Fall Front Porch With New Schlage Hardware


Disclaimer: This post is brought to you by Schlage. Thanks for supporting the brands that support this blog.

It has been a while since we chatted about the exterior of my house. Remember this post showcasing the various paint colors I was considering for our front door? Well, I decided on the color and then waited weeks and weeks to actually paint it.

It wasn’t until we installed our garage door hardware that I realized we needed to get to work on our fall front porch. I immediately loved the ease of our keyless deadbolt from Schlage and wanted to have a similar keyless setup for our front door. The thought of removing another key from my keychain is what really motivated me to finally get around to making over this sad-looking area!

A few weeks ago, we gave it a coat of fresh blue paint, added new smart hardware, and I bought alllllll the mums and pumpkins I could find for our porch!

Our Front Porch BeforeInstalling a Ring doorbell on our front porch

Before we get to the new look, let me remind you of what this space looked like just a month or so ago. The yellow had to go. How to install a ring doorbell

I considered lots of colors but l decided to try samples of dark blues and dark green.

Choosing a Paint Color for the Front Door

I always recommend painting swatches when choosing a color. It’s just too difficult to really discern a color from a sample swatch. Here are the four colors I tried out…Paint samples on a front door

All Benjamin Moore Colors (from left to right): Blue Note // Hale Navy //  Newburyport Blue // Essex Green

While I wanted to love the dark green, it just didn’t work well with the red brick. It looked a  little too holiday for me. In the end, I decided to go with the color “Blue Note” (the one on the far left!). I purchased an exterior paint (a must!) in a satin sheen. spackle the door

Before painting, I filled a few holes and dents with some spackle. I let it dry and then sanded down the entire door (to get rid of grime and create a nice surface for the paint to stick.) After sanding, I wiped down the door really well (I used Krud Kutter and a rag) to make sure it was super clean before painting. You can check out this blog post for tips on how to paint a front door. 

I also removed all of the old hardware on the door because we knew we would be replacing it with new! If you’re keeping your hardware, be sure to tape it up well so you don’t get paint on it or remove it and reinstall later.

Front door painted benjamin moore Blue note

Finn actually painted the door for me one day while watching football (he hasn’t painted much and said he wanted to “practice”. Such a sweetheart, that one!). He painted three coats of “Blue Note” on the door and two coats of “Simply White” on the trim. I’m absolutely obsessed with the blue color (cya, yellow!).

Upgrading to a Smart Wifi DeadboltSmart wifi deadbolt

With our fresh blue door complete, it was time to add some new hardware. We love the keyless deadbolt we chose for the garage door but we took it one step further for the front door. We chose the Schlage Encode Smart Wifi Deadbolt.  We went with matte black and the century trim for a contemporary look.

Here’s what really convinced me to go with a smart lock on our front door. You can lock or unlock it from ANYWHERE! I can be at the grocery store and let someone in the front door remotely with my phone. Ummm, have I been living under a rock? I had no idea this was a thing!

You can also set up codes for up to 100 people. We have our family code that Finn and I use, but I also made one for my mom, our contractor, our cleaning lady, and our neighbor! If they forget their code, I can always just let them into the house remotely with my phone if I’m not there. I gave out lots of keys to workers during our renovation and had plans to rekey the house once we were done. There is no need for that with this bad boy! The smart wifi deadbolt from Schlage

Finn and I have gotten suuuper lazy since adding the smart lock to our house. Instead of double-checking the front door at bedtime, we check our phones to make sure everything is secure in the house. No going downstairs to check.

I chose this sleek handle to go with the smart lock. It’s chunky and really looks striking on the blue door. Hardware on the interior of the door

On the inside of the door, I have this round and oh-so-sleek knob. It blends in well with our black door and I love it.

Installation for the lock and handle was a breeze. The hardest part was waiting for the paint to dry before getting it on there! Our fall front porch

With the door painted and the awesome hardware installed, I was finally able to decorate my fall front porch!

Creating a Fall Front Porch

Fall front porch

I’ve DREAMED of having a front porch for quite some time now. Now that I finally have one, I was not going to let the fall season pass me by without decking it out with pumpkins and mums galore. I’m pretty sure my neighbors think I’m straight-up crazy, but I think it looks super festive and fun. Bring on those trick-or-treaters later this week!

Adding Color with Mums

If you follow me on Instagram stories, then you know I’ve had quite a bit of trouble keeping my mums alive. Year after year, I kill them all. It doesn’t seem to matter if they get full sun or partial, daily water or less water, I have a brown thumb when it comes to these plants. You guys gave me a few tips to keep them alive…

  • Water them daily. Don’t let the soil dry out.
  • Deadhead old buds so new ones can grow.
  • Buy mums before they bud so they last longer.
Fresh buds on a mum

I ended up deadheading my “dead” plant and sure enough new yellow buds have sprouted up! I hope they bloom soon.

Faux & Real PumpkinsAdding faux and real pumpkins to my fall front porch

I ended up adding real and faux pumpkins to our front porch. I picked up the faux ones from HomeGoods and the real ones from Trader Joe’s. I had Finn guess on each one if it was real or fake and I’d give him a grade of a C! Some of the faux ones are really good and I love that I’ll have them for years to come.

I’m having a fall battle with the squirrels in our yard and I didn’t want them to take chomps out of the real pumpkins. I used this shellac spray on the real ones and so far they’ve stayed away! I’ve also heard good things about cheap hairspray. Give it a try if your squirrels are as ruthless as mine are…Fall front porch

My doormat and rug are still going strong out here! You can read more about those in this blog post. Our fall front porch

I’m so pleased with our fall front porch! It’s so festive and it makes me smile every time I walk up those steps.

Our fall front porch
Faux and real pumpkins

Fall Front Porch – Before & After

Between the blue door, the black smart hardware, and all of those fall accessories I’m seriously obsessed with the front of our house now. It’s crazy how a few small touches can make you fall in love with your home so much more. Our fall front porch makeover

So what do you guys think? Like my fall front porch? Better yet, what are your thoughts on my smart lock from Schlage? I think it’s such a great option for everyone out there with kiddos. No need to give them keys to the house!

Casey


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.