Decorating & Design
Fall Curb Appeal Ideas: 20 Inviting Exteriors That Celebrate The Season
Author: Wendy Jacob & Jenna Wilhelmsen
Updated on January 8, 2024
For a home’s exterior, the transition to fall can be tricky. In some areas, the plants are still thriving and there’s plenty of green to go around. But depending on the weather in your area, plants may be leggy and gone to seed, and a couple of early frosts is all it takes to wilt flowers and leaves.
Scroll down for fall front doors and exteriors that are focal points for the harvest season!
If you’re looking to transition your home from summer to fall, take cues from this rustic farmhouse . Designer and homeowner Sydney Carlaw reimagined a ramshackle property into a magical retreat for her and her family. Boxes stuffed with evergreen boughs and coppery magnolia leaves amp up the natural beauty.
Photographer: Janis Nicolay
Source: House & Home December 2021
Designer: Sydney Carlaw
“The property felt like an enchanted forest right out of a Walt Disney movie,” says Sydney, who preserved an original log cabin on the property and set up a fire pit for cozy fall gatherings and added an evergreen to the porch.
Photographer: Janis Nicolay
Source: House & Home December 2021
Designer: Sydney Carlaw
When it came to reimagining a 1970s boat-shaped bungalow, designer and homeowner Jaclyn Peters chose to preserve the 50-year-old Manitoba stone, which she considers to be the “heart and soul of this house.” Modern windows and doors brings the mid-century home into present day while keeping the look clean and focussed on the materials.
Photographer: Ariana Tennyson
Source: House & Home January/February 2022
Designer: Jaclyn Peters
If there’s any color to get you in the cozy holiday spirit, it’s red. In his vacation home in Maine, Tom Scheerer opted for a cranberry-hued door. Combined with wooden chairs and checkerboard flooring in the same berry hue, the layered look is a balance of rustic and preppy.
Photographer: Francesco Lagnese, Otto
Source: House & Home November 2021
Designer: Tom Scheerer
Designer Ami McKay has a less-is-more approach to decorating. In her client’s modern Vancouver shingled home, a traditional blue door is elegant yet coastal, while tall birch logs bring a subtle touch of holiday.
Photographer: Janis Nicolay
Source: House & Home November 2020
Designer: Ami McKay, Pure Design
When the lush Pee Gee hydrangeas surrounding this historic Montreal rowhouse fade, homeowner and fashion designer Tu Ly will still be able to rely on neatly clipped boxwood topiaries to elevate his curb appeal through the colder months.
Photographer: Maxime Desbiens
Source: House & Home September 2022
Designer: Tu Ly
Designer Barabara Purdy dressed these front steps with colourful pumpkins and foliage that complement the warm tone of the wooden door.
Photographer: Donna Griffith
Source: House & Home October 2021
Designer: Barbara Purdy
A 9,000 sq.ft. cottage in the Kawarthas makes use of outdoor seating even into the cooler months. Bring out heavy blankets to enjoy the seasonal colors and falling leaves.
Photographer: Donna Griffith
Source: House & Home October 2021
Designer: Barbara Purdy
Gather an array of difference sized gourds and pumpkins from a local farmers’ market to display on your front steps or porch.
Photographer: Valerie Wilcox
Source: House & Home October 2020
Designer: Allison Willson
Take your cue from the hottest seasonal colors . Designer Jeffrey Douglas painted the door of his Victorian a warm goldenrod and went with an inky blue for the trim, for a modern, eclectic edge.
Photographer: Michael Graydon
Source: House & Home January 2013
Designer: Jeffrey Douglas
Maxime Vandal and Richard Ouellette of Les Ensembliers placed potted boxwoods below a pair of handsome, lantern-style sconces for a symmetrical, visually-appealing effect. A classic berry wreath stands out against the black front door.
Photographer: André Rider
Source: Maison & Demeure December 2009
Designer: Richard Ouellette & Maxime Vandal, Les Ensembliers
This lovely Edinburgh terrace house (the home of blogger Samantha Lawrie , her husband Chris and their two little girls) has an abundance of historical charm. The stunning front door is painted in Farrow & Ball’s Oval Room Blue , a heritage hue that adds a fun pop of color.
Photographer: Chris Tubbs
Source: House & Home December 2014
This DIY wheat sheaf wreath makes a bold, black door even more attention-grabbing. It’s an easy project you can do in an afternoon!
Photographer: Alex Lukey
Source: House & Home October 2020
Designer: Jennifer Koper
Homeowner Natalie Morrissette in the entrance at of her family’s secluded beach on Lake of Two Mountains in Quebec, where oversized, symmetrical planters and lanterns add to the grandeur. Two planters of russet chrysanthemums are quintessential fall picks, and they can be picked up at grocery stores. Keep them alive by placing the pots in bright, indirect light, water consistently throughout autumn and cut off buds as they wilt.
Photographer: André Rider
Source: House & Home October 2018
Designer: BlazysGérard
This beautiful modern farmhouse doesn’t need much to dress it up: a tall fringe of swaying grasses, a grove of cedars and golden fall leaves. The area between the two halves of the home serves as the entrance and offers picturesque views of the pond beyond.
Photographer: Alex Lukey
Source: House & Home October 2018
Designer: Mazen El-Abdallah, Architecture by John O’Connor, Basis Design Build
Rustic accessories give a mellow, traditional effect to the farmhouse, which is clad with rough-sawn, board-and-batten siding.
Photographer: Alex Lukey
Source: House & Home October 2018
Designer: Mazen El-Abdallah
An iron European-style awning and trellis-texture box planters add drama to this Toronto home’s façade. Though they hold two standards of twining Stephanotis vines now, it’s easy to sub in some pine boughs, branches and ornaments in the planters come December.
Photographer: Angus Fergusson
Source: House & Home January 2012
Designer: Tommy Smythe, Sarah Richardson Design
Bathed in late afternoon golden sunlight, this country Victorian is the embodiment of fall charm. Two curvy iron urns hold yellow mums that pick up the sandy hues of the exterior’s stonework.
Photographer: Robin Stubbert
Source: House & Home October 2018
Designer: Susan Burns
When a house is painted in a dark color, it’s easy to set a cozy, dramatic tone — even a broom pops when laid casually against the siding. The mossy undertone in Broadway by Behr works perfectly in woodsy surroundings.
Photographer: Virginia Macdonald
Source: House & Home October 2018
Designer: Morgan Michener
Consider how outdoor furnishings play a role in accenting an exterior color scheme. A grouping of graphite Muskoka chairs pick up the charcoal roof and sconces.
Photographer: Virginia Macdonald
Source: House & Home October 2018
Designer: Morgan Michener