Fall Outdoor Decorating Ideas 2020

Assemble a Personal Pumpkin Patch

Credit: Helen Norman

Excited about fall? Can't wait to outfit your home in seasonal decor? We're with you. Peruse our ideas for outdoor fall decorations, and celebrate the season as soon as possible. When the weather turns cool, it's time to deck your home in these one-of-a-kind seasonal ideas, decorations, plants, and crafts. Add a few special touches and outside fall decorations to your home, yard, and front door this season, and you'll be the envy of the neighborhood in no time.

Hang a Garland

Credit: Southern Living

There's nothing like an autumnal garland to instantly update your entry for fall. Magnolia leaves are always a classic.

Add Pumpkin Votives

Carve a Patterned Pumpkin

Credit: Photo: Hector M. Sanchez

Take your carved pumpkins up a notch or two and make them into elegant patterned votives. For this effect, skip the scary face carvings, and instead go with a repeated pattern, like polka dots.

Embrace a Classic

Credit: Laurey W. Glenn

Paper bag luminaries are a longtime favorite for the season. Line a stairway or a stone path leading to your home for a subtle, glowing effect. (And cut leaf shapes in the paper bags for an autumnal touch!)

Create Pumpkin Candleholders

Simple Pumpkin Hurricanes

Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

An outdoor fall decoration wouldn't be complete without pumpkins. Choose multicolored gourds and carve spaces in the top. Fit in a glass candleholder and a pillar candle for a glimmering pathway border.

Layer Greenery

More is More

Credit: Helen Norman

Not satisfied with a pumpkin or two? Go big. Add leafy greenery (and actual greens!) to an assortment of pumpkins in varied hues, as well as a festive over-the-door green garland, to make a big front-door statement.

Arrange an Eclectic Collection

Mix Colors and Sizes

Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

We all have tabletops outdoors that are just calling out for an autumnal arrangement. Use what you have. Collect art, potted plants, and assorted pumpkins to create an organic and eclectic autumnal tabletop decoration.

Hang a Leafy Wreath

Credit: Laurey W. Glenn

Everyone loves lush green wreaths, but this is the season for red, gold, and orange hues. Create a fiery wreath with the autumn leaves that have fallen in your yard. (Or pick up leaves at a crafts store—they'll last longer.)

How To Make It: Colorful Foliage Fall Wreath

Assemble a Personal Pumpkin Patch

Credit: Helen Norman

Pumpkins are everywhere at this time of year. Take advantage of the bounty and create a simple display with major impact. By keeping your decoration to one concept—the pumpkin—and creating scale by stacking and clustering them, it makes for stunning (and fun!) outdoor decor.

Add Subtle Seasonal Nods

Credit: Southern Living

When in doubt, add a mini pumpkin. An easy way to update your garden or window boxes for the season is by adding miniature carved pumpkins. Tuck them in the foliage or arrange for them to emerge from the flowers and stick up out of the planter.

Think Outside the Box

Outdoor Centerpiece

Credit: Helen Norman

Who needs orange pumpkins? They're a classic, sure, but this display takes autumnal traditions up a notch for anyone hoping to try something new in terms of decor. Choose a green and purple palette to incorporate gourds with personality.

Celebrate Harvest with a Window Box

Credit: Helen Norman

Fill a rustic window box with a bounty of pumpkins, ivy, artichokes, and ornamental cabbage for an infusion of eye-catching outdoor decor. It's beautiful and seasonal, but utterly unexpected. Choose plants that will withstand the autumn temps in your area.

Incorporate Scarlet Hues

Credit: Helen Norman

Orange is a go-to in autumn, but don't forget about scarlet. Deep red mums and other scarlet-toned blooms look great rising from planters at an entry. They also complement the orangey palette of a pumpkin display.

Put Together Easy Party Decor

Pumpkin Votive Float

Credit: Laurey W. Glenn; Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller

For an effortless outdoor party, add fun and functional decor, like this floating candle display. Carve the tops of mini pumpkins, add tea lights, and float the votives alongside a scattering of autumn leaves in a dish filled with water.

Design a White Pumpkin Wreath

White Pumpkin Wreath

Credit: Laurey W. Glenn

Add white pumpkins to your seasonal wreath for an instant update.

Display a "Mumkin"

Carve Out a Mumkin

Credit: Hector Sanchez

What is a mumkin, you ask? Add a blooming mum to a pumpkin, and you have a mumkin. A carved pumpkin is the perfect vessel for mums in autumnal hues.

Create a Pumpkin Planter

Credit: Jim Franco

Much like the mumkin, this pumpkin serves as the vessel, or base, of a blooming autumnal display. Add fall-blooming flowers and assorted greenery (bonus points for incorporating lettuce and herbs!) for a pretty floral pumpkin display.

Stack Your Pumpkins

Pumpkin Topiaries

Credit: Helen Norman

When in doubt, make a stack. Pumpkins are great in clusters, but have you ever thought of going vertical? Stack pumpkins and greenery atop a stone vessel for an instant, eye-catching dose of outdoor fall decor.

Fashion Tiny Candleholders

Make Custom Candleholders

Credit: Laurey W. Glenn

For an outdoor party, no table would be complete without a cluster of these mini pumpkin candleholders. Cut a hole in each pumpkin to hold the candle, light, and glow your way through the evening.

String Glowing Lights

Credit: Tria Giovan

If you have an outdoor space that could use some ambience, string a strand of flickering lights overhead.

Add an Autumnal Accent

Door Knocker Accent

Credit: Ralph Anderson

No time for outdoor decor? Then just add a seasonal touch to your doorknocker. A small arrangement of leaves, greenery, and gourds subtly embellish your entry for the season.

Arrange White Pumpkins

Credit: Helen Norman

Add a scattering of white pumpkins to your stairs. They'll glow slightly in the moonlight.

Plant an Autumnal Container

Credit: Laurey W. Glenn

Choose your favorite fall planter and create a container garden. Plant your favorite fall-blooming plants for an instant refresh and a dash of seasonal greenery.

Build an Easy Centerpiece

Fall Table Setting with Pumpkins and Fall Leaves by Lindsey Ellis Beatty

Credit: Laurey W. Glenn; Styling: Lindsey Ellis Beatty

This centerpiece couldn't be easier to put together. It has such major visual impact, no one will believe it only took you a few minutes to create. Use your favorite glass vessel and fill it with branches from trees in your yard that are changing colors. Pick long branches filled with red, yellow, and gold leaves, and arrange them naturally. Simple, sweet, and seasonal.

Create a DIY Gourd Wreath

Credit: Helen Norman

Pumpkins and gourds take center stage in this front door wreath. It is as seasonal as can be. You'll need a wreath form, sheet moss, florist picks and your pumpkins and gourds to put this design together.

Design an Autumnal Entry

Credit: Helen Norman

Create a fall scene on your front porch with an assortment of pumpkins and hay bales. Stack hay bales vertically on either side of your front door as the bases for eye-catching towers of pumpkins.

Throw Together a No-Fail Tabletop Display

No-Fail Tabletop Display

Credit: Erica George Dines

Having an outdoor party, but there's no time to craft a centerpiece? Never fear. Just cluster an assortment of orange pumpkins and multi-colored gourds in the middle of each table for a no-fail design that is so seasonally appropriate.

Incorporate Acorns

"Pumpkins" and Acorns Fall Wreath

Credit: Laurey W. Glenn

Everyone loves pumpkins in fall decorations, but don't forget acorns! They're too cute in this wreath design, paired with pumpkin-on-a-stick eggplant (aka scarlet Chinese eggplant). They're a perfect pair and an ideal alternative to classic pumpkins.

Carve Fall-Inspired Pumpkins

Credit: Quentin Bacon

Allow your pumpkins to transcend the Halloween festivities by carving leaf designs instead of jack-o-lantern faces.

Plant Fall Flowers

Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez

For no-fail outdoor fall decor, look no further than fall-blooming plants and autumnal flowers in fiery hues.

Stack a Pumpkin Trio Centerpiece

Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez

If you have a vessel that is just crying out for a fall accent, stack pumpkins of descending circumferences. Largest on the bottom, smallest on the top. Add moss in-between each pumpkin to fill out the empty spaces between each layer.

Add a Bit of Everything

Bittersweet Vine Fall Wreath

Credit: Photo: Helen Norman

Not sure where to begin? Go for it and add assorted pumpkins, pumpkin stacks, potted fall-blooming flowers, and a cascading autumnal garland (this one is made of bittersweet).

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