Fall Porch and Patio

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a great weekend so far! As happy as I was to see the drought come to an end and the cooler temps to hit KC, I am also sad because it didn't last very long before the COLD 30 degree temps hit us! Needless to say we have been scrambling around trying to get the lawn fertilized, grass seed laid, and all of our outside projects done before the REAL winter weather comes our way.

So far I have updated things inside and out for Fall but we have yet to get our pumpkins. I will probably do that later this weekend, but for now here are some Fall pics from around our house.  

 

 

This year I decided on a Fall basket for the front door versus a wreath. I used a thrifted basket, floral pieces that were a $1 each, and fillers of boxwood from around the yard that I clipped and let dry out.

 

This was a very affordable piece that really makes a statement.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I added pops of red throughout by using various pots and colors of mums.

 

And believe it or not, the stripped pot was thrifted for a summer project that never got underway. I didn't like the colors and was going to redo it but it works nicely with our Fall color scheme so I'm leaving it as is for now.

 

 

I like to place small pots up our steps so that they lead you to the front door. This little pot is an older one that I've had for a while but I really like its size and the fact that its made from sticks/twigs. It gives a very natural look to the porch and softens all the harshness of the concrete and ceramic pots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are Mr. Chaos's red mums. They have filled out nicely and look great against our beige  house. (I'm glad he likes the color Red) LOL :)  

 

Of course the Petunia basket I had hanging in front finally died, you can see HERE what this area looked like previously, so I added a second fern that I had and it looks great, along with the Halloween flag for some whimsy.

 

Do you like the seasonal flags? I love changing them out with the seasons. Its something easy to do that really sets the tone for your porch/entry way.

 

 

 

And here it is in the evening. Welcome to Decorated Chaos! LOL :)

 

Now, as for the patio, the inspiration here are the pillows. I found them at Home Depot for a whopping $5 bucks on clearance back in September, right after Labor Day so I bought two sets. This set which has richer turquoise, purple, and warm gold tones, and another set with stripes for the Spring and Summer.

 

 

 

I played off the colors of the pillows by adding a large pot of purple mums. Different from the typical orange and yellow that we see most of the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I removed some of the summer annuals and replaced them with this urn and pine tree. I can't wait until it fills in so I can string lights around it.

 

Then on the other side of the doors I added another urn and evergreen (its got a few issues but its hanging in there), and the tall hanging lantern. The tall hook was a thrifted find that was originally silver with some rust spots. All I did was give it a light sanding to knock off some of the rust then sprayed a coat of Rustoleum in black satin and it looks brand new!  (it will be filled later but I've been debating on which candle and filler to put in it, so for now you get to see it empty). LOL

 

(See how clean and pretty this turned out to be, just by cleaning it up and giving it a coat of paint?)

 

 

Then there is the big hanging basket. Let me introduce you to my $20 Craig's List find. Yes, $20 bucks! I got it a few years ago and its starting to need a good coat of Rustoleum. I had planned on sprucing it up before winter sets in so lets hope the weather cooperates!

 

This piece is Mr. Chaos' favorite. He loves this hanging basket, and we use it with every season, so it was definitely worth the $20 bucks!

 

Right now it is displaying yellow mums.

Our Fountain Grass is starting to sprout. I love this stuff and this plant is actually a transplant from our other house. Every so often you gotta thin them out because they get really large, so I cut off a chunk this Spring and planted it here and it took nicely.

 

I highly recommend adding grasses to your landscape for extra movement and texture. They really look great!

 

 

 

 

 

Now, on to getting our pumpkins and gourds, and fine tuning the details!

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Jennifer

 

http://www.craftberrybush.com/2012/10/party-time-happy-hour-5.html

http://westernwarmth.blogspot.com/2012/10/weekend-warmth-5.html