Autumn on the porch

Happy October!

The weeks have flown by, haven't they?  Autumn is officially here, and I'm finally getting my house ready to welcome this blessed season.  Caring for my son after he had a stroke took most of my time in September, so this Fall I'm decorating simply using things I have on hand. 

My favorite place to be in the Autumn is on one of our porches, so that's where I'm concentrating my Fall decor.  Here's the front door:

Super-simple.  I've placed three pumpkins and a mum alongside my regular planters.  I'm re-using my gourd-filled lanterns from last year and my fall wreath from two years ago.  As you can see, I need to find my neutral wreath hanger!



To "fallify" the porch sitting area, I wanted to make new pillow covers in an autumnal fabric.  I found this fabric some time ago and liked the fact that it includes some blue along with the browns, rusts, and greens; I knew it would work with my styrofoam-cooler-cum-ottoman.  Sewing has been the last thing on my list lately, though, so I improvised.  I simply cut fabric in rectangles twice as long as my throw pillows.  Then I folded the fabric over inside-out and hot-glued along the edges to make side seams.



I turned the new cases right side out and stuffed my pillows inside, then used the glue gun to close up the bottom seam.  Presto!  New pillows for Fall!  And you'd never know from looking at them or touching them that the seams are glued instead of sewn.

I added a cozy throw and a couple of pumpkins to the sitting area and called it good.

For the screened porch, I was lucky to find some ready-made pillows at T.J.Maxx in just the colors I wanted. (I'm lucky to have a T.J.Maxx, a HomeGoods, and a Marshall's store all less than 10 minutes from my house!) The new floral pillows work perfectly with my existing orange pillows and green ottoman.

Pretty ranunculi in a pitcher, a white pumpkin, and some antique Mason jars make a nice Autumn vignette.

For the porch dining table, I did another quick fabric trick.  I had a bit of fabric in a lovely rust color (leftover from my guest room headboards), so I simply folded and pressed it to make an Autumn table runner.  (I didn't even glue the fabric in place for this!)  I added wine corks and candles to a tray for an instant centerpiece.

Now my porches are ready for Autumn visitors.  I wish I could have you over to sit a spell!

To see my entire home as it looked last Fall, click here.

I'm joining these wonderful parties:

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style