She Used an Old Rusty Bicycle as Fall Porch Decor Instead of Storing It
Rust covers the frame, fenders, and handlebars of an old bicycle sitting on this front porch, but it isn’t waiting for a repair or a trip to storage. Mums fill its wire basket, a pumpkin sits over the rear wheel, and a garland made from book pages hangs across the frame.
DeeDee from Our Clover House used the bicycle as part of the fall display at her 1922 Craftsman bungalow, then surrounded it with pieces that have little to do with seasonal decor. Weathered chairs, a rusty cart, galvanized containers, a birdhouse, and a kitchen colander all end up holding or supporting pumpkins and flowers.
Nothing gets refinished to make it fit. Rust stays on the metal, paint remains chipped on the furniture, and worn wood sits beside fresh mums and pumpkins, turning objects that might have been stored or discarded into the structure for the porch display.
The Rusty Bicycle Became Fall Decor
The bicycle keeps its rusted frame exposed, with decorations placed on and around it instead of covering it. A potted mum wrapped in burlap fills the wire basket at the front, while a pumpkin rests on a crocheted doily over the rear wheel.
A handmade book-page garland runs between the wheels, and a stack of gray-green and orange pumpkins fills the space beside the front tire. Smaller gourds continue across the floor, so the bicycle becomes the tallest part of an arrangement that starts at the porch boards and reaches the rear rack.
Two Pumpkins Turned a Weathered Chair Into a Stand
Instead of placing two large pumpkins on the floor, they are stacked on the seat of a weathered wood chair. A gray-green pumpkin rests on a wide orange one, raising both above the smaller pieces around them while leaving the worn legs and cracked finish in view.
Orange flowers fill a rusted metal container below the seat, while a wood scarecrow hangs beside the pumpkins. The open chair provides room above and below without requiring a purpose-built plant stand.
Another Old Chair Holds Flowers, Pumpkins, and Wood Decor
Another chair gets a different job. A galvanized pitcher packed with orange, red, and cream flowers sits on top, taking advantage of the tall chair back to push the arrangement above the surrounding pumpkins.
Below it, a wood basket holds more fall foliage while a rough birdhouse and an orange wood pumpkin shape lean beside the chair. The mix leaves each object’s original surface visible rather than covering the weathered wood and metal with matching finishes.
Wood Pieces Become Pumpkin Shapes With Raffia
From farther back, the same corner reveals several orange wood pieces arranged on the chair. Their broad bodies and narrow tops already suggest pumpkin silhouettes, while raffia tied around them creates stem-like tops and carries the straw texture across the display.
Real pumpkins sit among the wood pieces, and the flower basket occupies the lower shelf. At floor level, a metal colander filled with gourds extends the arrangement beyond the chair without adding another conventional planter or basket.
A Rusty Cart Carries a Pot of Mums
A small wheeled cart has enough rust to make its original finish hard to see, yet its tray becomes a low stand for a large terracotta pot of mums. The flowers rise above the cart while the worn wheel remains exposed at the front.
Pumpkins fill the gaps around it in muted orange, dark green, and gray-green. A galvanized minnow bucket sits behind the arrangement, adding another old utilitarian object without being turned into a flower container itself.
Pumpkins Share Another Old Table With Potted Plants
Another weathered wood piece carries a large orange pumpkin topped with a gray-green one, but this arrangement adds plants beside the stack. Rosemary rises behind the pumpkins, while smaller potted flowers fill the remaining surface.
More mums sit directly on the porch floor below. Using the old furniture for the largest pumpkins creates height without stacking every plant and gourd into the same cluster.
Even a Kitchen Colander Holds the Small Gourds
Small gourds and pumpkins collect inside a footed metal colander, turning a kitchen piece into one of the containers on the porch. Its shallow bowl keeps the white, orange, striped, and bumpy gourds visible instead of burying them in a deep basket.
A weathered birdhouse rises behind them, with a wood basket of orange foliage on one side and a galvanized pot of mums on the other. None of the containers match, but their worn metal and wood surfaces connect the group.
The Smaller Displays Stay Along the Porch Walls
Looking down the porch shows how the separate arrangements sit around the perimeter rather than filling the walkway. The red screen door anchors the far end, while chairs, pumpkins, plants, and wood pieces occupy narrow sections against the siding.
Wind chimes hang in the foreground, adding another object that was already at home on the porch. Keeping the center open lets the individual fall displays fill the edges without turning the entrance into an obstacle course.
The Red Door Becomes Part of the Fall Color
At the entrance, the red screen door supplies a large block of color before another pumpkin is added. A wreath of orange and red leaves hangs against the dark screen, while the chair arrangement fills the corner beside it.
That combination explains why the old bicycle works on the opposite side of the porch. The fall display isn’t built around matching decorations; it uses the porch’s existing furniture, containers, colors, and worn pieces as places to put pumpkins, mums, and foliage.
Would you use an old rusty bicycle as fall porch decor instead of storing it?
Image credits go to @ourcloverhouse.