This is our tragic little front door. It has nothing of value to offer the world.
No overhang to protect visitors from the rain, or from which to hang a pretty pendant light. No space for a rocking chair or two to kick back and enjoy a sweet tea. It has: a front door. A tiny little stoop. The end.
(And a little bulldog statue as a shout-out to our alma mater. Go dawgs!)
The people at The Home Depot asked if we wanted to participate in their Holiday Challenge this year, and I was thinking — sweet! I’ll decorate our mantel! I’ll fluff up a Christmas tree! — But then they challenged me to decorate our front door for the holidays.
Oh. Mah. GARSH.
It was clear to me that the logical next step was to quickly add a spacious wrap-around front porch to our house — an imperative which didn’t seem quite as logical to Andy as it did to me. That idea never seemed to gain much traction around here.
Thankfully, The Home Depot sent us lots of boxes of Christmassy outdoor goodies to try out, and we started trying to spruce up our neglected little front door.
And by the way? It was October. The EXACT same day we were hanging these decorations, our neighbors were putting up their halloween yard decorations.
AWKWARD.
We had several neighbors try to delicately inquire as to what the heck we were thinking, and gently try to figure out if we were aware of, or in possession of, an actual calendar. (We’re all, “YES! WE’RE IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT! HAHA! PLEASE DON’T REPORT US TO THE HOA! FA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LAAAAA!”)
Here’s a sneak peek at what we did to gently nudge our entire neighborhood into the Christmas spirit, but make sure you head over the Home Depot’s blog for the full reveal!
Do you decorate your front door for the holidays? Do you love trick-or-treating at houses that are already decked out for Christmas?
Hi, I'm Kelly. Glad you're here! This little blog is where I chronicle our efforts to fix up our beaten-down home on a tiny budget. We're not there yet, but here's a peek at the view along the way...
lololololololol…sorry I couldn’t fly back down to help you decorate 🙂
Can’t wait to see it Kelly 🙂 xo Kristin
Girl. Tell me where Ugga came from. Please. It’s a must for our home. Also, you totally need a porch with rocking chairs. It has been decided!
Actually I think Ugga came from Home Depot! We’ve had him a long time. He’s like a family member. I’ll tell Andy the front porch issue has been decided. 🙂
I LOVE that you were ready to construct a wrap around porch! Thank goodness for spouses who can talk one down from last minute panic cliffs! Great decoration ~ festive & lovely!
Ha! I’m still working on the front porch thing!
Ha! I noticed a house in our neighborhood has their Christmas lights up this week also. But I promise there is no Home Depot challenge going on there. Nor is there a pro or amateur decorator supervising the process. It just ain’t pretty.
I LOVE your initial wreath! Maybe you can ship it to me next year. I need a W so it’d totally be repurposing. I had wreath dreams this year too but kiddo is doing a wreath fundraiser for her soccer team so they can avoid hitchhiking half way across the country next summer. So I will have a fresh spray on my door this year.
My favorite part is the greenery over the door! Awesome job.
you did a great job making the space feel larger. I was lamenting the same thing seeing all these fall porches. I have stairs. and railings. and…yeah, that’s it. not even little bump outs on either side of the door with which to put urns. so I really like those lanterns not being on your stoop.
so can pointsettias actually survive outside?
If they’re silk, they can! 😉
This is beautiful!! I love love love those lights- omg amazing. I can just imagine the look on your neighbors faces when you did all that decorating in October- haha! Now, did you leave it up after taking photos or take it down?
Also- Go Dawgs!! I noticed the little bulldog statue right away 🙂
oh too funny. they probably think you are nuts. then when you say…i am doing it for my blog they are probably like OH GAWD THEY ARE CRAZY PPL!
haha, it looks good. going to check out the rest now!
You rock on with your Christmas self in October!! It looks amazing! xxx
it looks awesome! so festive! what were your neighbors thinking with it already decked out? 🙂 maybe you should add a sign that says “it’s ok; i’m a blogger.”
Red with the bright green of the cedar has to be one of my favourite combinations Kelly. Now I am inspired to get moving on my front porch!
It looks so pretty Kelly! I get weird looks from my neighbors all the time 🙂
haha, oh decorating for Christmas in October 🙂 Non-blogging neighbors will never understand. I get crazy stares all.the.time. But you did a great job decorating your porch. It looks so festive! We have a similar issue, with NO space for anything on our front porch. It’s a sad day. But maybe I can work something out, since you have shown me the Christmas light!
hahahaha…..that’s awesome. People get mad enough about Christmas stuff coming out in November! We have the sadly uncovered front stoop situation going on here, too. I see so many wreaths that I can’t make because they wouldn’t survive the first rainfall.
1) It makes me smile when there’s a new VATW in my Bloggger feed!
2) I totally understand the no front porch lament, though I have one on this house, but I think you spruced up what you quite nicely. Even before the Christmas in October!
I love it! We have a similar front porches – we even had concrete potters like yours until one broke earlier this year. And those suckers are HEAVY. I was like, What in the world are we going to do now with one pot?
And thank you for your sweet comment – the lines on my forehead definitely advertise that I am longer in the tooth than 21! Although I have had three people ask me for the name of that conditioning treatment. It’s magic, I went from Cryptkeeper hair to well, non-embarrassing hair. 🙂
Have a great weekend!
I *love* the urns you have on either side of the front door. I have been looking for something like that for ages – at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and the end-all-be-all home decor store: the local thrift shop… Where did you find them?
Funny how something totally unrelated to the post catches one’s eye…
Oh it looks so pretty and festive. Love it!
Looks GREAT! Thanks for sharing.
This is awesome! Love the poinsettias and the lights!!! So festive!
We bloggers need to come up with a simple statement we can spout off to our neighbors when we get those confused looks. I get the looks when I’m crouched down with a camera trying to get a detail shot of something for a good 10 minutes. Lordy, we’re a weird crew. 🙂
It looks beautiful! The only thing missing is a tastefully arranged inflatable reindeer. THAT would have spurred everyone into the Christmas spirit, no doubt.
It looks amazng Kelly! I love all the greenery and especially the “M” on the door. 🙂
I love your decorations! It looks so fun and festive!
Are those poinsettias for outdoor use?
Oh silly neighbors! Don’t they know they live next to the authority of all things design. I mean if Kelly is putting her Christmas stuff up before Halloween then y’all better get with it.
Wow! Just checked out the HD site and what a beautiful porch you have created! I feel the same way about my porch as you feel about yours. At least yours is symetrical. My had such as odd shape…don’t even know how to explain it!
I absolutely love that you decorated for Christmas before Halloween! Awesome. And it looks amazing.
What is the easiest way to hang the garland aeound your door?
I just used 3M command hooks – the kind that stick and come down easily.
Just found your website today and saw the beautiful front door. What a great job. I know what it’s like to have a nice front. Last December we moved from Ca. to a small town in Oregon. I had to donate almost all my decorations to my local church. We didn’t have room to take them with us. So now I’ll dream by looking at yout beautiful place.
Enjoy!
Denise Erickson
Merry Christmas
Thank you, Merry Christmas!