5 Things for a Fall Stoop That Feels Like Home

Einat BenAvi Alpert

3 days ago

2 min read

There’s something about a fall stoop that sets the tone before you even walk through the door. I like mine to feel less “decorated for fall” and more like the season naturally found its way there- warm, a little wild, and welcoming.

Here are five things I reach for when styling an autumn entrance.

1. Start with nature’s palette

Skip the super-bright orange-everything approach. Look for pumpkins and gourds in soft sage, dusty green, cream, muted orange and those wonderfully strange gray-blue shades. Mixing colors, shapes and sizes makes everything feel much more organic.

2. Add something living

A big pot of olive branches, rosemary, mums or loose seasonal greenery brings life to all those pumpkins. I love plants that feel slightly unruly rather than perfectly manicured- let a branch lean, trail or do its own thing.

3. Bring in a little glow

Lanterns instantly change the feeling of an entrance. Mix a few different sizes and add warm candles inside. That little flicker at the end of the day makes even the simplest stoop feel special.

4. Don’t make it too perfect

This is probably my favorite rule. Cluster things instead of lining them up. Let pumpkins spill down a step. Mix an old terracotta pot with something newer. Add a few fallen leaves and, please, leave them there. The imperfection is part of the beauty.

5. Make it feel like your home

A stoop doesn’t need twenty pumpkins to feel finished. Maybe it’s one beautiful planter, three pumpkins and a lantern. Maybe it’s branches you clipped from the yard. Choose things you genuinely love and let the season do the rest.