To be completely honest I am not a big Halloween person. I don’t love the costumes and dressing up, but as I’ve gotten older, I have realized that the aesthetic is my style. So I bought black pumpkins and dark purple, black, and green stems, and added some skulls and the decor fits perfectly into my usual home decor and style. It is certainly a bit more spooky and dark than my usual decor, but it fits the season and makes me happy because I had so much fun with it. Knowing when to break out the seasonal decor is always tricky. The influencers on TikTok bring it out in August so they can get commission on decor items. And people online have a lot of feelings about when you should be decorating your own home. In this post, I’m sharing when to put up Halloween decorations and some tips and tricks to decorating your home for the holiday.
When To Put Up Halloween Decorations: Tips and Tricks
Halloween decor is so fun, you can go in so many directions with it! As for when to put up your decorations, my answer to this question is whenever you want! It’s your home, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t decorate it whenever it makes you happy. Keep them up year-round if you love it! I start decorating for Halloween mid to late September so that I am fully decorated for Halloween by October, and take them down after October 31. I want to enjoy them through spooky month. And if I haven’t gotten out regular fall decor, it’s easy to just do the Halloween decorations a little early.
A few things to consider when putting up your Halloween decor: Are you decorating for Fall or just Halloween? You may want to do just fall for September and then switch to Halloween for October, then back to Fall in November. How Halloween-y do you want your home to look? Are you adding some table decor and a few pumpkins or are you a skeletons all around and bats flying up the wall type of gal? If you’re going above and beyond you may want to start earlier to enjoy the hard work longer, or on the other hand, maybe it’s overwhelming and you just want to keep it for only October. Lastly, if you’re doing anything outside, do you have an HOA that has limits on when you can decorate seasonally?
Related: When to Start Decorating for Fall
How To Put Up Halloween Decorations in 10 Different Areas of the Home
Dining Room: Tablescape
I am obsessed with my dining room since we finished it. And decorating it for the first time for Halloween was so much fun! Our black table lends itself really well to the seasonal decor and dark and moody vibes. I had to find a serpent candelabra, I love snake decor and jewelry despite being absolutely terrified of them in real life. I got mine from Marshalls, but linked several options below! This item wouldn’t have been complete without black candles, they just add to the spooky vibes. I think if I light them and let the wax start dripping down they will look even more eerie!
While the candelabra is the focal point, I also grabbed some garland from Michaels and loved the mix of the ivy and purple flowers. I placed them on top of my linen table runner, I do like to have one down on the table to protect it, since my table scratches really easily. I also liked the contrast between the neutral vs the dark garland blending into the black table.
Bar/Bar Cart
I have a whole post about how to decorate your bar cart for Fall, so if you have a full bar cart check out all of the fun ways to decorate it there! Now, instead of a bar cart, we have a buffet/cabinet that I use as a bar cabinet and extra storage. I didn’t want to over-decorate it, so I swapped out my usual tray for this snake tray, added some Halloween cocktail napkins and a resin skull, a skull shot glass for fun, and on the other side added my bedazzled skull.
Hallway Console
With my hallway console, I try hard to keep it minimal since I don’t replace much decor, keeping my usual ornamentation out. The most Halloween here is the orange candle tapers in my black vintage candle holders next to my small resin skull. Not everything has to be over the top to be on theme!
Living Room: Cabinet
I love the cabinet in my living room and decorating it for the different seasons is so much fun, I grabbed this simple vase last year and have had such a great time swapping out the different stems for seasons. It started with pine branches for Christmas, and now I have some black eucalyptus, black flowers, and some metallic and navy leaves for some dimension. I also swapped the lamp here for another one I already owned, but the black shade and gold base work really well with the spookier vibes. Finally, I changed out my gold knot figurine for a black glass pumpkin.
Living Room: TV stand
This setup is right below our TV, and honestly, the furniture isn’t here permanently. I have dreams of building in cabinets soon. For now, though, this is what we have, so I decorate it to the theme. Aside from the dining room, this is one of the most festive surfaces in the house! I used coffee table books to help group my items. And I had another black glass pumpkin to style here next to my skull candle holder. I don’t use real candles in here, but found some realistic battery-powered tea lights. Then I found this fun Apothecary bottle at the Target dollar spot one year along with these fun little ‘ingredients’. I filled the bottle with battery lights and they look so fun in the dark when we turn them on at night!
Living Room: Cozy
Last Christmas I found some adorable pillow covers that were black with white trees on them and I love the contrast on my contemporary chair. So when I found this ghost pillow with similar vibes, I had to grab it!
Fireplace Mantle
I keep my mantle pretty simple most seasons. This fall, I wanted to add a tiny bit of Halloween up there as well, so I swapped in some ghostly-looking white Tapers with black candle holders. I added a resin skull and balanced the other side with small pumpkins.
Office/Kids Room: Whimsical
Halloween doesn’t have to be spooky or scary, though it is the normal default. I was in Michaels and found these adorable colorful ghosts and loved how fun they were. I had to grab them for my office which is all pink and yellow. From this picture, they are placed in an odd spot, but the reason I have them there is because there, my coworkers can see them in my work meetings! Sometimes we need some fun and whimsy through our long days.
Outside: Yard Decor
We don’t decorate our yard, but we see so many amazing ideas in our neighborhood! I have looked at the fun skeleton dogs and thought about grabbing them, but we would have to do three for each of our furry friends. Other fun ideas are the giant skeletons, lights, or I even saw a fun Beetlejuice blow-up figure.
Outside: Front Door/Porch
One thing we do love is to decorate our front porch with pumpkins. Carving them and lighting candles inside make them more fun and seasonal for Halloween!
