Decorate Your Porch for Autumn & Halloween

Welcome to the 401st Metamorphosis Monday!

How was your first weekend of October? When the calendar says “October” I guess there’s no denying fall is here. Everything is still lush and green here in Georgia but I know that’s about to change.

Blog Update

This weekend I had a big update come across for my blog. After the update had completed, the slider that’s normally at the top of the blog was missing and the little tabbed thingy on the sidebar with links to the FAQ page, the “subscribe” tab and “Search” box, had vanished.

If you would like to subscribe for email updates to know when a new post is up here at BNOTP, you can do that here: Subscribe. Hopefully I can add the “Search” box back soon, I know how helpful those can be. In the meantime, the categories at the top of the blog are a good way to locate a specific post.

Decorate Your Porch for Autumn & Halloween

This weekend I added a bit of Halloween to the porch.

porch-ideas-for-halloween

 

I decided to keep things pretty simple this year and not go too overboard with decorations, although the month is still young. 😉

halloween-porch-ideas

 

Wal-mart Neighborhood Market has had the best prices I’ve seen on pumpkins this year, only $3.98 a pumpkin.

decorate-your-porch-for-fall-halloween

 

I picked up three on a recent shopping trip and scattered them about the porch.

halloween-porch-with-pumpkins-black-benches-pillow-and-lantern

 

I have a friend visiting this week and we’ve been old-house-touring, antiquing, and hitting our favorite haunts like A Classy Flea, Queen of Hearts, HomeGoods and Marshalls.

decorate-porch-for-halloween

 

This pillow followed me home from Marshalls.

halloween-porch-decor

 

It told me that it needed to be on my front porch this year to greet all the Trick-or-Treaters who’ll come calling.

happy-halloween-pillow-on-black-bench

 

Do you have a favorite fall or Halloween decoration that you love to use each year?

decorate-your-porch-for-fall-halloween

 

I think mine is probably my fall wreath (seen on the door above) or the autumn “cardinal” fireplace screen seen in this post:  Fall Mantel and Fireplace Screen

Autumn Firescreen with Cardinal Birds in Birch Tree

 

Looking forward to all the fabulous Before and Afters for this Met Monday!

Metamorphosis Monday

Metamorphosis Monday is a party that’s all about Before and Afters. If you are participating in Met Monday, please link up using the “permalink” to your MM post and not your general blog address.

To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top of your blog, into the “url” box for InLinkz.

In order to link up, you’ll need to include a link in your MM post back to the party so the other participants will have an opportunity to receive visits from your wonderful blog readers.

Please observe these few rules:

Only link up Before and After posts that are home, gardening, crafting, painting, sewing, cooking or DIY related.

Do not link up to the party if you’re doing so to promote a website or sell a product.

Do not link up a post that was just linked up last week since readers would have already seen that post.

*If a post is sponsored or a product was provided at no charge, it will be stated in post. Some links may be affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases. *



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Comments

  1. Love that pumpkin pillow, Susan. Your porch looks so pretty. Thanks for the linky.

  2. Bench Love Susan! They’ll look wonderful decorated for all the seasons but especially Halloween 🙂

  3. LOVE the Halloween pillow on your pretty front bench Susan!!! Happy October! Thank you for the fun today

  4. Just Perfect!

  5. There was an ad over every single picture.

    • Debbie, I’m not seeing that. Are you reading via a phone or mobile device? I’m not sure what would cause that.

      • I’m on an iPad. I could clear each ad, but still it was on everyone. It was the same ad, too.

        • That’s not supposed to be happening. I’ll bring the blog up on my iPad and check that out.

        • Hi Debbie, Just booted up my iPad to see how it looks and I don’t see any ads on top of the photos. (See attached) I haven’t had anyone else mention that. You may want to try rebooting your iPad in case there’s just a funny glitch of some sort. I hope that works!
          Blog on iPad

  6. Sheila Cartelli says

    Where ever did you find your Fall Fireplace Screen. I love it…
    SheilaC

  7. I have always loved your cardinals fireplace screen, Susan. So it will have to be my favorite at your home!

  8. All the decorative elements add to an understated, but inviting front
    entry way! Love the pillow & wreath. Well done. Thanks, Mary

  9. All the decorative elements add to an inviting entry way! Love the pillow and wreath.

  10. Regality (aka The Quing) says

    Wait! Wait! Simple? Simply wrong! *L*

    Re: The price of your pumpkin. There is a blogger who joins your parties (For the life of me I can’t remember her name.) who has access to pumpkins that are sold by the carful. Can you imagine? *sigh*

    I surely wish I had a “Howdy Neighbor Porch” so I could decorate it for all seasons the way you do so well (but not “simple”, please!). Do you actually use the benches regularly? And do you have neighbors who stroll by?

    • Wow, by the car load…that’s amazing! I might go a little crazy. lol
      I sat out there a good bit this summer when I had a sprinkler going on the newly planted shrubs. I just loved reading there and listening to the sprinkler sway to and fro.
      I have several neighbors who like to go for walks and others who I see out walking their dog. They always speak if they see me on the porch. My house sits a bit back off the road and I’m a little hard to see for the columns. I think back in the day when homes were right along the road/sidewalk, those neighborly sidewalk/porch visits happened a lot more often. Maybe that’s why neighbors all knew each so much better back then.

  11. Martha Franks says

    Susan, love your lovely front porch! I really like that you have not over-done it! It’s simple and inviting. That’s my style! Thanks for sharing!

  12. Thank you so very much! Love the front porch on your home. So pretty!

  13. LOVEly!! THAT bench!!! Aren’t you just so pleased with your boxwood planters??!!?? Everything looks so “pleasingly put together!!” franki

    • Thanks, Franki! Yes! The Green Mountain boxwoods in the planters have exceeded my expectations. I love how they look in front of the porch.
      I need to get brave enough to trim them back some next spring, but I’m afraid I’ll mess them up. I do love their little Christmas-tree shape.

  14. Your porch looks perfect for fall, Susan! Isn’t it nice that it finally feels like it *might* be arriving? Thanks for hosting! Hugs…Debbie

  15. Linda Page says

    I agree with Regality and also wish I had a large front porch to decorate and sit on to visit with neighbors strolling by. Your porch is perfect and I love the pillow. I’m glad that it followed you home!! It will love living at your house.

  16. Cynthia Lambert says

    It looks lovely. Not too much – not too little. Perfect.

  17. Your porch looks great! I love to use pumpkins and Mums to decorate for Fall too. My favorite Halloween decoration I have is my Blow Mold Ghost & Pumpkin, it’s just not Halloween without them.

  18. I have always loved that fireplace screen. One day I will make my own!

  19. Well. I have just found your site and looking forward to reading a lot of posts. I think if we were neighbors we would be friends…you seem so much after my own heart.. thank you for a lovely blog

  20. Love the benches. Where did you find them? Perfect fit for your porch. I love decorating for Fall! Your porch is stunningly simple. Love it!

  21. Your porch looks great in its simplicity, Susan. With the new benches, not much else is even necessary. Funny, I do have a favorite I pull out each fall, and this year I haven’t even! It’s my huge Windsor Ware platter…..
    Thanks for having us in to start the week, and I hope you have a good one.

  22. Hi Susan…Your porch is always beautiful. Just noticing that your steps are brick, could you tell how you clean and maintain them? Have you ever sealed them? We built a house 3 yrs ago and have brick steps. Embarrassing to say, we did not know you were suppose to seal them as soon as they were laid. So, this yr they looked awful and my poor husband had to scrub each brick twice just to get the dirt off, then seal them. Well they look a lot cleaner but, the sealer didn’t seem to do nothing. Just wondering how you keep yours looking so nice.

    • Thanks! I’ve never sealed them but that sounds like a good idea. I should probably check into it. Mine have gotten moldy looking in the past, but the last time I had the porch cleaned and pressured washed, I purchased this stuff: http://amzn.to/2cYzrsM and sprayed it on all the spots where mold/mildew tend to be an issue. So far it has worked beautifully and hasn’t come back. I’m so glad you mentioned this though because it’s probably about time I did it again. Just want to mention that it’s very important that pets do not walk on it while it’s wet since they could get sick.

  23. Love the cardinal fireplace screen!

  24. Jill from Southern New Hampshire says

    Your pretty benches look so great with your fall décor! That pillow is absolutely perfect – when I saw it, I couldn’t resist going out during my lunch break in search of one for our family room ( I was supposed to be doing some reading for book club!) but couldn’t find it. I’m going to check in TJ Maxx as well: )

    • I hope you find one, Jill. I know the Marshall’s in my area get things in at different time, one always seems to get items in later than the other one I go to. So if you don’t see it now, you may want to check back in a week or so. It was very reasonably priced, I believe it was $14.99.

  25. Hi Susan,
    Jillian said it best…I think you’ve become a good friend to many; your home is lovely, and so are you! Thanks for sharing your perfectly understated October porch…so pretty.

  26. I just left my comment and when I clicked on publish, I got a screen that said, “you are posting comments too fast. Slow down”!!!!! WTHeck???? Anyway love your whole front area. Hope you had a fun weekend. Thanks for the party!!!

  27. I just got rid of some old halloween decorations that no longer mesh with what I am using these days. It felt good to declutter. I love to decorate the porch but since I moved and live in a townhouse with an HOA it’s so hard to figure out what you can and cannot do. But I love to put out fake pumpkins, and “Pumpkin Head” on the front porch (when I had one). We took old jeans, a long sleeve shirt and boots, filled with newspaper and sat him up in a chair on the corner. It was perfect. Can’t wait until I move next fall and decorate without being fined.

  28. Thanks for hosting!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

  29. rattlebridge farm says

    Love your festive porch. The benches are so elegant. Thanks for hosting this fun party!

  30. Cyndi Raines says

    Very nice Susan – it’s just right. I, too love the fireplace screen. Wish I was an artist and could duplicate it! Happy fall!

  31. Gorgeous porch Susan…so loving that bench. Happy Fall and thanks for hosting!

  32. Love your porch decorated for fall. So pretty. Thanks for sharing, Cynthia

  33. Lovely porch! That fireplace screen is perfect for the season. I couldn’t help but notice the two shrubs in the containers they are so pretty on each side of your porch. What kind of plants are they? Do they grow in that shape or do you have them trimmed that way? I need those for my containers!

    • Thanks, Pat! Those are Green Mountain boxwood and I purchased them in that shape, only they are much fatter now. They’ve really grown!

  34. Jean Sprimont says

    Susan,
    As a faithful follower I simply do not understand how I have missed your truly fabulous cardinal fireplace screen. Where did you find this outstanding addition and how long ago? Both the subject and detailing are out of this world. It ranks among my favorite things of yours joining the lamp frequently featured on your hutch, the silhouette Halloween plates, and the pedestal bunnies you so skillfully use on your Easter/spring tables.

    • Thanks so much, Jean! I believe I found the firescreen at A Classy Flea in Marietta, GA. It’s been many years ago, but I’m pretty sure that’s where I found it.

  35. Susan, your porch is classic elegance with the perfect autumn additions of mums and pumpkins and the cute pillow! Pam @ Everyday Living

  36. Susan,

    Your porch looks beautiful and welcoming! I love the new benches, the boxwoods, everything!

    Where did you get your wreath?

    Thanks,
    Beth

  37. Hi Susan, this has nothing to do with today’s blog. But thank you for it. I was wondering if you knew any information on Back Porch Musings, Pat. I saw on one of the blogs that she passed away and was wondering if you know anything. I enjoyed her so much. I could not find an email to privately email you. That is why I’m posting this message on your regular blog.

    • Hi Irene,
      I just heard about it a few days ago when I read it on a blog post on another blog. So sad. 🙁 I had no idea she was sick so I was shocked when I read she had passed.

  38. I don’t own my own home yet (still working at it!), but when I do, having a porch is a MUST for the very reason of being able to deck it out for the holidays. 🙂

    I really love the simplicity of the look you put together here, and I absolutely L-O-V-E that pumpkin pillow! So cute! <3
    I look forward to seeing more!

  39. Your front porch is so welcoming and absolutely beautiful, Susan. Two days ago I just put out my Autumn door wreath and corn stalks as well as some pumpkins throughout my landscaping that I mix with faux ones. As for a favourite decoration for Halloween; the wreath is replaced with a witch on a broom (made out of paper mache) that I’ve had for eons it seems which dictates the theme for the large pumpkin that I carve every year. I also have a large silhouette lawn ornament of a witch that I made, which I put out closer to the day. -Brenda-
    P.S.: For your readers, IF having problems with critters or birds feasting on your pumpkins, apply a thin coat of Vaseline to them and/or after carving apply a thin coat to their interiors which will preserve them a little longer.

  40. Jane Franks says

    Hi Susan: Love your cheery front porch with the large orange pumpkins and yellow mum! I bought yellow mums this year, two and also found the large pumpkins at Walmart for $3.98 here, too! I just bought the mums and pumpkins at Walmart yesterday! I was amazed how nice they are and great price compared to $7 to $10 at the nursery! Happy Fall. Love your Halloween pillow!! P.S. Here’s a tip Susan Branch gives for carved pumpkins; rub cinnamon and nutmeg in the lid and they will smell wonderful when the candle burns inside! I’m going to try it.

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