The front porch is the star of your home’s exterior. It’s the first thing people see when they approach, and it’ll be the first stop for every single guest you ever have. You want to make a good first impression, of course, but there’s only one problem—your budget hasn’t left you much wiggle room to work with.
Does this sound familiar? Never fear! I’ve been there, and I’m here to help. Here are 11 front porch decorating ideas on a budget you can take advantage of right now to make your front porch truly shine.
Undying Flowers
This front porch decorating idea on a budget is one of my favorite new hacks I’ve just begun to play with in the past year or so. I always thought fake flowers were a waste of money—turns out, I was just looking in the wrong places! While they’re oddly expensive to buy at craft stores, you can head to your local dollar store (I recommend Dollar Tree, myself) and find plenty of beautiful false flowers to use in your front porch crafting endeavors.
You can use them to spruce up an old wreath, create sizable bouquets, and limitless other crafting options! My favorite front porch decorating idea on a budget with fake flowers is to buy both flowers and greenery and decorate the top of your doorframe with them, letting the greenery hang down the sides. It creates a beautiful “crown” effect that will make your guests feel as if they’re stepping into a secret garden when they enter your home!
Fairy Garden Fun
Fairy gardens are a more subtle front porch decorating idea on a budget, but they’re so fun, especially if you have kiddos with big imaginations! You can grab fairy garden supplies from Amazon or just about any craft store; mine was another dollar store find. You can set up a fairy garden or fairy house in any corner of your porch; depending on how small your supplies are, you could even set one up on or underneath the steps! You can also hide it in the landscaping around your porch and put a sign up on the porch post that says “Fairy Crossing” or “Look out for fairies” if you really want to inspire some exploration and imagination!
Knit It Together
When it comes to front porch decorating ideas on a budget, this one is a little more DIY than some of the others, but it will add some personal flair to your décor immediately! If you don’t have the budget to purchase a nice doormat, no problem—you can knit one yourself using rope!
Purchasing materials and making something yourself is usually cheaper than buying the thing premade, and it has the added benefit of bragging rights. If anyone compliments your doormat and asks where you got it, you can immediately and proudly let them know that you, in fact, made it yourself!
One con to this front porch decorating idea on a budget—depending on what color you use, this doormat will likely need to be washed or otherwise maintained a bit more than your classic doormat. Still, it’s worth it to be able to show off something you made with your own two hands on your porch.
Rustic Recycle
Have you ever seen palette wood crafts? While they’re often used for indoor signs and other décor, they also make great front porch decorating ideas on a budget. You can use palettes to make plant shelves to hang on your porch’s wall, add some lights to create a twinkling wall decoration, or add some of those flowers and greenery we talked about earlier to create a unique “wreath” of sorts for your door!
Palette wood is a fantastic resource for front porch decorating ideas on a budget because it’s often either very cheap or completely free depending on where you find it. It’s a great medium for getting hands-on with your porch décor, and it’s definitely small-budget friendly!
Mirror, Mirror
This is another dollar store hack. You can often find small decorative mirrors at the dollar store, and though they’re cheap and made of plastic, they look really pretty and elegant. Since your guests won’t be pulling these mirrors off of your porch wall, they should hold up well to inspection, and they look beautiful when arranged in a fun way on your wall!
While mirrors might not be the first front porch decorating idea on a budget that comes to mind, it’s a great way to add a touch of elegance to your porch without breaking the bank; plus, it might be nice to give your guests one last chance to check their hair before heading in to visit!
Tree Time
All right, so obviously you can’t plant a big tree on your porch. However, some tree varieties only grow so big, and that’s where this front porch decorating idea on a budget comes in handy. For instance, fiddleleaf fig trees only get about six feet tall; they’re often used for indoor spaces, so they’ll absolutely fit on your porch!
You can snag one of these fun little arboreal friends for a little less than $30 most places, and while you won’t want to have it out during the colder months, you can always pull it inside to greet people just as they walk in until spring makes its way back into the world. Though it will require some extra looking after—and some extra time to grow into its full potential—it’s worth the investment!
Swing Life Away
If you’re looking for front porch decorating ideas on a budget but have a little bit extra to work with, you can pick up a hammock chair from Amazon for about $50! These chairs are considerably cheaper than other porch swings, and honestly? They’re a lot comfier. You can take your favorite book outside, settle in with your morning coffee (or evening glass of wine!) and enjoy the sounds of the outdoors while swinging in your hammock chair. If you have a big enough porch (and a big enough budget), you could even get two and have room for a guest to join you!
Box It Up
You have a couple options for front porch decorating ideas on a budget involving boxes. Either you can go back to the palette wood idea and build your own crates, or you can search thrift stores and clearance sections for raw wood boxes!
You can usually find them pretty cheap if you look hard enough, and they make for extremely versatile front porch decorating ideas on a budget. You can turn them into garden boxes and fill them up with flowers, stack them up and use them to display other décor (I would grab some mason jars and false flowers from the dollar store and make some fun bouquets to display!), create a little table out of them, and even more!
Table This For Later
Speaking of tables, one of my favorite front porch decorating ideas on a budget is setting up a little table where you can sit and drink your coffee in the mornings, or sit and visit with friends. While tables are usually pretty expensive, if you keep a close eye on your local thrift stores, you should be able to snag one for a pretty reasonable price.
Obviously you won’t want to get anything too big—you don’t want to overwhelm your porch space—but something small enough to fit comfortably in the corner would be ideal! And the nice thing about tables? They make a great base for some of the other front porch decorating ideas on a budget we’ve already talked about.
Sit Awhile
Want a place to sit, but don’t have the space for a table? Is the hammock chair a bit too far out of your budget? Don’t worry! If you frequent your local thrift stores for a bit, you’re bound to come across a chair eventually, and chairs are fairly easy to upcycle. The most important thing is to find one in the shape and size that you want—just about everything else can be customized!
I recommend finding a chair with a wooden frame rather than a fully upholstered one; weather is a factor when it comes to front porch decorating ideas on a budget, after all, and you don’t want to end up with mold in your seat! Even if you don’t love the stain of the wood, you can always paint it for pretty cheap; and if the chair is partially upholstered in a pattern you don’t care for, you can always paint over it with furniture fabric paint.
Adopt, Don’t Shop
Okay, this one’s a bit facetious, but in my opinion, there’s no better front porch decorating idea on a budget than having a pet to hang out by the door, ready to greet your guests! Adopting a cat or dog is nowhere near as expensive as purchasing one, and it gives a home to an animal who really needs one. I never feel more welcomed than when I come up to a house with a cat lounging on its porch. (Okay, okay—if you’re not an animal person, a cute cat or dog statue will probably do the trick, too.)
Wrapping Up Front Porch Decorating Ideas on a Budget
Feeling inspired yet? Now that you’re armed with 11 front porch decorating ideas on a budget, you’re all set to create the front porch of your dreams. No matter what your budget looks like, there’s bound to be something on this list for everyone!
Looking for ways to decorate your porch for the fall holidays? Check out 8 of the Best Scream-Worthy Halloween Porch Decor Ideas!