HOW TO DECORATE THE HOUSE FOR HALLOWEEN?
The 31st of October is approaching...are you ready to (trans)dress your house for Halloween?
If you're short of ideas this year or looking for an inexpensive and inexpensive way to do it, you've come to the right place!
You only need to take a few steps to decorate your house for Halloween and bring a creepy atmosphere into your home: play with the right colours, don't fall into trash and prepare the entrance in the best possible way! Read the article to find out more!
How to decorate the house for Halloween: colours
The first colour that springs to mind when thinking of Halloween decorations is undoubtedly orange, that of the traditional pumpkins or Jack-o'-lantern lit up and with menacing eyes.
The traditional American holiday brings with it a whole range of other shades, each with its own more macabre meaning. After all, this is the night of monsters, ghosts, witches and anything else that can be scary.
Fear and darkness, in fact, are represented by the colour black. Red is also a must: it recalls blood and hellfire. White is the colour of ghosts and ghouls, while green and purple are linked to monsters and witches.
When you have decided on the colours that best represent this festivity, make your own selection: don't use them all at once, choose two or three of these shades and have textiles and home furnishings carry them around the rooms. There's no need to overdo it and above all, you can't expect to overdo the decor of the whole house at every festivity, especially if it's a "short" festivity like this one!
However, if you have followed our advice on How to make your home cosy for autumn, you may already be at an advantage! Halloween decorations, in terms of colour, can be very much in keeping with the autumn theme, in which warm, textural shades such as orange and burgundy reign supreme.
The best way to create different moods in different rooms with the use of colour is through the choice of different home textiles. We refer to accessories such as carpets for the kitchen, living room or entrance hall, pads, tablecloths and tea towels, sponges and bed linen, which, besides being indispensable, allow for frequent changes, are inexpensive and long-lasting.
You only need to choose them according to the theme (or colour) perfect for each season change or holiday and you can show them off every year.
Decorating the house for Halloween without going trashy
Yes to Halloween, no to American-style! What do we mean?
The Treccani dictionary which defines it as a mostly joking term used to denote an eccentric, exaggerated and sometimes somewhat tawdry thing or endeavour
Halloween has been a major US holiday since the 20th century, almost as important as Christmas. It is well known that in America no expense is spared in organising expensive festivities for the occasion: it seems that every year Americans spend at least 2.5 million dollars on costumes and home decorations!
The results of certain stagings are often not only eccentric, but even of questionable taste, kitsch. That's why, although Halloween is also celebrated in Italy, it is done in a 'tame' way, it is done to the delight of the children who swell with hope reciting the 'trick or treat' formula at the neighbours' doors, and it is done for the whim of giving a different touch to the house for a few days, but without overdoing it.
Maybe you're wondering then: How to decorate the house for Halloween without going trashy?
Here's a short to do list:
- Choose two of the colours mentioned in the previous paragraph and place them here and there in the rooms with the use of textiles, home textiles and small furnishings. When choosing these colours, also consider the predominant shades in the furniture already present.
- The pumpkin is the iconic Halloween decoration (like the decorated tree at Christmas). Choose a large, round pumpkin in a beautiful orange colour, carve it and place a candle or LED lights inside. You can display it inside the house, in a window or at the entrance. If you are not good at handicrafts or prefer simpler, non-frightening decorations, you can opt for small pumpkins (edible or ornamental) with different shapes to place on shelves, tables, chests of drawers or coffee tables.
- If you are throwing a house party for your kids, hosting a themed dinner party or just having a snack and horror movie night with friends, you can choose napkins, plates, glasses or other disposable tableware with characteristic prints. Add a few candles... and you're good to go!
- If you are a do-it-yourselfer or want to get the kids involved in handicrafts, you can find 10 cheap, easy and quick ideas for decorating the house together in a fun way at this link.
Decorating the entrance for Halloween in just 3 moves
The entrance hall is the place in the house par excellence to be decorated to celebrate the scariest night of the year. It will welcome all the children (and not only) who will do the classic trick-or-treating, proud of their disguises... and their sugary treats.
The how to do it depends on your personal taste and the living environment you live in (flat or detached house). Some people like to decorate the entrance of their home for Halloween in a more pronounced way, to give young visitors a truly chilling experience. Others, on the other hand, prefer to decorate in a more subdued and non-scary way, with decidedly less macabre decorations.
It is not actually an obligation to decorate in a gloomy way! On the contrary, it is more than legitimate to do it to one's own taste, thus also adopting a more chic style.
Here are a few ideas, all achievable with 3 objects:
- Choose a doormat bearing the typical colours or designs of the holiday. An illuminated carved pumpkin as a light source and a nice basket full of sweets.
- If you are feeling a bit witchy (or wizard-like), place an old broomstick, a black pointy hat and a pot with edible charcoal next to your entrance doormat.
- Use two white paper or plastic plates to hang on the entrance door to create two eyes and use a green, red or black felt-tip pen to create pupils in the centre. Use cotton wool to make spider webs to attach to door jambs or outdoor objects (plants, umbrella stands, benches, etc.) and place fake spiders here and there.
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