As many of you know, lately, I’ve been rebelling against a lot of seasonal decor. I’ve de-prioritized it in favor of focusing my time and energy on simplifying, and since holiday decorating and decorating for specific seasons and occasions had gotten to the point of adding stress, I’ve been using more year-round decor. Making small changes to minimize my efforts and resources has been amazing and truly life giving (seriously, I’ve been making time for things I haven’t had time for in years!). But, with the Fourth upon us, and after reclaiming a little time and sanity (haha), I was ready to compromise and get a little festive. The Fourth of July is pure summer happiness and I decided I was ready to dip a toe back into getting festive with a few guidelines… 1. It would have to be quick, 2. It couldn’t induce stress, 3. No new purchases, and 4. It would have to have some longevity and go up early (so it marked a patriotic season instead of just a day — I can more easily justify time that way, just as I do with Christmas ;)). So… I did it. Following our big house paint job (see that HERE), I outfitted our home with 4th of July outdoor decorations in under 30 minutes, using everything I already had on hand. And, I’m so glad I did. With a little time spent and minimal effort, our home is ready. Below, I’m sharing the few simple changes I made to make our patriotic front porch statement.
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5 Simple 4th of July Outdoor Decorations
None of these changes are revolutionary or unique, but they all fit within the criteria I had established before taking on the outdoor project. And, if you’re struggling with making the time or wrestle with even the thought of the effort involved, I hope this simple breakdown shows that getting your home ready for the mid-summer festivities with 4th of July outdoor decorations doesn’t have to be involved or consume resources you don’t have — time, energy, monetary, or other. The name of my game was “resourcefulness” and after 30 minutes, I’d accomplished my goal.
Sources: American Flag & Pole (similar) | Buntings (5 pcs) | Hydrangea Wreath (similar)
1. Patriotic Buntings
Ok, so even though part of the deal was that I wouldn’t make a purchase, I’ve been wanting to outfit the front of our home with buntings FOREVER. Lucky for me, my mom had some from her former house that she hadn’t found a place for at her new home. So, while these were new to me, they were borrowed, not purchased 😉 I LOVE THEM! If she didn’t have them, I’d have no regrets in investing in some though as they aren’t expensive, are classic, and aren’t “one-and-done” in terms of usability. (If you’ve been wanting to check out some patriotic buntings, there’s a similar 2’x4′ five-piece set on Amazon HERE).
Sources: American Flag & Pole (similar) | Buntings (5 pcs) | Hydrangea Wreath (similar) | Black Urn Planter (similar 1) (similar 2) | Small (4″x6″) American Flags (set of 12) | 12″x18″American Flags (set of 12)
If they aren’t a perfect fit to be positioned side by side, you can space them out, center them, or — as I chose to do — slightly overlap them. Also, as a note, I snapped the pics as soon as they were up and in position, after they had been folded tightly for a few years. The heat and weather “ironed” them out to be more smooth pretty quickly.
Tip: when you’re hanging buntings, start in the center!
Sources: American Flag & Pole (similar) | Buntings (5 pcs) | Hydrangea Wreath (similar) | Black Urn Planter (similar 1) (similar 2) | Small (4″x6″) American Flags (set of 12) | 12″x18″American Flags (set of 12)
I also love the look of buntings hanging from the porch ceiling — who knows, maybe we’ll change things up one day 😉 And if you aren’t into buntings, how fun are THESE long flag banners to hang in front of columns?!
2. A Festive Wreath
Aside from the buntings, most of my 4th of July outdoor decor was focused around the front door.
I actually had to really work to find something I thought was appropriate since I don’t have a white wreath or a wreath specific to the holiday. I think THIS wreath is absolutely STUNNING and I’ve loved THIS year-round evergreen wreath for a long time, but I had a muted green hydrangea wreath that I made around a decade ago… so that’s what I used.
Sources: American Flag & Pole (similar) | Buntings (5 pcs) | Hydrangea Wreath (similar) | Black Urn Planter (similar 1) (similar 2) | Small (4″x6″) American Flags (set of 12) | 12″x18″American Flags (set of 12)
I have a pretty hefty arsenal of small flags so as I’ve done before, I used them to make my DIY’d decade-old wreath patriotic — the size I used was 4″x6″ (find this size on Amazon HERE).
Sources: Hydrangea Wreath (similar ) | Small (4″x6″) American Flags (set of 12)
3. Layered Welcome Mat
Still in great condition, I was actually surprised to locate this front door mat and layering rug in my basement collection. I’ve been trying to “wear out” my welcome mats and stick to year-round styles for the most part, but as long as I have seasonal/holiday mats in good shape, I’ll continue to try to use them until they’re ready to retire!
Sources: Red & White Striped/Fringed Outdoor Rug | Americana Welcome Mat (similar)
4. Flag Urns
And without switching plants, flowers, or planters, I had some slightly larger flags I was able to simply incorporate into my annual ferns. (These are 12″x18″ — find a pack of these on Amazon HERE). Doing full plant/floral overhauls is where time and resources can start getting tough so keeping it simple here was key for me. Avoiding the most labor intensive parts of this seasonal update kept it from feeling like a daunting task, and more like I was adding a little holiday cheer.
Sources: Black Urn Planter (similar 1) (similar 2) | 12″x18″American Flags (set of 12)
5. Striped Porch Pillows
Also old and still in fabulous shape, I subbed in thin-striped navy and white Sunbrella pillows on my front porch rockers. These are 20″ squares from Pottery Barn which are no longer available, but I found (identical?) narrow navy and white striped Sunbrella pillows on Amazon HERE that come in a set of two. I actually had a few other red white and blue patterns from years ago (some in ikat, some that looked more fitting for the back of the house…) but after years have gone by, I can appreciate the simplicity and classic design of these.
Sources: Black Presidential Rocking Chairs | 20″ Navy & White Striped Sunbrella Pillows (similar)
We have an American flag hanging almost year-round but if we didn’t, this is the time of year we would invest in one. We typically take a break in the fall and through Christmas but if Dave had it his way, we’d have one flying 365 days a year.
Sources: American Flag & Pole (similar) | Buntings (5 pcs) | Hydrangea Wreath (similar) | Black Urn Planter (similar 1) (similar 2) | Small American Flags (set of 12)
All in on time — including identifying and bringing up the seasonal items from storage in the basement — I was finished in under 30 minutes. The most time was devoted to hanging the buntings but with zip ties, that went quickly.
In both making the initiative while honoring my established guidelines, this simple seasonal/holiday transition of installing simple 4th of July outdoor decor was a major win for me. I get too much joy to be totally “minimal” but finding a nice compromise of simplifying to my own version of minimal-ish is where I want to ultimately be. And, this was a great start.
Your home looks beautiful for Summer
Thank you for taking the time to visit, Debbie, and for your kind note. I hope you have a wonderful Fourth of July!