Simple Festive Christmas Front Porch

Welcome to my simple festive Christmas front porch!  I love decorating my front porch for the seasons and this year I went a bit simpler and created a simple festive Christmas theme. 

Before I show you all of this year’s porch I thought it would be fun to go back and see the last 5 years of porches.  I hope it will inspire you that you don’t have to have all new decor each year and can use the same basic 5 things – garland, wreath, trees, lanterns, decor  – and rearrange them a bit to create a fresh look each year.  

Our first Christmas in this house I did just a classic Farmhouse simple Christmas porch.  I was so excited to have a centered front door and be able to decorate with a lit tree on each side.  The presents are just empty boxes wrapped up with a simple bow.  Free decor!  I do suggest putting a rock or something in each box or if you get wind in our area you may end up with your faux presents in your neighbor’s yard. You can see more details on this porch here.

The next year we got a short 2-hour snowfall in early December and I was ecstatic to photograph my Christmas front porch with snow falling! 

Here in the South, it’s rare for us to get even one snowfall during the winter and it’s usually after Christmas so to have snow before Christmas with Christmas decor up was a bit magical. That year I used a larger flocked tree (this $30 one from Walmart) and a vintage sled and DIY JOY sign to decorate my porch.

The next year I had picked up a bunch of picket fence pieces for free off marketplace and enjoyed using them in my holiday displays creating a Farmhouse style Christmas Front Porch with picket fences.  They create a fun backdrop to decorate and since my porch is long and narrow they work well.  

These fun little NOEL letters were fun to display on a ladder (they are just paper mache letters spray painted red.)  

The next year I did a ski lodge theme for my porch and living room decor.  I had found that large vintage wood sled and those skis at a yard sale earlier that year and they were fun to incorporate into my Christmas decor with lots of trees and greenery.  

Last year I did a classic cozy Christmas theme – incorporating dried orange slices and just classic Christmas decor.  

I did use that same $30 6 foot flocked tree on the side of my porch and it was so pretty by my porch swing.  

Now back to this year’s front porch!  Did you see many of the same things repeated?  I have used much of the same decor each year like the lanterns, trees, wreath on the door, garland, etc. and just rearrange it or change it up a bit each year. 

I wanted just a festive simple look this year so I used the same 3 and 4 foot trees I have used many times before – I love these little trees and they are so budget-friendly.  I use them inside and outside my house in various places.  I will link them all below. 

I do add a strand of lights on them.  

This year I did change up my wreath and garland.  I found the prettiest realistic cedar garland and cedar wreath this year at Walmart that are actually budget-friendly!   

That garland has been so extremely popular and it looks and feels so real without the mess of real greenery.

Now for the rest of the porch… I have a long narrow symmetrical porch with 2 rocking chairs and a porch swing on each side.

I leave these black and white buffalo check pillows (linking the pillow covers here) out all year and just added these placemat pillows I made 4-5 years with them.  

I love to decorate my porch swing areas and since our winters are very mild here in the south we actually get to enjoy this spot even through December.  

I found another porch swing this summer at a yard sale so now I have 2 swings on either side of the porch and just love to come out here and enjoy my coffee.

I think I have used these lanterns on every porch (and even throughout the year!).  For pictures, I usually use real candles in them but can’t leave them out because we get 75 degree days sometimes in December so I will change them out for outdoor battery-operated timer candles that come on each night with the lights.  

You don’t have to buy new decor each year or even have a ton of decor to decorate your front door or front porch area.  Buy some quality items once and you’ll be set and can just change ribbon colors, add some faux wrapped packages, add a sign to change it up each year.  A set of trees, a garland, a wreath, lanterns, and some decor like a sign or pillows – I’ll link the ones I used plus some other ones below.  

I do a lot of my holiday shopping online so I like to leave some treats out for our delivery people that work so hard this time of year.  I created this free printable so you could print it too and leave some treats for your delivery drivers.  You can print it here.

Here’s a few pictures at night (I need to try to grab some at dusk when it isn’t pitch dark)  – simple yet festive!  We don’t go all out and put lights on the house – we tried that one year and one week later they were already burned or shorted out and it’s just a lot of work!  But we do enjoy everyone else’s house with lights and try to just create a festive look on the porch.  

I hope you enjoyed this Christmas front porch tour and got inspired for some ideas you can do on yours!

I am joining up with some friends who are also sharing Christmas inspiration so I hope you’ll click over and see their posts and ideas too!

Southern Spangled / At Home In The Wildwood / The Frugal Homemaker JENRON DESIGNS / My Weathered Home / Robyn’s Southern Nest