Porch Decorating series 1 of 4

By Iolanda Gillins | December 1, 2020 |

Over the next year I’m going to do a Porch Decorating Series, 1 for each of the 4 seasons.

So I know that Christmas is a holiday and not a season for most people, But I love it so much and I typically start in November and leave it through January.

The 4 seasons/ holidays will be….

Christmas
Winter/Spring
Summer
Fall

The reason it’s broken up like this is, I live in Northeastern Nevada and we typically have very cold and long winters so I can’t decorate my porch with florals through the winter and really unless I want to be bringing my flowers in every night, I wont even think about putting flowers out until After Memorial day, even then we still might have a night or two that freezes.

Lets kick this series off with Christmas! My favorite Holiday!

Porch Decorating 101

The steps here will all be the same regardless of season or holiday we start the same for each of the 4 seasons.

clear everything away
sweep and power wash your porch to remove cobwebs, leaves, dust and debris
wash the windows on your doors
layering your rugs creates a very warm and inviting look. Your base rug needs to be neutral and something that can match each season/holiday. Your 2nd rug can be seasonal and be more festive. I will go into more depth with your 2nd rug later on.

Porch Decorating part 1…

CHRISTMAS

I started with that fabulous red vintage door as my base then added the little chair, someone once told me to always have a chair by your front door as a sign of hospitality, I loved that idea so now I really try to have a chair on my porch if space allows. I got the live little tree at Albertsons and put it in an olive bucket, then I finished the space off with some small decor

Lanterns because they always seem so welcoming and appropriate this time of year.

A festive rug I found at Marshalls but you can find some here https://www.hobbylobby.com/search/?text=christmas+doormats

A pillow from Walmart https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=christmas%20pillows&typeahead=christmas%20pillowa

finally a star because it is Christmas and this porch wouldn’t be complete without one.

Festive and simple

I could certainly stop there and be very happy with my porch this year, I love the simplicity here and it is festive!

…but then I had an idea!

We go Christmas tree hunting every year with a group of our friends, It’s a great time!

While out hunting for my friends tree last year I couldn’t help but notice the burnt trees from the fire we had the previous Spring. I never really thought Juniper trees were that pretty before, but as I looked at them I found them to be beautiful and and captivating, I felt like they had a story and that they weren’t done…They were still standing.

I thought about these trees all year and as the year went on I couldn’t help think of the symbolism they represented through this shit show of a year. They were resilient and they were strong enough to keep standing after a freaking fire!! That is us folks, after the year that we just had we are strong, resilient and we are better and more beautiful because of it.

I decided that I was going to chop one down and bring it home for us to enjoy…that’s right the Christmas tree I chopped down to decorate for Christmas was a dead, burnt, juniper tree.

I had to make room on my porch

Unfortunately, I had to move the chair, but it was worth it, I wrapped the beautifully flawed tree in lights, put a nest and a little bird in it and a star on top. I added a Christmas sign to the door and a pair of vintage white skis for contrast. and added some oversized bells to the bottom of the tree with a burlap sack as a tree skirt.

We breathed new life into something that would otherwise just deteriorate. I find this to be my favorite porch I’ve ever done and its all because of this dead, burnt juniper tree I decorated this year.

I’m thankful for this tree, I find joy in this tree and I’m prayerful we have a better 2021 than 2020. If you want to read a blog post about finding thankfulness in the year 2020 go here https://eventanddecorconcepts.com/how-to-be-thankful-in-the-year-2020/