Photo by Emily Riddle
With Fall in full swing, Emily Riddle of Gathered Living provides some fabulous tips for dressing your porch up for the season.
Materials:
• 2 tall plantings (either tall plants or small trees), to frame either side of the door
• 3-5 lanterns of different sizes
• Various wood crates/boxes
• 4-6 mixed sizes/styles of vintage planters or terracotta pots
• Cabbage/kale plants
• Potted mums
• Wreath for door (two wreaths were layered here for added texture)
• Colorful doormat
Photo by Emily Riddle
Method:
• I like to begin by placing the largest objects first. It helps to have some kind of tall plant, sign or statement piece on each side of the door to build the rest of your decor off of and balance the visual weight so that everything isn’t close to the ground. For this setup, I used two 4-foot trees and placed them inside vintage baskets as planters. You could also just gather some larger branches from the yard and place them inside planters for the same effect or use extra-large planters filled with your choice of plants. Whatever you choose, I prefer for these larger pieces to match, but it’s not necessary as long as they are similar in size and visual weight.
• Lanterns are a great item to use for porch decor year round. I used three dark metal ones (one in a larger size and two in a medium size) and also two smaller glass and copper lanterns. You can place battery-operated candles inside, real pillar candles, citronella candles or battery-operated twinkle lights. I also added some white rock at the bottom of my glass lanterns for extra texture and to make them feel fuller and more substantial.
• After I place my larger objects and lanterns, I like to use a variety of smaller planters and plants clustered together to fill in the rest of the space. I used a selection of vintage brass planters, plain terracotta pots, as well as antique concrete planters for this setup with a mixture of mums, cabbages and kale plants inside. The great thing about mixing and matching vintage planters is that you will get a variety of different sizes, patinas and heights so your overall setup doesn’t look too matchy-matchy or boring.
• Old wooden crates or boxes are perfect to use as risers to give height to your display. This extra step that can really elevate your overall setup (literally)! Play around with which items you place on the crates versus on the ground until you find the perfect balance.
• I like to layer two wreaths on top of each other to make more of a statement piece for the front door. Here, I used a gold faux magnolia leaf wreath on top of a large dried autumnal wreath. Floral wire or twine can be used to carefully attach the top wreath to the bottom wreath so it hangs right in the center. It will end up looking like one wreath and will really make your front door pop!
• Finally, choose a fun doormat to add a color to your space. I actually layered two doormats on top of each other for an extra dose of pattern and texture, keeping in mind the overall color scheme of my wreath and plants when choosing the rugs.
Photo by Emily Riddle