4 Secrets to Halloween in Style This October
Halloween was my favorite holiday growing up and I wanted ALL the Halloween things.
But as I got older (aka in my 20s), I started to see way to decorate for Halloween in more stylish and sophisticated ways that had never occurred to me before.
So I’m here to spill what I’ve learned over the years and help you take your home to new spooky chic heights this Halloween.
1. AIM FOR SPOOKY NOT SCARY:
Usually pieces that are trying to be scary are cheap and they look it. Instead, aim for decorations that are spooky or that give a wink and a nod to the holiday.
Or take these two skulls, they’re both about $25 on Amazon. One is going for realistic and scary and the other is going for classy and spooky. This second one has me wondering if I can justify a second skull shaped candy bowl in our home.
Although for the same price, you could forego skulls altogether and get this gorgeous claw candy bowl!
2. CREATE VIGNETTES:
Tell stories with your decorations. Can you pull a few things together to make the whole greater (and spookier) than the sum of its parts? One of my favorite examples of this was a vignette Young House Love did way back in the day (2009!), they put a silhouette of their (very much alive) Chihuahua inside a cloche and made the whole display seem like it was a spooky altar to a dearly departed pet.
3. PLACEMENT IS EVERYTHING:
Okay, so this isn’t limited to Halloween decorations, but I did want to show you what a big difference placement and spacing can make even with the same kind of decorations.
The bats here aren’t very effective because this isn’t how real bats move. It’s too orderly and ends up looking like a river or a stream.
This is better than the one above. But could this person have made it look like the bats were flying out of the fireplace? And the little bats probably should have changed angles a bit as they go up the wall.
I love this one from Jacquelyn Clark. The bats feel much more realistic and effective because they are attached to different surfaces and they’re not all going in the same direction with the same placement.
Obviously, this one from Jenna Sue is incredible. It’s not just because the architecture of the house lends itself so well to spookiness or that there’s an actual murder of crows flying above the house. It’s also the way these bats are used. They start out tight together, going in generally—but not exactly—the same direction, and then spread out as they go higher, just like real bats would do, which tricks your brain into being a little spooked. And while we’re here, should we take a moment to admire the black cat silhouettes in the window and the well placed cobwebs? Bravo!
4. USE WHAT YOU HAVE:
This applies to both your stuff and your space. We don’t have a mantel, we don’t have a real front porch, and we certainly don’t have a font yard. But we do have a balcony, and a bar cart, and open shelves in the kitchen that I’m going to use to bring some spooky into our home. Do you have a coat rack and some old costumes? Hang up that vampire cape and that witches hat on the coat rack! Take a few ideas from what you see online or in the world, and think about out how you can put them to work in your own home.
Halloween is the best time of year to have fun and experiment with your home and your creativity.