East Northport sisters start Before the Door Co. business, transforming porches for fall

For twin sisters Emily and Nicole Smith, decorating for the fall was a hobby they did for family and friends. Now, they have turned that hobby into a growing decorating business.

Emily and Nicole, 31, of East Northport, co-founded Before the Door Co., a professionally designed pumpkin installation business that brings curated fall decorations to homes across Long Island.

The idea came when the sisters discovered Porch Pumpkins, a Texas-based pumpkin installation business. "She was more of, like, our inspiration for it," Nicole said. "Like we realized that this actually could be a business."

Last year, the Smith sisters decided to take that leap, committing to Before the Door Co. full time.

"When we had started, we had left our 9 to 5 jobs, mid- to late August and we didn't even have a website or a single customer at that time, which was a little scary," Nicole said. "But we started the website, we got our first order last year on Sept. 7. And we did about 100 houses for fall, our first year."

This year, they expect that number to triple, along with the number of pumpkins they will use.

Nicole, who is head of operations, said they expect to use "anywhere between 9,000 and 12,000 pumpkins," compared with 3,000 to 4,000 last year. This season, their work is in high demand, with installations beginning early September and continuing through the end of October.

"Five a.m. until like 10 p.m. we do this every day. It's like six weeks of delivery, but then the month prior, we really worked 9 to 5 just like getting the website running," she said.

While the sisters receive help with loading, unloading, washing, sorting and removing old pumpkins, the sisters still handle most of the work themselves. After reaching their maximum order capacity this season while still actively receiving orders, they decided to bring on three additional workers to train them to help manage the growing demand.

Ranging from small to large and vibrant to soft shades, these varieties of pumpkins help the Smiths create the perfect fall look.

"When we go to someone's home and let's say, they order a small pumpkin package, we're not bringing just a small pumpkin package," Emily, head of design, said. "We’re bringing double the amount because we want to make sure we have the perfect fit. So everything is very snug and it just gives it that abundant look that we kind of are known for."

That abundance starts before the pumpkins reach a customer’s front door.

"We work with multiple different farms," Nicole said. "They are actually not in the state of New York. We have to organize these deliveries. The reason why we work with so many is because we're super particular about one, the quality and two, the type of variety or breed."

At prices ranging from $275 to more than $2,000, Before the Door is selling more than just pumpkins. Customers can choose from small to premium packages, different color palettes of pumpkins and add-ons, including mums, cornstalks, spilling bushel baskets, wreaths and straw bales. Stylized packages are offered in petite ($275), small ($495), medium ($775), large ($1,600) and premium ($2,600) sizes. DIY package options are offered and start at $210.

Andrea Abbatiello, 49, of Huntington, a returning customer who ordered Before the Door's large package this year, said she would decorate her home herself and would pay a lot of money to do half of what the Smith sisters do.

"You would think, 'Oh, it's so easy, oh, you're throwing pumpkins on the porch’, but they really do design it," Abbatiello said. "So, like, everything has its own place. You know, everything is just set to look perfect. And it really looks so beautiful."

Concetta Francisco, 52, of Huntington, describes the Smith twins as "little fairies."

"I literally come home or come outside and, poof, everything is just decorated beautifully and I don't have to do a thing," she said.

After the fall season is over, Before the Door. also ensures that the pumpkins do not go to waste.

"When we do removals, the customers have the option to pay additional fees to have us come back and remove the pumpkins at the end of the season," Nicole said. "
We give them to a local farm on Long Island and they use it for feed and bedding for other animals and compost."

With Before the Door, Emily and Nicole can continue to do something that they love while also sharing their work and passion with their customers.

"The best part is just meeting the people," Nicole said. "When we go into these houses, it just brings so much joy to people. It’s so silly, but pumpkins make people so happy, especially if they have kids."

Since Before the Door Co. is now the sisters' full-time gig, they've expanded their decor offerings into other seasons. During the holidays, they offer doorway arches and decor with ornaments. Spring plans are in the works, with projections for floral doorway arches and Easter planters.

"But we haven’t fully finalized what we’re going to be offering 100%. We’re actually planning to reach out to our customer base and ask them ‘What do they want to see from us?’ " Nicole said.