Simple Christmas Front Porch Ideas
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I have to confess that decor posts are a tough one for me. Don’t get me wrong I love to decorate, but it doesn’t always come easy for me. I feel way more comfortable doing and sharing DIY projects. I have a lot of confidence in those. Decorating…not so much…not all the time. It seems like some people can effortlessly put a room together and it will be beautiful. As far as my own house, I am not one of those people.
There’s nothing effortless about my decorating. Sometimes I struggle with our spaces and end up tweaking long after I think I’m done in order to get things just so. Even then I’m not always happy with the way it turned out.
I’m not telling you this so you’ll tell me that I’m the greatest decorator ever. The reason why I’m confessing this to you is so you know that I struggle with it. I’m confessing to you so that you know you’re not alone if decorating doesn’t come naturally to you either. I have a decor blog and I’m confessing that it’s not always easy for me, especially in my own home.
There’s no right or wrong in decorating, not in my book anyway, but I usually have a vision of how I want a space to look and I work to achieve that. For me, for our home. If that’s not bad enough, it also goes up on my blog for anyone to see. Yeah, it’s way out of my comfort zone. I mean, you’re putting yourself out there for everyone to see…maybe even criticize. I guess I’ve gotten used to it, developed a thicker skin, but it’s still hard.
Ok, now that I’ve bared my soul to you, I thought I’d share some of my simple Christmas front porch ideas. This is a perfect example of me struggling to decorate a space.
I knew that I wanted to add a few small trees to the porch but, beyond that, I had no idea where it was going to go.
I struggled for two weeks and then I ended up bringing my Christmas decor out of the basement and just started playing with it. Adding and subtracting until it felt right.
I took down the vintage window I had hanging over the IKEA dresser that I recreated and hung up a dried bay leaf wreath from last year.
I loved how the trees looked so I went with the rustic feel and added a few pieces of firewood, my vintage twig table, and a galvanized lantern. Simple and woodsy.
Of course, nothing beats having a cute model in your space (bowtie and all). It’s the best decor of all. Want to know how I got him to sit still? I’m dangled a reward in front of him. His favorite snack…a carrot.
I left the old screen, that I got for a couple of dollars at the flea market this year, and added some red with a plaid pillow on each chair.
I hung garland around the door last year and loved it so I went with it again. It definitely works with my rustic, woodsy theme.
I filled a wire basket with birch logs and pinecones and hung my DIY front door basket on the door. Love the addition of the cowbells on the basket and you can really see the pretty color of my new front door.
I love the woodsy feel of the porch and, of course, it helps that we have that beautiful stone to really set it all off.
Hopefully, it will stay this way. But you never know.
So tell me what kind of decorator you are. Does it come easy for you or do you struggle with it like I do?
Check out my other Christmas decorating posts.
Your efforts…so worth it. Love your porch
Thanks so much Gail, I really appreciate it! 🙂
Love your porch! I think we all struggle in some way with this. It takes a while to tweak it and make it look right. I have really enjoyed all of your christmas posts. I am wondering where you got the bells and the trees. Those bells are everywhere this year! I would like to get some. Keep up the good work.
Thanks so much Julie. I’m having fun decorating for the holidays this year. I’m afraid I’m going to bore you all with all of my Christmas spaces. 😉 I still have a few more to share.
I got the bells from Amazon. I put my affiliate link in the post if you want to check it out. I couldn’t get it to work the day I wrote the post so I just added it. The trees came from Home Depot, in a 2 pack. I can’t seem to find the link but I’m still trying. Thanks so much for stopping by. xx
I guess I have to admit I’m one of those people who think the “struggle” is what makes the finished product so satisfying. Your home is so pretty and always satisfies and inspires my never ending desire to just look at a room in a new and different way put together by a very creative person. Some people have the touch and some don’t. It’s clear you’re one of those people who do!
Thanks so much for the sweet comment Cindy, I appreciate it. 🙂 Thank you too for you sharing your perspective on this. I never really thought of it that way but I like it. I’m going to try to remember it the next time I’m struggling while I’m decorating a room.
Love that little tree forest! All very cute. Well…I don’t have any trouble with decorating….beyond the years it can take to finally make a decision! (not exaggerating ) So many options and something new comes along all the time. Merrily we row along.
Thanks Jillian! I know…making decisions can be tough with all the choices. I’m especially bad when it comes to big, pricey items, like my couch. I’m afraid I won’t like it (or I’ll find something better) after I spend all that money. 😉
Kristi, your porch is awesome! I love that you admit to not feeling 100% confident because really…that’s how we all feel. It’s best to just say it so we will know we are all in the same boat. I love all the choices you made for your porch. Now could you come help with mine? 🙂
Thanks so much Stacey! I’d love to come give you a hand with your porch and hang out in your beautiful kitchen. I have a feeling you will do a great job of it though. 😉
So I thought I’m going to decorate my narrow front porch, if you can call it that. I bought some bows and I had a lantern that I used for fall and then just updated it for Christmas. I get home one day and my one bow is off the bench and the other is about to blow away! It’s hard in our area to decorate outdoors because of the wind and snow, and snow and did I mention snow?
Well, I secured the bows and the lantern is staying in place. I want to do more and your porch has given me some inspiration. I think one of the problems with decorating outdoors is you have to be sure the item can take the weather. In the house you don’t have to worry about that. Yours looks great! And I especially like your little model. He looks so sweet waiting for that carrot.
Never, fear – you’re always an inspiration! And thank you for confessing that even talented decorators like you share our struggles. I love wreaths and epsecially appreciate the way you’ve hung them with a simple ribbon at the windows; also love the string of lights above the sideboard and the silver ribbons sitting atop your canisters! Warm and cozy and Christmas-y – all the charm w/o the overly “commercial” look.
Thanks so much for you kind words Marsha, it means so much to me. And thank you for touring my holiday spaces. I’m so glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Thanks MJ!
You’re right about decorating outdoors. It’s a challenge decorating if it’s windy or wet. We’re lucky in that the porch is pretty protected. We just have to worry about spiders and acorns. We have a ton of acorns.
I appreciate your visit!
p.s. I also bought the little white house bud vase from Target. It was the last one, they didn’t have much left of anything.
I never would have guessed that you question your decorating abilities. You always inspire me. I am hopeless so I just copy you 🙂 A few months ago I asked you where you bought your pillow with the red truck and you said Esty so I bought one. After seeing your kitchen I bought the two tier stand from World Market using your link so I hope that helped you in some way. So I admit I’m a copycat!
I hope you don’t lose confidence in me now that I’ve confessed. 😉
I’m happy to hear that I’ve given you ideas, that’s why I do what I do. Many thanks for using my link to make your purchase. It absolutely helps me to keep the blog going. I hope you love your two tiered stand and pillow as much as I love mine.
Thanks Jo, for your sweet comment and for your support.
I love how it looks and the pretty greenery and just the right pops of red. Its really bad when you have no one to talk to about what you do. Decorating is hard sometimes things come together and sometimes they look awful.
Decorating is hard sometimes and I think that living in a small home makes it even harder. I’m learning though and appreciate all the support and encouragement from all of you. 🙂
Thanks so much for visiting Marlene! Have a great week.
Kristi, Your front porch looks so warm, festive and inviting! You’ve created the perfect entrance that says, Merry Christmas everyone! I really enjoy seeing all the different kinds of Christmas decor in magazines and social media, but in this house, me and my Hubby decide together what our theme or colors will be. For me, it’s a lot less pressure and a lot less work because he participates and mabye even enjoys the decorating process with me. Obviously, I would not make a good decor blogger with this philosophy, LOL!
Thanks so much, Kaycee I appreciate it! That’s great that you and your husband can make decor decisions together. My husband has no interest. I’ll ask for an opinion and…crickets. On the other hand it may be a good thing because he would give his opinion even if I didn’t ask for it. 🙂
What a beautiful porch! I love, love, love living by the beach, but the houses here are all jammed in pretty tight and porches are few and far between. I have always dreamed of having one though and a tree out there at Christmas would be just splendid!
Thanks Kim!
This is the first house that we’ve ever lived in that has a porch, and we’ve lived in a lot. I really enjoy decorating it. Just wish we could have spent more time sitting on it this past summer. The mosquitos were brutal so I just couldn’t be out there for any length of time. I’m trying to make up for lost time by sitting out there when it’s nice out, so I can enjoy my trees.
Love the front porch this year. Especially like the trees in a cluster. Are they cut or ready to plant trees? I am a copy cat decorator. I thumb through magazines and blog post looking for something I like. However, I have not redecorated in years. Mostly because I couldn’t get out of my grief and had the attitude, why bother for just me. Lately I have started to redo a few things and you have been my inspiration. I just realized that I am not copying any more but using things as inspiration. Problem is I have more inspiration than money. LOL Keep up the decorating and follow your instinct, they are right.
Thanks so much Debbie, I like the porch this year too. The trees are actually artificial, and they were very reasonable. I’ll tell you they make them so realistic now.
I’m so happy to hear that you are moving forward and thinking about decorating again. I get it though because I have way more ideas than money. Ugh, story of my life!
Have a great week my friend!
Just beautiful, Christi! From seeing your end products, I would never in a million years thought that you struggle with decorating spaces. They are all gorgeous and I enjoy looking at them and all the details in each room. I love the rustic porch…so many great ideas any of us could “copy” in our own homes. I just love all the greenery. So fresh and natural. Thanks for the ideas! I love your house. Jill
Thanks so much for your sweet comment Jill! Yeah, I’m not so sure I should have made that little confession but I just wanted to share that I have decorating doubts too…a lot…and that my spaces don’t come together overnight. I appreciate your support though. 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed the tour. Thanks for visiting!
I always love your decorating!…but I can understand how you feel. I question my decor choices all the time. Just the other day, I ordered a table and chairs for my kitchen and then panicked and canceled the order right at the 72 hour cancellation deadline. I am sure they have a picture of me with darts thrown at it at the store but I just wasn’t 100 percent sure. That’s my biggest problem. I am sometimes afraid to make mistakes so I do nothing…I really need to work on that! Thanks for the beautiful tour of your porch and have a great week!
Shelley
Thanks! I understand your dilemma Shelley. Buying something expensive, like a table and chairs, can be scary. I don’t have a problem buying once I know what I want but it takes me forever to pull the trigger. I need to research the heck out of something before I buy so I know I’m not wasting my money. If you weren’t sure about the table, you did the right thing by canceling it. Always go with your gut. 😉
Thanks for visiting. Have a great week!