Christmas Porch Decor: 15 Cozy Front Porch Ideas and What Can Stay Outside

Hang a matching wreath on each half of a double door, then set a flocked tree in a galvanized tub on either side. The trees here are lit, so they glow even at midday, and the lanterns at their feet carry the light down to the mat.

Old farm pieces fill the wall to the right: a wooden sled, a bucket of pinecones, and a painted sign that reads “Farm Fresh Christmas Trees.” A coir mat on a black and white striped rug finishes the doorway. Lit garland runs along the ceiling instead of the door frame, which keeps the doorway itself simple.

A long porch lets you repeat one thing all the way down. Here it’s a red velvet bow on every column and garland along the railing between them, so the whole front of the house reads as one piece from the street.

The rocking chairs in a row get a red plaid pillow each and a tartan throw on the first one. A Merry Christmas banner hangs from the beam, and the red door with its wreath closes the view at the far end. The yard is under snow, and the roof keeps the chairs and the floor dry.

Front steps with no roof still have room for Christmas, as long as everything on them can take the weather. Magnolia garland can. Its leaves are glossy green on top and copper-brown underneath, so a garland arched over the door looks full from the street and from the bottom step.

Stone urns of mixed evergreens frame the door, and black lanterns line both sides of the steps. A brass lion knocker on a black door is part of the decor here, so the magnolia wreath goes around it.

Pick up the door color and use it everywhere else. An ice blue door gets an ice blue ribbon on a frosted wreath, blue shutters, a pale blue ceiling and a blue border on the rug. The ornaments on the wreath and in the crate are silver.

One flocked tree beside the door is enough on a small porch. A white crate of little potted trees fills the other side, and a bench with a pillow and a knit throw gives you a place to pull off your boots. Snow covers the steps; the porch floor under the roof stays dry.

A navy door with tartan bows and brass lanterns is the plaid-and-brass look many call Ralph Lauren Christmas. Keep the pattern on three or four things, here the bow on the wreath, the bows on the topiaries, the doormat and one throw, and let everything else stay plain green, white and brass.

A boxwood wreath is tighter and darker than pine, so the tartan bow stands out against it. Two boxwood topiaries in stone urns stand on either side of the door, and a brass lantern sits beside each one. Gray cedar shingles behind it all keep it from looking too formal.

A screened porch can hold the soft things an open porch can’t. The swing gets a red and white snowflake knit throw and two pillows, and the cat has already found it.

Hang a pair of white ice skates on a hook by the window, lean a red wooden sled against the wall and set a little tree with red glass ornaments in a galvanized tub. String lights along the ceiling and a striped rug make it feel like a room. For more ways to set one up, see our screened in porch ideas.

On a black and white house, let green be the only color. Lit garland frames the black door and both sidelights, the wreath gets a black and white buffalo check bow, and two little trees sit in woven baskets on either side.

A tall wooden sign that says JOY leans by the door, and a buffalo check rug goes under the coir mat, where the dog has claimed a spot. Black planters of evergreens at the bottom of the stone steps repeat the black of the posts and the door.

Keep the greens real and add the pink in small pieces. The wreath, the garland and the little tree are all evergreen; the pink comes in as velvet bows, a velvet pillow and a pink-lettered NOEL sign.

Fill two glass jars with pink and mint ornaments and set them on the bench, so the colors sit at eye level. A mint door and sage trim on a cream Victorian cottage keep the palette soft. The jars and the velvet belong inside when the weather turns; on a calm day, a deep porch roof is enough.

Coastal Christmas trades red and green for white, silver and sea blue. Hang silver and blue ornaments from the ceiling on long ribbons at different heights, so they catch the light down the length of the porch.

Wreaths made of seashells and starfish go on the windows, and a big driftwood star hangs on the wall between them. White rocking chairs with blue cushions line the house side, and garland with blue ornaments runs along the railing, with live oaks and Spanish moss beyond it.

A log cabin doesn’t need much added. Cross a pair of old snowshoes on the wall, stack firewood with a few birch logs by the door and put a sheepskin and a buffalo plaid throw on a log bench.

At dusk, the lit garland on the posts and the lanterns by the door make the porch glow against the snow outside. A doormat that says “Let It Snow” sits on a striped rug, and a pinecone wreath with red berries hangs on the cedar door.

For a French country door, skip the red. A wreath of eucalyptus and olive branches with a linen bow gives you gray-green on gray-blue doors, and the honey limestone wall warms it up.

A cast iron urn of mixed evergreens, eucalyptus and olive stands at the side, with a metal lantern and a burlap-wrapped pot of olive branches next to it.

Primitive country decor is old wood, homespun fabric and rusty tin. A patchwork quilt over a wooden settle bench sets the colors, cranberry and mustard, and the pillows repeat them.

A big rusty tin star hangs on the barn red wall, and a stoneware crock of evergreens, red berries and dried hydrangea sits by the door. A punched tin light hangs overhead, and the screens keep most snow off the quilt.

Winter planters are made for snow. Fill two tall planters with fresh evergreens, pinecones and birch poles, and a fresh snowfall on top only adds to them.

A plain evergreen wreath on a yellow door and a metal lantern on each side are all the steps need. With no red here, the yellow door is the color. Clear a path down the middle of the steps and leave the snow on the planters.

Big old-fashioned bulbs in red, green, blue and orange along the ceiling set the whole look. Match them with a wreath of colored ornaments on the screen door and a bowl of glass balls on a side table.

A mint green vintage metal glider fits right in, with a floral pillow, a red pillow and a plaid throw. At dusk, the bulbs light the porch and two lit trees glow in the corners.

A small stoop needs four things: a wreath, a potted tree, a lantern and a doormat. Everything here can stay out in rain and snow, and the whole setup goes up in an afternoon.

A red door makes the wreath’s plaid bow and pinecones stand out. The little spruce in a galvanized tub can be planted in the yard in spring if you buy a live one.