It's the season to create a cozy, welcoming decor vignette on the front porch. Having trouble choosing a decor theme? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

As gardening season winds down, and the flowers start to fade, you have the opportunity to ramp up your other seasonal decor. Getting creative with all sorts of different materials is a fun way to embrace the beauty of fall and create a welcoming vision and atmosphere in your yard and home.

With so many gorgeous fall decor items available at this time of year, it can be challenging to decide on a theme or color palette or style to go with. Here are a few ideas to get your creative brain going. Take one of these ideas and run with it, or combine your favorite ideas for a new thing.

Rustic Neutral

Think muted and matte for rustic neutral. Sturdy, strong, and understated, with a touch of demure elegance. Your color palette could include tans, burnt oranges, rusty reds, amber, and black or white for accents. For decor fabric accents, think cozy knit pillows, crocheted or knitted table runners, and burlap. Single or bi-color plaids in neutral tones fit well into this theme too. For floral arrangements, think dried grasses, sheaves of grain, sunflowers, fall leaves, acorns, or other nuts in their shells, pheasant feathers, and some dried eucalyptus for a touch of matte green.

Dried flowers like strawflowers or paper daisies fit right in with sunflowers, grasses, and grain. Emphasize the rustic with decor items like old wooden packing crates, sturdy wooden candle holders, white painted pumpkins, tin washbasins, or wicker baskets. An old wooden ladder with wide steps on the porch is an excellent option for arranging a dried floral arrangement, antique oil lamps, and pumpkins. Antique crocks are the perfect heavy base for tall sheaves of grain, tied with burlap or colored ribbon. A tin wash basin full of pumpkins and gourds is a casual reminder of the harvest season.

 

Cozy Jewel Tones

Think rich, warm, and plush. Dim lighting, warm apple cider, cookies warm from the oven, and the laughter of friends and family. Your color palette could include various jewel tones, from rich red, buttery yellow, classic pumpkin orange, dark velvety blue, opulent burgundy purples, with accents in a dark brown or light khaki. For fabrics, think colorful plaids or thick stripes, in plush textures like velvet and chunky wool blankets. For decor items, think wooden bushel baskets with profusely blooming chrysanthemums side by side with pumpkins. Add plush pillows, brightly colored blankets, and white twinkle lights to a porch swing for the ambiance that invites you to wrap up, have a warm drink, and talk long into the night. Deep bronze flowering mums are the perfect complement to this color scheme.

"The cooling weather makes us restless to change things up, redecorate our space, and make things more cozy and warm."

Navy Minimalist

Embrace fall with a modern edge with navy blue, off-white, and bronze. Think classic but robust, sturdy, and simple. Vintage black and white art prints featuring harvest scenes, bundles of dried grain with navy blue ribbons and white pumpkins, or a simple grain wreath on a dark blue door. Pinstriped or blue and white plaid table runners are the perfect neutral backdrop for the classic dishes with blue and white rural scenes, bronze charger plates, and dark copper mugs. For fabrics, think pillow covers in classic linen, or chunky knit blankets in neutral tones or navy. Keep outdoor decor simple with minimalist white pumpkins, bunches of corn stalks and brightly colored Indian corn with coordinating ribbons. You could choose any color for this theme; it doesn't need to be navy. Any jewel tone works well for a minimalist monochrome decor style.

 

Cute and Cozy

Embrace the adorable with this theme. You can carry this right through to Halloween with all the charming seasonal decor available. For colors, think bright orange, that classic Halloween purple, black and white, and any other coordinating color you like. Add cute and funny letterboard signs, cuddly plush pumpkins with smiley faces, cute ghosts, cozy fluffy blankets, and soft pillows. In the kitchen, get some charming fall-themed tea towels and an apron. Embrace a little bit of kitsch with candy dishes filled with fall candies, a cute fall garland with pumpkins, ghosts, bats, or just alternating flags of color from your theme. Pick out a scarecrow for the yard, and add fairy lights and a faux-leaf garland to everything. Get some giant googly eyes to quickly turn your shrubs into adorable landscape monsters.

 

Spookier & Spookier

This fall theme adds something new every few days, building up to Halloween slowly, keeping passers-by guessing about what's going to show up next. Start small, with a few little bats, maybe a witch hat, a few pumpkins, and a simple fall wreath on the door. Also start with a muted color palette, mostly black, so it doesn't stand out too much at first—add whatever your favorite Halloween colors are as you go along. Every couple of days, add something new—a little bit of spider web on the mailbox. Then a little bit on the fence, and then some along the shrubs. Add one crow statue at a time until there's a whole murder of crows on your lawn in the week of Halloween. Hang more bats or ghosts from trees or porch railings. If you've been adding spiderwebs, start to add in a few fake spiders here and there.

This fall, don't forget to include some fall activities for kids as you embrace the seasonal spirit with creative decorating projects and family fun. Adding new fall decor inside and outside your home is so fun. The cooling weather makes us restless to change things up, redecorate our space, and make things more cozy and warm. Embrace the best of fall, and add some gorgeous decor to your home with a visit to the garden center today.