1. Cozy Front Porch Swing
Just because the temperatures drop around the holidays doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the outdoors. Winterize your porch swing to utilize the area year-round. Next time there’s a flurry of snowflakes, bundle up, grab some cocoa, and snuggle under a blanket to watch the wintry scene unfold. Create some cheer by adding potted dwarf varieties of evergreens and red outdoor throw pillows to your porch Christmas decorations Editor’s Tip: If you live in a place that doesn’t receive snow, make your own. Cut out snowflakes from heavy cardstock and use clear fishing line to tie them from the ceiling of your porch.
2. Make a Statement with a Wreath
Give any guest who comes knocking the jolliest welcome. Instead of decorating your door with a traditional wreath, choose one that incorporates bells into the design. This way, when holiday guests arrive at your home, so does the sound of jingle bells. Don’t worry if you fall in love with a wreath that doesn’t have them. You can either use ribbon to tie bells to your wreath or get a string of bells to hang around the door knob.
3. Add Holly Everywhere
Give your front porch a holly jolly facelift. Use a combination of winterberry holly and wintergreen. Both are hardy plants with bright red berries that shine with holiday spirit. To achieve this look, drape garland over the front door, add a red berry wreath, and create an evergreen medley in your pots or planters. This will give your front porch a degree of freshness that’s hard to achieve in the winter. For a vintage twist on holiday decor, add something like old-school sleds or retro reindeer to break up the very berry decor.
4. Spruce Up Your Planters
Create a charming front porch this Christmas by adding hardy winter plants and decor elements to your planter this year. Once cold weather hits, it’s super easy to forget about them, but there are plenty of seasonally-appropriate elements you can add during the colder months. Use an array of evergreen shrubs, red accents, and Christmas decor.
Things to Include in Your Winter Planter
Pinecones Holly berries Red twig dogwood BoxwoodJuniper Springwood PinkWintergreen boxwoodOrnaments Ribbon
5. Layer Holiday Decorations
The trick to creating a beautiful holiday-decorated entrance is layers. But before you head out to shop for decorations, come up with a plan. You’ll want a design that has varied height and depth, with the tallest objects next to the walls, and other items decreasing in size as they move forward. Stackable objects, such as fake presents, are great for propping up other items and keeping them within sight. Next, consider how you want to layer colors. Do you want a traditional, all red and green affair, or do you want to throw in icy blues and elegant neutrals?
6. Fill Baskets with Seasonal Accents
Make your own gorgeous holiday accent by filling a woven basket with an assortment of natural winter elements. We filled ours with white birch logs, oversized pine cones, greenery, and ornaments. Dress up the plain basket with red buffalo check ribbon to match the other elements on the porch. Editor’s Tip: Before filling it with branches and ornaments, fill the bottom of the basket with newspaper. It will prop your objects up so you’ll use fewer pinecones and have more for decorating elsewhere.
7. Display Presents and Packages
We’re guilty of waiting until the last minute to get our gift-wrapping done, but these outdoor Christmas decorations are an exception. If you have a covered porch or entryway, wrap a few empty boxes and tie them with a bow. You can choose bright and cheerful wrapping paper, or keep it simple with kraft paper and burlap ribbon. It’s also a good idea to put a weight in each box before you wrap it, so it’s grounded against those harsh winter gusts—just be sure the kids know these aren’t really presents.
8. Add Greenery
While you’re out gathering Christmas decorations, be sure to stop by a greenhouse to pick up plants. This false cypress shrub is brightly colorful with draping branches. We put the pot into a red basket found at our local crafts store. Buy a variety of winter-friendly plants and place them around your porch wherever the decor looks bare.
9. Welcome Guests with a DIY Doormat
Dress up your doorway with a festive welcome mat. Here, a classic plaid print welcomes guests into the home. If you have a double front door, consider using a runner, or two small mats. We made this plaid doormat using a basic jute runner, red paint, and a touch-up paint roller.
10. Decorate with a Garland
No holiday scene is complete without a beautiful evergreen garland to tie it all together. For a classic Christmas decoration, tie together two identical garlands and center them above your door’s upper trim. From there, drape each end over the corners of the doorframe, leaving the ends loose. A traditional garland would reach all the way to the floor, but we stopped it short to keep it separate from the greenery below. Nails work best to hold your garland up, but removable adhesive hooks are a good substitute.
11. Incorporate Lighting
Add some texture to your design with a glass-paneled wood-framed lantern. Filled with various sizes of faux candles, these rustic lanterns look stunning when surrounded by the first dusting of snow and the flicker of LED candles. Pay attention to the safety instructions for your lamp—most wood lanterns are not meant to be filled with real candles. Flameless LED candles are safe and look just as stunning.
12. Create an Outdoor Christmas Tree
What holiday setup is complete without a nod to one of our favorite traditions? The largest element of this front porch design is the two dwarf spruce Albertas flanking the entrance. Decked out in red shiny and matte ornaments, these trees are sure to put you in a festive mood. The real show-stopper, however, is not the trees but the handmade planter boxes they’re sitting in. Made from light wood planks, these farmhouse-inspired planters are perfect for both the fall and winter seasons. The best part? You can build them yourself with our step-by-step instructions.
13. Pay Attention to Details
Yes, outdoor Christmas decorations are traditionally large, but the holidays would be nothing without the details. Just as ornaments complete a tree, red berries add the perfect final touch to any winter display idea. We snipped a few strands of greenery from our garland and paired them with faux holly berries. Tie it all together with a pinecone at the top, and you have a beautiful adornment for your door handle. Guests will be impressed by your attention to detail and your porch will be a standout.
