Happy Monday friends! I’m so excited to share my Halloween porch with you today! It’s really simple.. nothing fancy. I’m just impressed with myself that I actually got it decorated early enough to blog about it before the holiday hits. Unlike my outdoor Christmas decor last year that I blogged about the first week in January. Ha! Yeah. I know that was super helpful to all of you. :)
Like I said, I kept it simple. The black and white striped rug is a staple but works great for Halloween! I already had the lanterns so I just tossed some tall orange candles in them. Then I added a few white and orange pumpkins, the large BOO luminary (love it!) and already things were feeling oh so festive.
My five year old little boy is obsessed with Halloween. Like we’ve been talking about it since Halloween last year and we play “Halloween” every other day. I’m usually the skeleton. Or the werewolf. I make a mean werewolf howl. Laugh if you want but it’s harder than you think. A skill I’ve perfected over time.
So he wanted something “spooky” on our porch. But can I be honest? I don’t love Halloween. I mean I like the costume part and taking my kids out trick-or-treating. Of course I’m crazy about fall and everything that comes along with this special time of year. But all the scary Halloween stuff? I could do without. 
Scary movies, haunted houses, spine chilling screams. No thank you. I’ve never liked scary stuff. It scares me. So of course I now have a son who’s obsessed with it all. The bats were our compromise. He loves them. And I love him so up they went!
And now I sort of love them too. This bat chandelier looks even cooler in person. Of course it’s not all that spooky. But baby steps for this mom who usually decorates a fall inspired porch. Corn stalks and leaves – acorns and pumpkins. These things don’t scare anybody. :)
The only bummer is that technically these bats are supposed to hang indoors. They are just paper and I thought with our mild climate and having them under the porch we’d be fine. But it was windy yesterday and I lost a few bats. {R.I.P.} So I took it down today. I’ll have to find a place for it inside the house. Most likely in my little buddy’s bedroom. ;)
The Happy Halloween garland is fun hanging over our door. My husband helped me hang it and we had to tie some black shoe laces on each end to make it long enough. We wear flip flops all year here so the shoelaces weren’t a huge loss.
Remember that stool I bought for my fiddle leaf fig? And you all voted for the industrial? Option #2 worked great on the porch. 
The BOO pumpkin looks cool lit at night. I wanted this last year so I waited for it to go on sale after Halloween and it never did. It’s from PB Kids and they sold out of them! So I snagged one quick this year. The black and white is fun with our door and rug. 
Oh and I’ve had several questions lately about where I bought the lanterns on my porch and house. You can find the hanging lanterns here and the lanterns attached to my house here. (Check sizes – they vary)
Ignore the wet stone. I watered my plants and sprayed off the porch and it wasn’t dry a few hours later when I took these pictures. Picture taking time comes in quick and short spurts at my house so no time to wait for the porch to dry! Maybe it makes things even more spooky?
I tried. :) Maybe next year we’ll add skeletons.
And werewolves.
But this year we’re enjoying a simple, not so scary Happy Halloween porch.
Right up my alley.
:)
**Sources: Bat Chandelier, Black BOO Luminary Pumpkin, Glitter Happy Halloween Garland, White Porch Lanterns (Home Goods) – similar option, Black and White Striped Rug (Home Goods) – similar option, Black Porch Hanging Lanterns, and House Lanterns. (Check sizes because they vary – we bought the largest size.)
*affiliate links used
It looks so good. I’m not much for Halloween either and I don’t like anything scary. At all. I do like the cute stuff though and I think yours is adorable! I think your little buddy loves his front porch.
xo
Thanks Cathy! No surprise you’re with me on this one. ;) He does love it! Although he’s actually pretty easy to please. That said, I’m sure he wouldn’t complain if I tossed a spider or two somewhere. I may have to add a bit more.. the decorating never really ends, does it? :)
xo
Your porch is amazingly festive for Halloween! But scary? Not so much. But I hear you loud and clear on that — I do not like “scary” or “gruesome” decorations around my home. And I disappoint every year. You know who I disappoint: the kids. If they had their way, we would have skeletons, mummies, creepy spiders, ghosts, and gory, bloody things all over the house during the entire month of October. You know what that would do, besides giving me the creeps? That would KILL the “harvest look” in the house. I’m not having it, I tell ya. So you know what I do? I compromise. I let them have the week before Halloween to do that to the house. ONE WEEK. I can handle one week of gore and creepiness. And then on November 1st it ALL comes down and the harvest look remains. This works for us! With ten kids and a husband, sometimes I can be waaaaaay outnumbered with this kind of stuff. But I stand my ground on this one. So far, so good :)
I’m with you Katrina! And it sounds like my little buddy would get along great with your kids! That’s a smart idea to give them one week to do what they want. I may have to try that. Girl with 10 kids it’s amazing you’re standing period. Ha! :)
xo
Awwww, what we won’t do for our little buddies! This looks great. I don’t like all the gory, yucky stuff, but I don’t mind being mildly spooked. If it’s cute and fun, all the better. I really like what you have done with your porch. It looks fabulous. Well done, Mom! :)
Thanks Jeanne! I tried. ;) xo
Love this! I’m not a fan of scary either! Are your white pumpkins real? Where did you find white pumpkins. Silly question perhaps. :D
Thanks Ursula! Not silly at all! I always wonder when I see pumpkin pictures if they are real or not. Hard to tell sometimes! Mine are real and I just got them at the grocery store in our area. They always carry white and orange pumpkins this time of year. :)
Yo love your front porch. I always love reading your blog. I love how you decorate your home. How big is your stripped rug in front of your door? 2 x 3? 4 x 6?
Hi Erin! Thanks cutie. :) I just measured for you and it’s 4 1/2 by 2 1/2. Kind of random right? A Home Goods find. :)
I like it! You do a great job of keeping it clean but fun. My kids want it scary too. Out went all my cute PBKids stuff last year. I found a peeper – http://www.grandinroad.com/life-like-scary-peeper/549861?redirect=y and my older boys thought it was awesome. I also pull the fake webbing around the bottom of my pillars- my entry is similar to yours. I also fill my pots with black twigs- it all helps. My favorite thing (and neighbors) I did last year was buy glass vials with cork stoppers off amazon and fill them with red wine- then I labeled them “blood” and gave them to adults. I ran out last year as they take them with them so I just ordered about 50 more!
Oh my word Suzanne that peeper is so creepy! You really do scary well! Coming to you for tips next year. Ha! ;)
Super Cute! I don’t usually do much scary Halloween as well. But now that I have grandbabies they love it so I am trying again. I usually lean towards all the sparkly, glitter decs but they are not that scary either. I also wondered if you ever had a chance to ask what your white exterior paint color was? I have to make my decision soon and would sure appreciate it.
Thanks,
Denise
Hi Denise! So sorry. I’ve been waiting to hear back from my painter (reached out to him again today) and he isn’t responding. He must not remember. Which isn’t good for either of us! Ha! Wish I could help you. :(
Just buy a big ole fuzzy spider and have it climbing down the wall…..that will scary up the porch a bit. Other than that, it all looks darling! Plus you don’t have too much to switch out after Halloween is over. Kole can help grandpa put up our spider. Everyone in the neighborhood loves it! And Drew and Finn…(Not me though….I don’t like scary Halloween stuff)!
Thanks mom! I got my aversion to scary Halloween from you. ;) Kole can get his spider fix at your house this year.. ha! :) Love you! xo
Love your porch-I don’t like scary Halloween either!
Thank you Linda! :)
Your porch looks charming, Erin….bats or no bats! I don’t do much decorating for Halloween, but I usually add a few things, because we get lots of Trick-or-Treaters. I always really look forward to Halloween and seeing all the children. I hope chemo doesn’t keep me from enjoying them this year!
Chemo!? Carol what’s going on? I’m so sad to hear that. :(
Your house is beautiful! I have been following you for awhile just never had time to comment! Here in North Carolina it is just starting to feel like a tad taste of fall! It always feels like you are on the beach where we are at! Happy fall!
Hi Gracie! So fun to hear from you! Thank you! Sounds like we live in similar climates. Still flip flops going on around here! xo
Your home is lovely! Inside and out! I also like fall decorating and won’t go too far into the “scary” realm. I am loving your front door color. Can you tell me the color of it? Very classic but not boring. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much Gina! It’s “Black” by Dunn Edwards. So creative, right? :) xo
Hi Erin! Love your fall deco and completely agree love the autumn type deco the best. However, my little guy LOVES Halloween too so, I will wait till a couple of weeks before Halloween and scare it up a little. I found a big metal spider at Target one year I put out and he loves the cottony stuff you can put on your bushes to look like spider webs. Target also has those clings that you can put on the house or on a wall too that are really cute and can be reused. I bought bats one year.. What we did for our guys :)
I also wanted to tell you I just found your blog a week ago and love it! I feel like we are so similar in style. I love your home and about died when I say the same Better Homes and Garden inspiration page torn out that I had torn out last year for our “future” home… So look forward to your posts and love your favorite Friday posts too…
Hi Heather! What a fun comment. :) Thank you! Sounds like we have a lot in common! I’ll have to add a spider or two to the porch. My little buddy would love that! Happy you found me! It’s so nice to “meet” you. xo
I also don’t like decorating with scary stuff like skeletons, skulls, ghosts, headstones, etc. Yet I have to say I do like that bat chandelier. Where did you get it? I was also thinking our porch needs it but after you said the wind wasn’t good for it then it burst my bubble a little.
Hi Debbie! It’s from PB kids – I linked to the exact one at the bottom of my post. :) I definitely wouldn’t put it outside. It just isn’t strong enough. Would look really cool over a table or entry way though. I might do that next year. xo
Thank you Erin! As soon as I hit post I realized you may have put the link at the bottom. I went to PB’s website and did see it. I’m thinking it would be a fun DIY project, if I’m diligent enough. I could still possibly hang it on our porch since it’s a little more closed up than yours.
For sure! Let me know how it turns out! :)
Could you tell me what paint and color you used on your kitchen cabinets. Did you use the same color throughout your home? It truly is beautiful!
Thank you Diane! So sorry I don’t have that color! It was a white shade I chose through my cabinet maker (a mix he had) so I never got a color name for it.