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How to Style an Edwardian Christmas Front Porch

If you’re desiring to have an Christmas front porch that gives you nostalgic, Edwardian feelings- you’re in the right place! Come learn the elements I recommend for this style – perfect for the holiday and all Winter long!

When I revealed this porch’s Christmas look for this year, one of the comments said that they got a “Little Women” feel from the look – and I love that! That same evening I was holding a virtual movie night with the gals from my Behind the Scenes Decor Group, and that was the exact movie we watched!

So whether or not you’re inspired by Little Women, another book, or something else from the Edwardian period – you’re in the right place to learn a few of the elements that I think are definitive of the style.

Before we jump into Edwardian Christmas Porch Elements, I have to add a note that I think seasonal decorations should be just that – seasonal! I’m a big proponent of lasting decor that isn’t so specifically “Christmas” that it feels expired on December 26th.

I wanted these decorations to get us through the entire winter! That is an important element to the decorations for any season and any style!

And because I like to do 4 four larger seasonal changes each year rather than smaller updates, when I do get ready for a new season, it’s time to deep clean! I move old elements off and put them away, sweep the porch and any cob-webs. I even touch up paint on the doorway and trim as needed.

It feels good to start a new season with a new look, and knowing that behind it all is a squeaky clean porch.

*This post contains affiliate links to products I know &/or love.

This Year’s Christmas Porch Inspiration

My inspiration for this year is an Edwardian Christmas – both for the front porch and throughout the rest of my house (which I’ll be sharing more in the coming posts!).

While reviewing some period pieces from that era, I began to notice that I actually enjoyed the style of the downstairs spaces even more than the opulent upstairs!

As I’ve been going through my design process, I’ve been imaging my spaces as movie sets for the era, and in my mind, my house is the downstairs – but we have a good relationship with the family upstairs, so they’ve handed down some of their lovely decorations.

Decorating with an Edwardian Feel

The Edwardian period began as King Edward started his reign after the death of Queen Victoria (the Victorian Era). His look retained some Victorian elements but it also started to have a much more masculine, arts and crafts feel.

Those masculine, functional and moody elements are some of the things I wanted really well represented on the porch.

To achieve that, my husband and I hauled my large glass sided cabinet off the porch and placed it in our shop for safe-keeping until Spring.

We moved our black firewood rack to the spot where the cabinet used to stand.

We pulled the large faux concrete urns down the driveway from our gate and placed them on either side of our front door.

I found these years ago at our local architectural salvage shop. They’re fiberglass, which is nice because they’re deceptively light, though still a bit awkward to move longer distances.

I haven’t been able to find the exact ones online, but there are some that are similar on Wayfair.

Above my church pew, we hung a vintage sled (similar) with tube straps from the hardware store.

Across the arm of the pew I laid this soft faux fur blanket.

How to Style an Edwardian Garland on A Christmas Front Porch Greenery

Last year I made a garland of dried salal that was left over from a church event and I used it inside along my stair banister. At the end of the season, I carefully wrapped it in plastic and stored it with my other seasonal decorations – ready to be brought out again for this year!

I used it as the base for this full and wild garland that I created around the front door.

When I assembled it last year, I simply pulled a few sections of the salal into “bouquet” bundles, and then used floral wire to connect them together. This simple garland made an excellent base for additional greenery – I didn’t have to wire anything else in, I just stuck it in and it felt almost like it was connected by velcro.

I love the asymmetrical look, so I pulled one side slightly longer than the other and hung the salal base garland up on two nails above the door that I had used for a previous year’s garland.

Then I went on a walk around our 4 acre property and found a few other pieces to add!

Selecting Greenery for Christmas Garlands:

I typically like to have 4 different types of greenery in a project like this. Here’s the formula I use:

  • A Broad leaf – something round/oval, wide and flat – In this case, my salal.
  • An Evergreen – I think cedar is very best, but other options can work as well.
  • Something with a lot of depth and texture – In my case, holly! I especially love the tiny pop of red.
  • Lastly, something kind of wild and twiggy – I chose bittersweet because it gives me a really whimsical feel.

Pay attention to the shades of green! You want as much variety within your 4 selections as possible.

If you don’t have a yard with a lot of options like these, you can ask around if your friends might have some you can collect!

A question I have already heard quite a few times, is how long the cut greenery will last on my porch. Because we’re in a mild climate in Washington state, I am expecting to get at least a month out of the pieces – but if they do start to wilt or turn brown, I can pretty easily pull them out and replace them with new cuttings to extend the life of the overall porch through the remainder of Winter.

I used pieces of the same three plants that I harvested from the yard and placed them on top of the urns to give them a filled out look.

Around the base of the urns (but outside of our walkway), I carefully scattered some pinecones for a natural feel.

Decorating your Front Door for Christmas

If you aren’t able to go all out for Christmas, that’s okay. What I recommend is just decorating your front door, even if that’s all you can do! It sets the tone for the house, both for your family and any visitors!

For our doorway, since we had the beautiful garland as the show-stopping statement piece, I went a bit more simple on the door itself and added a pretty layered bow and some cow bells.

The cowbells came in a set of 10 from Amazon. I linked them together on a simple piece of jute twine and hung them on a large command hook on the door.

For the bow, I tied the first bow with two pieces of wide satin in the color “Old Willow” from May Arts. Then I tied a second smaller bow with a 3/8″ piece of velvet ribbon in Navy.

Related Christmas Front Porch Looks:

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