Classy Halloween Decor

I was not sure this year if I was going to decorate for Halloween or just for fall in general.  I have been seeing all the lovely photos of the green and white pumpkins for fall from other bloggers and I was tempted to do the same but I know how much the kids enjoy the house being decorated for Halloween so I decided to go that route.  In fact, after I got everything done #3 boy came up to me and told me how much he loved this time of year because the house was always decorated so nice.  That made me feel good.  🙂  I am not into all the morbid and gory decor for Halloween and I did not want the decor to look cheesy.   I was going for classy Halloween decor.

Our faux mantel is one of my favorite DIY projects we have done.  It is so nice to change it up for the seasons and holidays.  It is in our living room where we spend a lot of our time and my decor usually focuses around how I decorate the mantel.

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The giant spider at the top is such a great prop, it is easy to pose how you want it.  I have used it on our stairway in the past as well and it looks great there too.

Last year I picked up the cheesecloth and the blackbirds at the Dollar Store, they give an eerie feeling to the mantel.  The black owl came from Menards, I knew it would fit in with the Halloween mantel perfectly.  It’s eyes actually light up, but I prefer them not to.   We did, however, put some LED lights into our black lantern.

I love the vintage look that this old crate with some books and a pumpkin on top gives.   Of course you can’t do Halloween without some Harry Potter representing.  🙂  

One of the best things to decorate with on the mantel is my chalkboard.  I change out the design for different seasons or holidays.  We will be adding some of our own chalkboard designs but this one I found at Nest of Posies.  Here is the link to it.   I just loved how fun it is.  If you want to make your own chalkboard, here is a tutorial on how to make a chalkboard.

Silhouettes of our boys flank the mantle.  The black and white of the silhouettes fit in perfectly with the theme.  I painted some white photo mats with orange acrylic paint and covered them with burlap to tone down the orange a bit.  The color of the burlap also ties into the pallet board backdrop.

I think my favorite piece is the skull in the glass cloche.  It adds the right amount of spookiness to the look.

I just love how the orange, black and white colors of the pillows and decorations pop against the neutral colors of the walls and floor.  That is one of the best things about having neutral paint and flooring, you can change the accessories and it changes the look of the whole room!

The black and white striped pillow covers and the white linen pillow covers both came from Ikea. I made the orange button pillow covers and the houndstooth quilt and pillow cover.  The houndstooth pattern is so versatile, I have used it for decorating with other holidays as well.

Lights and garland do not just have to be for Christmas. 🙂

The entryway has some fun projects that we made previously.  The pumpkins were something I had seen in Martha Stewart magazine years ago. Mr. Wonderful drilled holes in the pumpkins and we poked lights out of the holes in one.  In the other we put a strand of orange LED lights inside of it so you can just see the glow through the holes.  The balls in the apothecary jar are made from strips of fabric covering Styrofoam balls. They are a fun, easy way to add color to any decor and a great filler for vases or jars.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of our classy Halloween decor.  Do you decorate for Halloween too, or just stick with fall decorations?

Kimberly