When Should You Decorate For Halloween?

Last Updated on August 16, 2023 By Emma W. Thomas

Decorate for Halloween around mid-October. According to a National Retail Federation survey, around 45% of Americans start decorating by the second week of October. This timing ensures a festive atmosphere without decorations becoming stale before October 31st.

When Should You Decorate For Halloween?

Halloween is a time of year that generates excitement in both children and adults. The thrill of choosing a costume, trick-or-treating, and decoration holds sway as people anticipate the holiday. However, the question that often becomes a bone of contention for many is – ‘When should you decorate for Halloween?’ Here are a few suggestions to help you answer this question:

1. Early October:
Starting to decorate in early October allows one to enjoy the festive spirit for all 31 days of the month. After all, it can be fun to maximize the period spent with Halloween decorations livening up your home or workspace.

2. After the First Day of Fall:
Some enthusiastic Halloween lovers believe that the commencement of the Fall season signals permission to begin Halloween decoration. This gives them more time to gradually build up their decorations towards Halloween night.

3. Just Before Halloween Night:
Waiting until the final week of October before decorating is another common trend. This ensures that the decorations are fresh and exciting for Halloween night itself, and keeps a clear distinction between the seasons and holidays.

4. When Stores Start Displaying Their Halloween Items:
Many people associate the beginning of the Halloween decoration period with when stores start placing their Halloween items on display. This usually happens in September.

5. October 31st:
There’s also a group of people who prefer the adrenaline rush and excitement of decorating on Halloween day itself. It enhances the festive atmosphere and keeps decorations novel, even if it’s just for one day.

Start Time	Reason
Early October	To enjoy the festive spirit for all 31 days
After the First Day of Fall	To build up decorations gradually toward Halloween night
Just Before Halloween	To keep decorations fresh for Halloween night
When Stores Decorate	To sync decoration timings with commercial outlets
On October 31st	To enhance the festive atmosphere and keep decorations novel for that one day

Tips For Halloween Decorations

There are several ways of creating a unique space with Halloween-friendly items. You can make your space picture-worthy following the following tips;

1. Reflect On A Theme

When selecting Halloween decorations, you need to put your items together with a common theme. You can choose mummies and vampires, witches and scary clowns, and come up with a cohesive idea that will make your shopping for these decorations easier.

2. Integrate Simple Crafts

To complete your decoration list, pick a few craft projects and include the little ones as well. It becomes fun when you decorate your home with the kids on board, which makes it easy.

3. Scare Factor

Your Halloween decorations will stand out when you include a scary staple item. You can create a dramatic set-up using skeletons, spiders, and other things that you think are scary.

How You Can Decorate For Halloween

Decorating for Halloween requires you to be creepy and creative. Knowing what to do makes it easy and fun to decorate the inside of your house for this scary but favorite holiday.

It is necessary to make a quick trip to the stores and make the most out of what you have at hand. Here’s what to do to make your home spectacular for Halloween;

1. Decorating Your Home Exterior

The outer part of your home plays a notable role in Halloween decorations. Concentrate on the following areas;

2. Lawn

Your lawn will set the tone for the entire home, and it needs to be as spooky as possible. There are various things that you can do to make your lawn Halloween-ready and make people curious to know what you have in store. You can use the following ways to decorate your garden;

3. Cover The Ground With Old Crunchy Fall Leaves

Avoid removing fallen leaves from your compound during the days leading to Halloween to have as much litter as possible. Make the most of what you have if there are not many fallen leaves.

4. Use Old Boots

Have old boots emerge from a massive pile of dirt or leaves to make it look like there is a corpse on your lawn.

5. Stick Tombstones

Halloween gets fun when things are dingy, old, and falling apart. Ensure your lawn is not perfectly arranged by having tombstones everywhere, including falling over or entirely crooked.

6. Cover Your Trees With Spider Webs

If you have plants in your compound, you can wrap them with spider webs. You can also stick some creepy-crawling critters or add a stuffed raven or owl to a low-hanging branch.

7. Use A Scarecrow

You can use a unique Halloween scarecrow or a corn husk one and paint it with blood all over. The object will do the trick to scare everyone away.

8. Throw Skulls On Your Yard

Enjoy seeing your guests screaming as they accidentally stumble on some skulls on the ground. You can also pop some skeletons out of your yard to add more details.

9. Park Your Car Out Of The Lawn

Park your car out of the compound if you must do it for Halloween then paint the windows to give the impression that they are cracked. Put a dummy with its hands pushed against the window to make it appear like a person is trapped inside.

10. Your Front Porch

The front porch of your home will be a gateway to every creepy item inside the house. You need to make it as scary as possible to entice your unsuspecting victims or guests into your horror house. Here are some exciting ways to add spice to your front porch;

1. Attach some spider webs to your porch that will catch your guests without their knowledge

2. Add the silhouette of one or two cats to raise the creep factor

3. Stuff a few rats on the floor to help set the scene

4. Place a bucket of dead white flowers to give your porch a perfect look

5. Scatter a few branches of a tree on your yard

6. Use a few pumpkins to add a pleasant touch to your portal. You can carve the pumpkins with ghostly designs or paint them silver, black, or with some glitter

7. Hang a ghoulish object from your porch by cutting holes in an old sheet and throwing it over an old beach ball. Hang this ball from the ceiling

8. Look for a rocking chair and cover it with spider webs. Put the piece of furniture in an area where it will creak and rock as much as possible.

11. Decorate Your Front Windows And Doors

Your front doors and windows are the peak of your home’s Halloween decorations, and you need to make the most out of them. You can add a few ghoulish touches to make your house look ghostly. Here’s what to do;

1. Use a spooky doormat with a picture of a ghost or a spider web

2. Cover a wreath with bats and hang it on the front door

3. Spray some fake blood on the front door but ensure it will come out easily

4. Stick some light wood  beams over the window panes using duct tape to make it look spooky and abandoned

5. Cover a mannequin in a formal red or black dress and stick it in a visible window. You can choose an attic or second-floor window if there is one. A flashlight under the mannequin creates a ghostly effect.

Decorate Your Home’s Interior

Your home’s interior also makes decorations for Halloween practical. You can concentrate on the following areas for better details;

1. Your Furniture

You need to make your home look creepy, abandoned, and Halloween-ready by use of your furniture. Here are a few tricks;

1. Cover your chairs and sofas with white sheets. Choose the oldest sheets that you have to make it appear like your home has been abandoned for several years. You can look for those sheets with natural-looking holes for extra clarity

2. Wrap your tables with tattered cloth from the old black sheet with rugged edges all over it. You can cut the sheet to achieve this rugged look

3. Drape your bookshelves using spider webs. You can use frightening books that are ideal for Halloween.  Place the books prominently on a side table or display them on a shelf

4. Place a few fake skulls on the furniture to spice it up

2. Use Your Light To Set The Eerie Ambiance

Make the most of your lights, but keep the house looking reasonably dim to pop up something ghostly. A bright room will not give you enough space for eerie. The following ways will make it perfect for Halloween lights;

1. Place some plastic bats to the inside of the shade of a regular lamp using tape. The bats stick out when the lights are on, but don’t put them close to the bulb

2. Light some white candles with fake blood flowing down. Place the candles over a paper towel and light a red one over them until the wax drips on them to look like fake blood is oozing on the sides

3. Drape the house with a few lighted orange paper lanterns

4. Carve a ghoulish face, a silhouette, or any other scary design on a pumpkin then light the inside

5. Replace the bright lamps with dimmer light bulbs to maximize the eerie lighting

3. Use Pumpkin Decorations

Halloween would not be fun without pumpkin decorations, and there is a need to take advantage of them. Think of ways to initiate more pumpkins without overdoing it. Here are some smart tips;

1. Hang a few orange pumpkin balloons painted with a frightening face on them. You can either hang them from the ceiling or scatter them on the floor

2. Paint a few pumpkins in silver, or black, or cover them with glitter and arrange them in the corners of your house

3. Use an open pumpkin to hold potpourri

4. Hold your Halloween treats with pumpkin dishes

5. Serve your special pumpkin punch from a pumpkin bowl

Final Word

You should make your Halloween celebrations as memorable as possible since it happens just once per year.  Make sure to decorate your home at the right time and use everything available to make it as eerie as possible.

Ensure to decorate both the inside and the outer part of your home to capture the attention of your unsuspecting guests and enjoy the day.

References:

https://www.shutterfly.com/ideas/when-to-start-decorating-for-halloween/
https://www.bhg.com/halloween/decorating/when-to-decorate-for-halloween/