Fall And Halloween Decor Ideas That Aren't Tacky

This one is a special. It's October and I couldn't wait until Monday. I know, I should have shared this a month ago, but whatever. And this isn't just for Halloween. It's for the whole fall season, through Thanksgiving. (Christmas gets its own post, coming soon.)

And it has two sides. The grown-up, moody decor that looks good for months, and the fun part. Because remember, Halloween is supposed to be fun.

Fair warning: this one is packed, because I only get to talk about this once a year. So grab a cozy drink, relax, and enjoy the read.

Paper mache ghost candy bucket glowing from inside — Photo: Bethany Lowe Designs. Used with permission. Love it? It’s their Large Ghost Bucket, and when we asked on October 3 they were down to their last one. Grab it here or find a shop that carries Bethany Lowe.

How We Got Here

Back in the day, Halloween was the typical orange, yellow, black and purple, and fall was orange and yellow everywhere. Then we went to beige, black and white, even on Halloween. And guess what? It worked, and it still does. The typical colors had just gone on for too long, again.

Black, white and beige work because they are neutrals. They are not noisy and loud like purple and yellow. But let's not overdo black and white from now on either. Let's not discard it, let's not discard the originals, and let's bring in our personality. (I wrote a whole post about trends that I will share closer to the new year. Stay tuned, it all connects to this one.)

Decorate For The Season, Not One Tacky Day

Here is the beauty of it. You can use black, white and beige as your base, and then if you want a bit of purple, add a bit of purple. But I'd skip loud colors like orange, yellow and purple all together. At best it's a one-day thing, and nobody wants to live with it for two months.

So if you want to decorate for the season and not just one tacky day, follow some of these ideas.

Keep The Neutrals, Mute The Colors

Keep the neutrals, and keep the colors subtle. Either don't overuse color, or if you do, make sure the tone is toned down. And by that I don't mean pastel. I mean a color that is a bit muted. Especially this time of year, you want to be moody, and muted colors are moody.

Keep the neutrals we already know. If you like yellow from the originals, do yellow, just more muted instead of loud and bright. Same with orange: use burnt orange. And instead of that typical monster purple, use plum and burgundy.

And play with different shades of a color, not just one. Purples from a soft gray-lilac to deep plum, greens from sage to moss to almost black, oranges from blush to rust. Shades of the same color look rich and layered instead of flat.

Little white pumpkins with dark stems scattered on white — Photo: Mariah Green on Pexels

Sage green pumpkins on white cake stands with dried seeded eucalyptus — Photo: Becki Griffin, @curiousdetails. Used with permission.

Green and gray-blue pumpkins piled on dry straw — Photo: serjan midili on Unsplash

Three fuzzy pumpkins, mauve, white and pale green, on old weathered wood — Photo: Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

Instead of	Try	Why
Bright orange	Burnt orange, rust	Warm, earthy, lasts all fall
Bright yellow	Muted yellow, mustard, ochre	Still sunny, never loud
Monster purple	Plum, burgundy	Deep and moody, works all fall
All of it together	Black, white and beige, plus one or two of the above	Calm enough to live with for months

Make It Cozy, Like A Hug

We want cozy. We want what we decorate with to feel like a hug. You are creating a mood, and in fall the mood is warm.

Lighting is huge in creating a cozy environment, and it's a biggie in fall. The days are shorter, so the cozy increases. The rain and the cold call for coziness. So embrace this time, and embrace the moodiness. Lamps on, ceiling lights off, and candles, lots of candles. (Everything in lighting makes the mood goes double now.)

Candle in a glass filled with walnuts on a wood windowsill, pale pumpkins and glowing woven ball string lights around it, a basket with a silvery plant behind — A candle in a glass of walnuts, two pale pumpkins and a string of little lights on the windowsill. That is the hug. Photo: Svitlana (@kekse_und_ich) on Unsplash

Use What The Season Gives You

Use nature. Dried-up sticks, I mean, that's what happens this season. So go on a hike, collect some sticks, put them in a vase, and enjoy them all season. Same with pinecones. You can use cones from Halloween all the way through Thanksgiving.

Add real pumpkins and gourds too, the warty ones, the white ones, the pale green ones. Group them in different sizes instead of lining them up. A pile always looks more generous than a row.

Close-up of a pale cream pumpkin with a long curly stem, a glass of walnuts and soft glowing lights behind it — One pale pumpkin, a curly stem and a little candlelight. Simple is enough. Photo: Svitlana (@kekse_und_ich) on Unsplash

And it's not just pumpkins. Flowers are a thing for Halloween too. Fall is mum season, so look for the moody colors: dusty plum, rust, deep burgundy. Mix in something dried and let it look a little wild. A bouquet like this says October without a single pumpkin.

Big bouquet of dusty plum chrysanthemums with dried pink filler flowers, seen from above over a white sink — Dusty plum mums and dried filler flowers. Moody, a little wild, and very October. Photo: Vika Fleysher (@vika_fleysher) on Unsplash

Let The Shadows Do The Spooky Part

One of my favorite tricks. Put a big bare branch from that hike in a vase, and a small light low behind it, aimed up at the wall. You get long, twisted branch shadows across the wall and the ceiling. It's the spookiest thing in the house, it cost almost nothing, and it doesn't look like a decoration at all. It looks like October.

Hunt For Vintage

Thrift stores and Marketplace are full of fall gold right now: brass candlesticks, old dark frames, antique mirrors, little cloches. Mix a few with your candles and sticks and you get that old, a little haunted, collected feeling, without a single plastic skull.

Vintage-style painting of a ghost holding a candle in a gilded frame — Ghost print: Life on Summerhill (@lifeonsummerhill). Used with permission.

Warty green pumpkin in a white bowl on an old hand-painted floral chair — Photo: Jennifer Lanne, @jenniferlanne.studio (jenniferlanne.com). Used with permission.

Brighter Colors? Use Them Wisely

I said moody at first, and I'm sticking with it: moody fits this season well most years. But I'm thinking bright is cool too. If you are into brighter colors, use them. Use them wisely and have fun, because bright colors can give you a fun, airy vibe even in October. Pink pumpkins, painted checks and stripes. Just pick your palette and stick to it, so it looks chosen and not chaotic.

Pink gingham painted pumpkin — Photo: Dimples and Tangles (@jenniferdimplesandtangles). Used with permission. See the gingham painted pumpkin tutorial.

Little white pumpkins scattered on a bright pink surface — Photo: Mariah Green on Pexels

Make It Yours

The most important thing: use your personality. Forget a bit of the traditional and what people expect. Do unexpected stuff, but stay true to who you are. Basically, don't go along with the crowd. Do your own thing, and make it interesting. Use patterns, use your vinyls, use vintage pictures with cute ghosts or cats.

If you are a movie person, use popcorn.
If you are a boho girl, use reeds and pampas.

If you are a Gatsby gal, use pearls, feathers and velvet.

If you like wabi sabi, go for a lot of linen, beiges, and old, imperfect pumpkins.

Plain paper mache jack o lanterns in raw beige — Photo: Factory Direct Craft. Used with permission. These are their paper mache jack-o’-lantern pumpkins, ready to paint.

If you are a reader, pull out your old books. Stack them on a shelf with a few velvet pumpkins, some dried hydrangeas and a string of fairy lights.

If you are a baking or cooking momma, use your cutting boards as decor, and make delish treats that are fun and cute.

Or keep the kitchen subtle: a black cat figurine on the open shelves, a little pumpkin on an old tin, a plaid towel, walnuts in a bowl. Just enough to say it's October. Bakers, you can even decorate with your tools: hang your Halloween cookie cutters (a witch, a black cat, a ghost, a bat) on a wooden board by the stove.

If you are into granny style (it's so in right now, and it's basically cottagecore too), find some granny embroidery and use plaid and gingham.

If you are a minimalist who likes color, keep it to three or four pumpkins in plum, blush and dusty blue, and one brass candlestick. That's it. Lots of white space around them.

And so on. There is no wrong answer, as long as it looks like you.

Get Crafty

And this is my favorite part: get crafty, and truly make it your own. Paint your pumpkins. Cheetah spots, a scalloped edge, little stars, a painted vine. Grab your nail polish for the tiny details. Stitch a little pumpkin on gingham, or cut a ghost garland out of old book pages.

White pumpkin hand painted with colorful cheetah spots in pink, teal, navy and lime — Photo: Katie Herman, @katiehermanart. Used with permission. See the painted pumpkin DIY.

It doesn't have to be perfect, that's what makes it yours. Make a night of it with your kids or your friends and a scary movie on. Trust me, you will have even more fun, and it will become memorable.

Or go floral. Big painted roses, a little folk-art bouquet, on a dark pumpkin or a pale pink one. They are so pretty they can stay out all fall.

And if you are feeling funky, go all out. Paint a pumpkin hot pink or brush it black and gold, cut it open and fill it with flowers, berries and pods like a vase, or pop it on a painted candlestick so it stands tall. Fun, a little wild, and one of a kind.

Black and gold brushed pumpkin overflowing with orange dahlias, roses and berries — Photo: Attila Nemeth Florist, @attila_nemeth_florist. Used with permission.

Deep green pumpkin used as a vase for peach garden roses, ranunculus, sweet peas and rose hips on an old wood table

Now The Fun Part

Enough serious decor. Halloween is fun, so let's have some.

Use Interesting Things

Think about what this season actually is. Around Halloween, everyone is watching scary movies. So why not use popcorn? String it into a popcorn garland and hang it on the mantel, across a bookshelf, or around the window where you watch your movies. It's cheap, it's cozy, it smells good, and it's a little bit nostalgic.

And a little cobweb never hurt anyone. Stretch some over a candlestick, in one corner of a bookshelf, or across an old frame. A little, not the whole house. Just enough to make someone look twice.

That's the idea: use things that remind you of something. The movie nights, the hikes, the candy bowl at your grandma's house. Be original and be different. Decor that comes from your own memories will always feel more special than anything from the seasonal aisle.

If You Really Want To Get Into It

If you are really into Halloween, go for an atmosphere. Hang dark, see-through linen curtains. They soften the light, they move when the window is open, and the whole room suddenly feels like an old house on a misty night.

And add flying bats, paper ones across a wall or swooping up the stairs. That's more of a fun factor, so maybe make it a one-week thing, the last week of October. If you are really into Halloween all month, go for it all month. It's your home.

One Fun Thing For The Day Itself

Now, don't take it all too seriously. For Halloween itself, add one or two things that make you smile: a skeleton sitting in your reading chair with a book, a great spooky print, a bowl of candy in an old silver dish. On November 1, put those away and keep the rest. The sticks, the cones, the candles and the muted colors carry you right through Thanksgiving.

Two little cloth ghosts on a book with a branch in a vase and paper bats on a round coffee table — Photo: Deirdre Olsen, @abloomdecor. Used with permission. See the Halloween coffee table post.

The Short Version

Decorate for the season, not one tacky day.
Keep black, white and beige as your base. Don't overdo them, don't discard them.
Mute the colors: burnt orange, muted yellow, plum and burgundy instead of monster purple.
Skip orange, yellow and purple all together. It's loud, and it gets old fast.
Cozy like a hug: lamps, candles, ceiling lights off.
Moody fits most years, but bright is cool too. Use it wisely and have fun.
Make it yours: decorate for your personality, not what people expect.
Go on a hike: sticks in a vase, pinecones from Halloween to Thanksgiving.
Get crafty: paint, stitch and cut your own decor. It will be more fun, and more memorable.
Use interesting things: a popcorn garland for movie nights, a little cobweb.
Really into it? Dark see-through linen curtains for atmosphere, and flying bats for the last week (or all month).
One or two fun things for the day itself, then put them away.

And stay tuned: a Christmas post is coming soon.

Happy fall, and happy Halloween! If you want your home to feel this cozy all year, send us a few photos.

Fall And Halloween Decor That Isn't Tacky: Moody, Airy And Full Of Personality