Fall Front Porch Makeover

Thanks to my Instagram and Facebook followers, who helped decide this week's blog post, I was able to transform my front porch this past weekend! So now I'm here, ready to share everything I did, how much it cost, and how you can transform your own front porch for very little $$. I would like to call the after 'minimal', but let's be honest...it's because I didn't want to spend very much. I'll also be sharing links to other things I would like to add, and as always, those links may be affiliated. So without further ado-here is the before:

I am really bad about forgetting to take a before picture, so I had already put my first coat of paint on the front door before I remembered to take a picture. Here is a picture I took earlier of the front door, to refresh your memory on what the front door looked like. 

Unfortunately the outside of the house has been neglected over the last 7 years. While doing updates on the inside of the house, the outside had been put on the back burner. When we started doing the Dave Ramsey plan with our finances, I knew my normal house makeover budget needed to be small, and in a small area. I decided to redo the front porch and give my front door a fresh coat of paint. 

First, we gave the porch a good cleaning. I took off our window screens, which had holes and scratches. I decided that they needed to be trashed, as their purpose was to keep bugs out when I opened the windows, and the holes weren't allowing them to do their job! This made the windows much clearer and lots of natural light is pouring through our kitchen now! I also got Little Man busy with the broom, sweeping off the leaves and dirt off the front porch. 

I then took off everything that didn't belong on the front porch, like lawn chairs and broken planters. We need to have a big dumpster day, to take all the junk sitting on our carport. For now it will have to stay there! 

Next came the fun part! I used this paint to transform the front door. I didn't even use half of it and gave it two good coats! This color came out the perfect shade of red. Because I didn't paint the inside of the "X" it gave the door a more rustic feel. 

Now it was time to decorate! I bought a medium white pumpkin, with a set of 3 mini ones. Unfortunately, we had a stray dog that came into the yard and took the little ones off, so I don't have any to show for the next pictures. I bought a scarecrow and hay bale at Hobby Lobby for about $5 (for both), and with the pumpkins, that brings me to a grand total of $10 for the decorations. If you add the paint for the door ($14) plus the paint roller ($5?), and the wreath, this puts the whole project at less than $40! I will admit, that it's not a super big and overwhelming transformation, but I love the way it looks! I will be using the tips in my previous blog post to purchase some more things at the end of the fall season, for a substantial discount. 

My mom gave me this beautiful outdoor rug for my birthday! I am hoping to eventually buy this gingham rug to put underneath for more cohesive style (as long as it's still in style by the time I find a good deal on it! haha!)

Something I love about this rug is how it is season neutral. I love things that can stay out all year long!

 A little Colonel Reb to represent my husband's favorite team sits among the fall decor. And though football and fall go hand in hand, this little guy sits out all year long!

To the left of the door, there isn't much picture worthy yet, but the windows have been cleaned, and the porch has been swept. As always, tag me in your photo, whether on Instagram or Facebook, and when you makeover your own front porch for the fall! Below you'll find some things from Amazon I would like to add to my front porch in the future-perhaps even this coming year! 

I added this metal thankful sign from the Dollar Tree to my already DIYed wreath (instructions here)