Easy Patriotic Decorating Ideas for the Front Porch

Looking for ways to decorate the front porch for summer? Wait until you see these red, white and blue patriotic decorating ideas. Plus I’m sharing a quick tip to help you change up your outdoor porch planters without spending a dime!

With a new front porch and the 4th of July quickly approaching, I thought it would be fun to decorate this year.

I’ve dabbled with patriotic decorating before with some pretty tablescapes and my former home’s front porch.

But never really went all out with the reds, whites, and blues.

So today we are doing just that on the front porch.

The challenge is…my front porch planters are designed with pretty pinks and whites.

But how do you play down the existing colors in your planters so you can play up a different color palette without changing the whole planter design?

I’ve got a great tip for this!

And as a special treat, I’m sharing my porch with the Patriotic Celebrations Blog Tour hosted by my good friend Amber from Follow the Yellow Brick Home. So be sure to check out all of the incredible patriotic decorating and celebration inspiration at the end of this post.

If you are coming from Rachel’s from the Ponds Farmhouse, welcome to my home! I’m so glad you are here.

Wait until you see how I decorated my front porch for the 4th of July!

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My Front Porch Decor in Spring

As we’ve been slowly settling in, I’m starting to think more about how I want to decorate the front porch long-term.

My new gardens have been exploding with different plants and flowers, so I want to play up the porch decor as new flowers emerge and bloom.

In spring, there were lots of pretty purples to accent near the front porch, so I focused a bit more on shades of pink, purple, and white.

I hung a bright floral wreath on the front door, added some pretty floral pillows, and potted up my beautiful black urns that flank the front door.

Because it is pretty shady, I designed my containers gardens with shade-loving annuals that include:

• Caladiums
• Euphorbia
• Begonias
• Sweet potato vine
• Bacopa

But now that I’m decorating for the 4th of July, how do I play down the pink and white porch planters to decorate with red, white, and blue?

There is a way to do it without completely changing out your planters.

Easy Patriotic Decorating Ideas for the Front Porch

With the 4th of July just around the corner, I made some simple changes to the front porch to add some patriotic decor.

Wait until you see how pretty it looks all decked out in red, white, and blue!

Start With a Blank Slate

Before decorating, it’s important to remove all of the seasonal items that are no longer relevant.

Since I want to highlight reds, whites, and blues, I moved out my pretty vintage pink pillows and opted for these outdoor patriotic pillows.

These pillow covers were the only new item I bought for the porch to decorate. They were really inexpensive and helped pull my patriotic decorating ideas together.

We’ll chat more about the pillows a bit later.

Shop Your Home Before You Buy

I know it’s easier to shop online or head out to the mall, but you probably have a lot of items laying around that you can repurpose and reuse when adding patriotic decor.

Patriotic decorating does not necessarily mean everything has to be an American flag.

Grab some red, white, and/or blue decor like buffalo check tablecloths, blankets, faux flowers, baskets, bottles, etc.

At a time when our bank accounts are getting a bit smaller, now is a great time to shop our own homes and use things we already have.

Think outside the box and pull the look together without busting the budget.

So I walked around my home and dug through storage, where I found some faux flowers and greens that could be used for patriotic decorating too.

I tucked some pretty faux white peonies in a vintage galvanized bucket with some American flags I bought years ago to decorate my front porch and garden at my old home.

Since my pretty spring-summer wreath totally clashed with red, white, and blue decor, I swapped it out for a wall basket that I filled with faux magnolias, roses, and greenery.

And since I had extras of the American flags, I tucked a few of those in too.

But that’s not all!

I found a few white throw blankets and an old white watering can that I tucked some more faux red roses in.

And while I am a gardener and can very easily run to the garden nursery to buy more plants and flowers, I don’t want to spend the money.

I’d rather spend the money in fall so I can do more fall plantings on a budget with this garden nursery tip.

So I’m using some faux items I have around the house to spruce up the porch with red, white and blue patriotic decorating ideas.

Patriotic Decorating with American Flags

Now that we’ve shopped our homes, we still need American flags and buntings to help decorate the front porch.

I had some American flags and buntings from my old home, so I decorated with them here.

If you don’t have any, depending on what you buy, they can be inexpensive to purchase.

To jazz up the porch railings, I tied the buntings with twine.

As an aside, I would have preferred white zip ties, but twine was all I could find. We are still moving in and have not unpacked every single box in the garage yet, so twine it is!

I also tucked the American flags in my outdoor porch planters, door basket, and galvanized bucket to sprinkle red, white, and blue around the porch.

If you have surrounding gardens, you could tuck some flags in there too. I opted against it, since I have the buntings and flags sprinkled about on the front porch.

Front Door Decorating Ideas

While wreaths are a go-to for front door decor, wall baskets are the next best thing!

Have you decorated with them before?

You can easily fill them with whatever you want for any season.

Since I have a huge door knocker, I hang my wreaths and door basket with a door wreath hanger.

But you can also use a heavy-duty nail, screw, or picture hook to hang them too.

As an aside, I find it much easier to maintain faux greenery and plants on the front door, but you can also use live flowers if you fill the base with plastic liner or coir.

My hesitation with doing that though is watering. Plants need to be watered regularly and the basket will need drainage.

Moreover, plants tend to dry out more quickly in smaller pots or plantings, so it adds to the care.

And when you do water? It’s leaking all over your door or you have to remove the basket to water it.

Sinking small pots are an option where you can remove the baskets from the door and water, then put it back into the basket later.

This is why I say, sometimes, faux is the way to go!

Add Throw Pillows and Blankets

Although we touched on the throw pillow topic earlier, if you don’t have pillows, add some with a few cozy blankets.

Throw pillows and blankets soften the look of outdoor furniture like porch rockers and swings.

Plus, they make it feel (and look) more cozy and comfortable to sit and stay a while.

Not to mention, having a few throw blankets out there makes it much easier to enjoy on a cool morning or evening while you are porch sitting.

Don’t Forget Plants and Flowers

If you haven’t already added some houseplants and pretty flowers, you definately need them.

Small shrubs, perennials or annuals are perfect additions to planters on the porch too.

And if you have houseplants that are sitting indoors?

Bring them outside to summer on the front porch too!

Just be sure they do not receive too much direct sunlight or the leaves can scorch.

I keep my houseplants completely shaded against the house to avoid any risky sunlight exposure.

Summering plants outdoors for the season will help them get the light, air and water they need to be healthy and grow before they go dormant for winter.

How to Play Down Flower Color

Now about those pretty pink porch planters.

I’m not changing my porch planters to coordinate with red white and blue for a few weeks, so I’m going to play down the flower color instead.

But how?

You can deadhead spent blooms and cut some plants back.

My pretty pink begonias were looking a little tired anyway, so I cut the blooms off.

Deadheading flowers helps plants focus on bloom production instead of seeds, so this is actually a good thing for certain plants.

Because you’ll get more flowers from one plant.

After deadheading, I found some blooms that are about to flower, so I tucked them behind the flags so they are not prominent.

My bacopa has seen better days, but it will produce more flowers soon. They ebb and flow during the season and since they are in a shadier spot, it takes them a bit longer to do their thing.

Although the caladiums have that pink vein, they are mostly white and green but take on more of a reddish hue once I dropped in the American flags and decorated the rest of the porch.

So it all kind of works because the planter looks more neutral now!

Recipes to Enjoy on the Patriotic Porch

And now that the front porch is all decorated with red, white, and blue, it’s time to enjoy it!!!

Since it’s pretty hot out, we should make a batch of this refreshing strawberry lemonade recipe.

The strawberries are in season and it’s the perfect beverage to enjoy on the front porch.

Feel free to drop in a few blueberries to make it even more patriotic!

And while we are out here, we should snack on this super easy-to-make and ridiculously delicious dump cake pineapple recipe.

With only 5 ingredients, this dish is a HUGE hit with family and friends.

Wait until you try this melt-in-your-mouth dessert that is festive and fun as part of your patriotic celebration!

Thanks so much for dropping by my home today!

Next up on the Patriotic Celebrations Blog Tour is my good friend Kelly from the Tattered Pew who made the yummiest dish!

More Patriotic Decoration Inspiration!

Be sure to check out my friend’s red, white, and blue decorating and DIY ideas for your home and garden.

Want to Learn More About Flower Gardening?

Here are some cut flower and cottage garden tips, tricks, and inspiration.

• 5 Quick Ways to Grow a Cottage Garden
• How My Cottage Garden Grew in 2021
• Cut Flower Gardening for Beginners
• The Complete Guide to Roses Care
• The Basics of Hydrangea Care
• Everblooming Cottage Garden Design Ideas
• The Secret to Growing an Everblooming Cottage Garden

And If You Want More Container Garden Inspiration?

Wait until you see these posts that start with basic container design and care, as well as seasonal decorating ideas.

Click on the photo text to see the post!

Garden Supplies I Use

I’m often asked about the garden supplies and tools that I use most. From pruners to deer repellents, here are some of my favorites in no particular order.

• I like to use a good-quality garden soil, compost, and perlite when planting.
• I have used this deer repellent with great success. But now, I’m all about this deer repellent that is systemic instead of topical. This means the plant takes it in as opposed to it just smelling bad.
• Hands down this is my favorite hand-weeding tool. You can use to get underneath roots, loosen soil, and it cuts down on the weeding time because you work much faster.
• But I also love this long, stand-up weeding tool to really get around roses from afar.
• I like to use THIS ORGANIC FERTILIZER for roses because the blooms are more prolific and it’s organic.
• You’ll need a sharp set of pruners when working with plants and flowers. I buy a few so I can stash them around.
• Where pest and disease problems are concerned, I generally use this insecticidal soap or neem oil to help control infestations depending on the issue.
• This is my favorite set-and-forget slow-release fertilizer for houseplants, annuals, and container gardens.
• Whenever I stake my peonies or other plants, I generally use these grow through garden supports because they work really well and keep the blooms upright.

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