Find the perfect balance between spooky and stylish with Ashlee’s quick guide to aesthetic Halloween decorating.

Create a DIY Halloween wreath

One of the best ways to celebrate Halloween with your home décor – and impress the trick or treaters arriving on your doorstep – is to create your own wreath. There are several ways you can do this, depending on the time and materials you have available.

If you already have a wreath with a fairly neutral aesthetic, like a white willow wreath or one made with faux autumn foliage, you can simply accessorise it to give it a Halloween feel. Consider adding small spiders crawling amongst the leaves or paper bats sitting on your stems.

Prefer to build a DIY Halloween wreath from scratch? In that case, I recommend starting with autumnal foliage, either faux or fresh. Depending on how far you’d like to go into gothic, you could dye faux leaves with a black or deep purple fabric dye, but I think you can get a suitably spooky effect with naturally gold and orange-toned stems or burgundy and maroon foliage. Add a sprig of white berries, foraged feathers, or artificial pumpkins to make it feel even more seasonally appropriate.

Have fun with pumpkins

Speaking of pumpkins, I think this autumnal favourite is essential to aesthetic Halloween decoration. I truly don’t think you can have too many; more really is more when it comes to pumpkins in our household. Pumpkin carving is one of our family traditions and is a great way to add personality to your décor. You can nod to your home décor style with the carving you choose, it’s up to you whether you lean into a classic spooky clown face or mix things up with a more alternative design like a set of stars, a black cat, a witch’s hat, or a crescent moon.

If you’d prefer a more subtle pumpkin option, you can’t go wrong with ceramics. Ceramic pumpkins often come in more neutral colours like cream or white so could blend perfectly with your existing décor. You can also store them away safely and bring them out year after year. Beyond ceramics, faux pumpkins are available in a variety of colours and materials, from felt and paper to resin and wool.

Build a spooky mantel

When choosing the areas of your home to transform for Halloween, I’d recommend decorating your mantel. There’s something that feels inherently quite spooky about a fireplace so it’s easy to lean even further into the Halloween vibes. Start with candles; I like to display black dinner candles of various heights in metallic candle holders. Next, add autumnal accessories such as ceramic pumpkins, pine cones, or something a little scarier like a vintage goblet or empty birdcage. Finally, make or hang a simple bat or ghost garland to complete the look.

Embrace darker tones

Even if your interior décor is dominated by light, neutral tones like cream, terracotta, and soft grey, you can embrace the Halloween aesthetic by making some small tweaks. Don’t worry; there’s no need to reach for a paint brush, you can embrace your darker side simply by switching up your artwork, vases, and soft furnishings. For Halloween, I like to replace my usual paintings with moodier pieces in cool tones and swap out my light linens for black monochrome cushions, blankets, and throws in dense fabrics like velvet and faux fur.

I hope these ideas have inspired you to add a little spookiness to your space this season and Happy Halloween from all of us at The Suffolk Nest!