Doorstep
$279
Just the pumpkins, beautifully placed.
Everything you’d haul home, minus the haul.
- Up to 15 small & medium pumpkins
- A mix of classic orange, heirloom & specialty
- Pumpkins only: no mums, hay or corn (add any as an extra)
Pumpkins only
A pencil drawing of a cottage at night. Touched by a wand, it fills with color: pumpkins, mums, corn stalks and lanterns on the porch steps.
Fall porches, installed · CarrboroFall porches, designed & installed
Carrboro · Chapel Hill · Hillsborough
Advent 2026 · Coming soon
Decor by Areté: fall porch design and installation in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough
Every porch begins in pencil. We bring the color.
The winter porch is coming. The list hears first.
Heirloom pumpkins, mums, corn stalks and lantern light, designed, delivered and arranged on your porch by the Areté crew. Your front door feels like the season, without the patch run.
Fir garland on the porch beam, a wreath on your arched door, straw stars and a candle in every window: an old-world Austrian Advent for your threshold. No prices yet; the list hears first.
From $279 · with mums from $419
From the float studio at 213 E. Braxton Foushee St · Carrboro since 2018 · Installs begin Tuesday, Sept 29
- Mums included from Threshold up.
- Designed, delivered & installed.
- Free delivery: Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough.
- Installs Sept 29 through mid-November.
One candle for each thing you tell us.
Winter · coming soon
The same porch, in candlelight.
In Austria, the four Sundays before Christmas each get a candle. We’d like to light yours: fir garland on the porch beam, a wreath on the door, straw stars, gingerbread hearts, and a candle in every window. Winter installs are being planned now. No prices yet; the list hears first.
All four candles are lit. You’re on the winter list, and you’ll hear before anyone else.
Vorfreude, as the Austrians say: the joy of looking forward to something.
Choose your package, palette, extras and week in the request form below.
Build your porch
I · Size
Choose a size.
Watch it dress itself, in the order we’d set it on your steps.
Threshold
$419
For stoops, condos & apartment doors.
A small door, a proper welcome.
- Up to 20 pumpkins: large, heirloom & specialty, minis & gourds
- A light floral assortment of mums
- A corn-stalk bundle or a small straw accent
Mums included
Porch
$659
The classic Carrboro & Chapel Hill porch.
The one we’d choose for our own steps.
- Up to 30 pumpkins, including 4–6 large
- Heirloom & specialty, minis & gourds
- 3–4 mums
- Corn stalks + a hay bale
Mums included
Harvest
$1,079
Wide porches, grand stairs, the house everyone photographs.
Abundance, arranged.
- Up to 35 pumpkins, mostly large
- Heirloom & specialty, minis & gourds
- 5–6 mums
- 2 corn-stalk bundles + 2 hay bales
- Layered stairs
Mums included
Commercial
from $1,320
Cafés, shops, offices & events.
We visit, sketch and quote.
- A site visit and a sketch for your space
- Everything sized to your entrance, windows and walkways
- A written quote before anything is bought
Every package includes design, delivery and installation. Prices are per porch, before NC sales tax.
II · Palette
Pick a palette.
Tap one and watch the porch repaint.
Classic orange, rust mums, natural straw. The October you remember, done properly.
III · Extras
Little extras.
Each one appears where it would go.
-
Extra large mum
More bloom, more color.
$42 each
-
Extra corn-stalk bundle
For tall columns and doors that want framing.
$30 each
-
Extra hay bale
Height, texture, and a perch for a lantern.
$24 each
-
Statement pumpkin
The prize-fair giant, chosen for your porch.
$90–$180
-
Styled lantern pair
Battery candles, warm at dusk.
$54
-
End-of-season removal
The week of Thanksgiving we clear it all and donate or compost what’s left.
$119
-
Rush install
On your porch within 72 hours, when the calendar allows.
+$90
Removal follows your package: $59 for Doorstep, $119 for Threshold & Porch, $179 for Harvest.
IV · Where & when
Porch light on means we have room.
We’re a small crew with a very full van, so we take a limited number of porches each week. A spot is yours once your deposit is paid; when a week fills, its lantern goes dark. We’ll never pretend otherwise.
Spots update as deposits come in.
The earlier the week, the more fall on your steps.
Want it up for Halloween? Choose Oct 19–24 or earlier.
- Carrboro · Chapel Hill · Hillsborough, free
- Durham, roughly inside I-40 & 147, +$42
- Farther out, we’ll quote
Why it’s worth it
Everything, done.
Yes, you could do it yourself. Here’s the receipt.
The DIY weekend
- 1 Saturday, gone
- 2 trips to the patch
- 14 pumpkins that looked bigger there
- mums, a separate errand
- 1 hay bale, living in your back seat
- corn stalks, and no idea where they go
Totalyour whole weekend
Decor by Areté
- 1 request, about 3 minutes
- a designed porch, balanced left to right
- mums, included from Threshold up
- 45 to 90 minutes of careful work on your steps
- a care card on your door
- removal at Thanksgiving, if you like
Totalfrom $279. You keep your weekend.
Mums, color-matched.
Threshold and up include finished mums chosen for your palette, never an afterthought. Want pumpkins and nothing else? That’s Doorstep.
Designed, not dropped.
We photograph your bare porch, stage big to small, then walk to the sidewalk and balance the color left to right.
A neighbor, not an app.
We’re the float studio at 213 E. Braxton Foushee St, downtown Carrboro, since 2018. You can walk in and say hello.
Install day
Eight quiet steps and a care card.
- A photo of your bare porch, so you’ll remember where it started.
- The large pumpkins go down first. Everything leans on them.
- Heirlooms next: warty reds, ghost whites, blue-greens, a blush Cinderella.
- Minis and gourds, tucked in like punctuation.
- Mums, for color that keeps going.
- Corn stalks for height, straw for a place to set things.
- Lanterns, then a step back down the walk to balance the color.
- A finished photo, a care card on your door, and we slip away.
It looks like magic. It’s forty-five to ninety minutes of careful, unhurried work.
The care card
Water the mums every two to three days. Keep pumpkins out of standing water. Something gone soft? Text us a photo.
our arch on Braxton Foushee (rusty on purpose)
mums: always included
the pink one. you want the pink one.
The person on your steps
Hi, I’m Jen.
I run the float place. I also do porches.
You might know Areté as the quiet spot on Braxton Foushee with the float room and the sauna. Every fall we dress our steel arch out front in corn stalks, mums and the strangest heirloom pumpkins I can find. Decor by Areté is that same care, carried up your front walk. I’ll design your porch around your door, bring everything, set it in about an hour, and leave a little card on how to keep it happy. These first weeks, I’ll most likely be the one on your steps.
Jen Ellis · owner, Areté Float + Wellness
Carrboro since 2018 · Locally owned & woman-owned · 213 E. Braxton Foushee St · 919-636-9899
Areté client? Tick the box on your request and we’ll say thank you.
Reserve
Reserve your porch.
Sending a request is free. Jen confirms your week within 24 hours.
Welcome from the studio counter.
Saving your porch… taking you to secure checkout.
Your request number is DBA-0000. The $100 deposit holds your week; checkout is by Stripe, with card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Changed your mind about paying now? Your request is saved; Jen will text you.
If we can’t make your week, we refund it the same day.
Your porch is on the drawing board.
This porch belongs to
You
Autumn MMXXVI
Your request number: DBA-0000
- On install day we photograph your bare porch and begin. The balance is due when we’re done.
Your porch takes about an hour. So does a float. Book a float
FAQ
Good questions.
Do I need to be home?
Not unless you’d like to be. We’ll text when we’re on the way and send a photo when we’re done. We just need a clear path to the porch.
When do I pay?
A $100 deposit holds your week. Jen confirms your install window within 24 hours and texts you a secure payment link. The balance is due on install day. NC sales tax is added to your final invoice.
Within about 5 miles of the studio, you’ll pay a $100 deposit at secure checkout when you reserve; it holds your week. Farther out, Jen confirms travel first and texts you a payment link. The balance is due on install day. NC sales tax is added to your final invoice.
What does the deposit do?
Your $100 deposit holds your week and lets us buy your pumpkins by name. Once your porch is staged, it’s non-refundable, because those pumpkins are already yours. If we can’t make your week, we’ll refund it.
What if it rains?
Light rain, we work through it. Storms, we reschedule and text you a new day.
How long will it last?
Usually well into November if the pumpkins stay dry and out of harsh afternoon sun. Mums want a drink every two to three days. Your care card has the details.
Pets, HOAs, narrow steps?
Tell us on the form. Mums can upset a curious pet’s stomach, so we’ll place them out of reach. We always keep walkways and exits clear.
Can I keep the mums?
Please do. Plant them after the season.
What happens after Thanksgiving?
Add end-of-season removal and we’ll clear everything the week of Thanksgiving, donating or composting what’s left.
Do you do storefronts?
Yes: cafés, shops, offices and events, from $1,320. Choose Commercial / Custom and we’ll come take a look.
Where do you deliver?
Free in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough. Durham, roughly inside I-40 and 147, is +$42. Farther? Ask, and we’ll quote the drive.
What about winter?
An old-world Austrian Advent porch is being drawn now: fir garland, a wreath, straw stars and a candle in every window. Tap Winter at the top of the page to peek and join the list.
Coming this winter
Winter is being drawn.
Fir garland, a wreath on your arched door, straw stars and a candle in every window: an old-world Austrian Advent for your threshold. No prices yet. The list hears first.
Decor by Areté
Reserve your appointment now
We decorate a limited number of porches each fall.
Reserve your porch