain has already arrived so we shall see!  I love Stone Effects – you can see how it totally transformed our old patio in this post.    I think the stairs and landing will look amazing redone with it!

Well, there you go.  Simple, right?  But festive for fall and welcoming none-the-less. Also affordable, quick and easy are kind of my top priorities these days between how much time and money we’ve invested in the renovation recently:)

Today I’m joined by a talented group of blogging friends who are also sharing their Fall Outdoor Spaces with you! Just click on the links below the images to be taken to see their full post…

The Happy Housie
The Handmade Home
Taryn Whiteaker Designs
Rooms FOR Rent
Grace in My Space

Southern State of Mind
Cassie Bustamante
Craftberry Bush
Nick & Alicia
Inspiration for Moms

Zevy Joy
A Pretty Life
Two Twenty One
Jennifer Rizzo
Modern Glam

Lolly Jane
The Tattered Pew
Tatertots and Jello
She Gave it a Go
Life is a Party

Hallstrom Home
Amber Tysl
The DIY Mommy
Clean & Scentsible
This is Our Bliss