My Halloween Home Tour

Four Tips for Elegant Halloween Decorating 

Some of you might cringe at the thought of decorating your home for Halloween. What's even scarier than Halloween itself are those tacky dollar-store decorations.  Fake blood, cobwebs and plastic severed limbs are enough to give you nightmares that will last long after October 31st!

But Halloween décor doesn't have to be cheap, cheesy or gory.  When done right, a home can celebrate the spirit of Halloween while still being elegant, sophisticated and glamorous.  

Read on to explore my Halloween home tour and my 4 tips for elegant Halloween decorating.

1. Make a Bold Statement with Black and White

For a more sophisticated Halloween palette, forgo the traditional pumpkin-orange and go with a black-and-white colour scheme instead.  A black-and-white scheme is bold and intense, and creates a suitable level of drama for this over-the-top holiday.  This Halloween look is sexy and seductive.  For your inspiration, forget the slasher movies, and think of the sultry chambers of Dracula's castle instead.  

To really amp up the high-contrast of the black-and-white scheme, I paired together sets of like items: one in black and one in white.  I love the pairing of the black and white pincushion pumpkins, the black and white glass skulls, and the black spider pillow with the white sugar-skull pillow.

2. Go Glam

I chose to go with a Glam decorating style.  Halloween is a very over-the-top holiday (think elaborate costumes and masked balls), so I thought that an equally elaborate decorating scheme would be appropriate.  

The first rule of creating a Glam look is to use shiny, sparkly or reflective surfaces that create an elaborate feel.  Metallics work very well with the Glam style, such as the silver metal skull that sits on my coffee table.  The metal skull also tied in with the other metals already existing in the space, such as the chrome legs of my coffee table, the chrome ring pulls on my buffet, and the silver metal nailheads on my wing-back chair.

Glass and crystal are among the reflective materials that work well in Glam-style spaces. A collection of crystal candlesticks and a tray of fancy drinking glasses scream sophistication. 

Beaded and sequined pillows add even more sparkle to this Glam-style Halloween décor.
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Soft and luxurious textures are also important for creating a Glam look.  Black fur pillows and a soft grey throw blanket add texture and luxury.  Velvet pincushion pumpkins are elegant and tie in nicely with the velvet tuxedo sofa.

3. Give Your Everyday Items a Spooky Touch

Just because you are decorating for Halloween doesn't mean that ALL of the items in your space have to be Halloween-specific.  In-fact, too many Halloween items can make your space look tacky.  What I like to do is to use some everyday items that I already have in my house, and give them a bit of a spooky touch.

I stacked a bunch of hard-cover books on my coffee table that I already owned.  I chose books that went with the black-and-white colour scheme of my space.  These books are not Halloween specific, but topping them with a skull gives them that extra eerie feel that they may as well be spell books.

On my buffet table, I added a silver tray with a collection of drinking glasses.  Again, the tray and glasses are items that I already had in my home and are not Halloween-specific. I chose them because the black painted details on the glasses tie in nicely with my colour scheme.  For that sinister Halloween touch, I added a liquor decanter filled "poison" which I made with water and simple black food colouring.  A black crow is perched on the tray and completes the spooky vignette.

Finally, I grouped together some clear crystal candlesticks.  Where I would normally set up candlesticks in matching pairs, here I created a mismatched collection of differing shapes and heights.  The drippy wax of the candles has a beautiful and haunting effect.

Pro tip: To make your own wax-dripped candles, light tapper candles and leave them outside for approximately 15-30 minutes on a windy day.  The wind will naturally cause the wax to drip down the sides of the candles and down the candlesticks, creating this amazingly creepy look.

4. Impress your Guests with an Elegant Halloween Table

Create an elegant table for your Halloween party.  Continue the same black-and-white colour scheme that you've already created throughout the rest of your home.  A simple black table cloth is the perfect dark and spooky backdrop.

Layer your dishes.  For a bold, high-contrast look start with a silver charger plate, then add a black dinner plate and finish with a white salad plate with a Halloween motif.  I absolutely love this set of black-and-white skeleton dishes.  They come in a set of four (skull, ribs, hip-bone, and foot and hand-bone) allowing each of your guests to enjoy a different spooky experience.

​Top each place setting with a single white rose and some black feathers for that extra elegant touch.

Instead of a single center-piece I opted to create a table runner out of different sized and shaped candlesticks in a combination of silver and crystal.  This is not the time for minimalism.  More is more for this Halloween style.  I created an over-the-top look with 19 candlestics, silver metallic pumpkins and skulls, and black crows and owls perched throughout the center runner.

Halloween décor does not have to be tacky and gory, or filled with cheap dollar-store finds. Incorporating some fun Halloween items with your own treasured pieces, as well as choosing the right colour scheme and decorating style, can help you create a look that is sophisticated and elegant.
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Thank you for coming along with me and exploring my Halloween Home Tour.  I hope you enjoyed my tips and were inspired to create a Halloween haven of your own.  

How did you decorate for Halloween this year?  I'd love to hear your ideas and thoughts below.  Happy Halloween!

Thanks for reading,
Loredana