Halloween decoration ideas – 17 cute tricks to make your home look a treat

Halloween is back on this year in full force. This does, of course, mean that you have the perfect excuse to double down on Halloween decorations to make your home look more frightfully festive than ever.

Our roundup includes Halloween decorating that's both spooky and stylish. And, as you would expect, we have outdoor Halloween decor and ideas for indoors, too.

Halloween decoration ideas

'It's so easy to take your fall decor and repurpose it for Halloween,' says Lucy Searle, Editor in Chief, Homes & Gardens. 'I usually go full force for fall, then slowly add Halloween decorations to my existing wreaths, pumpkins, and so on, until my house looks really festive. Then, I take it all away again so that I'm Thanksgiving decor ready.'

1. Get your porch prepped for Halloween

Looking to go beyond the usual pumpkin carving ideas and Halloween door decor? Then go all out.

We love, love, love the white and pale green color scheming of this Halloween porch decor and how the shapes of the pumpkins are echoed in the huge floral displays in the containers either side of the front door. So simple, yet so effective.

You needn't buy a ton of pumpkins for this stylish look – simply fill your containers with anything from bricks to upside down smaller containers – then you can just carefully arrange just a few pumpkins, gourds and even herbs on top. Know when to put your pumpkins out, however, so they do not rot too soon before the big event. 

2. Put your efforts into an expansive pumpkin display

Knowing how to carve a pumpkin to effect is one thing, but you can actually create way more of an impact with bold pumpkin painting ideas. Better still, these no-carve pumpkin designs need less effort and time to look fabulous. Simply choose a color scheme you love, perhaps one that matches your front door, and go to town.

'We are seeing a ton of pale blue coming through this year,' says Jen Ebert, Homes & Gardens' digital editor. 'It's a wonderful foil to all the fall colors you see around in nature and incredibly stylish, too.'

3. Have fun with Halloween craft

Halloween decoration ideas, if made at home, should be fun, and something the kids can get involved with. The simplest of these Halloween craft ideas has to be bats cut from black paper. Perfect as Halloween window decor, they can be hung from tree branches outside, too, to create a spookily easy to create display.

4. Set a table with Halloween decorations

'Of course you can crowd your Halloween table decor with fun motifs, such as spiders, bats and ghouls,' says Jo Bailey, Homes & Gardens' deputy editor and stylist. 'But for an adult-only All Saints meal, why not be a little more elegant? I love these crackers, which are very grown up. Etsy sells Halloween crackers that will fit this theme, and plenty of fun buys kids will love, too.'

5. Get busy with flowers at Halloween

Floral Halloween decorations will make your home feel festive but elegant, too. Whether you make a Halloween wreath from fresh flowers to complement fall planters or make a pumpkin planter for a look that straddles fall and Halloween, you can't go wrong if you stick to burnished colors that complement the nature that's surrounding your home.

6. Create a cute Halloween scarecrow

Looking for no carve pumpkin ideas? This is a fun Halloween decoration project to do with the children, and there really are no rules for how to create it or how it should look. We have used a pumpkin for the head, and fabric scraps and card for the clothes and hat – but you can buy kits and ready-made pumpkin scarecrows if you need a quick fix. 

7. Turn sugar cookies into Halloween decorations

Want more than pumpkin recipes this Halloween? Gingerbread men and plain sugar cookies can quickly become Halloween decor-themed with the addition of some simple icing – another fun project for the kids! Bake them yourself or cheat with ready-made cookies and enjoy the decorating. Use them as decorations, place them on a plate on the porch... or simply enjoy them at home.

8. Layer lanterns with fall flowers and white pumpkins

Welcome guests and visitors with a beautiful Halloween decor display in your porch. This is our favorite combination: white white and pale grey pumpkins from Pottery Barn, alternated with lanterns and autumn blooms. Simply stunning.

• Browse white pumpkins at Amazon US
• Browse white pumpkins at Amazon UK

9. Pick a Halloween wreath that's drop dead gorgeous

Make a Halloween wreath the center of your Halloween decorating ideas. This blush eucalyptus wreath from Cox & Cox, however, is the perfect example of a fall wreath idea that can be dressed up with decorations – such as the cookies above – for Halloween, then undressed and redressed for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Understated, beautiful fall colors, and ever-lasting.

10. Halloween decorating ideas you can use all year round

How cute do these white pumpkin planters look with succulents planted in them? They are the perfect understated decor for Halloween – but we think they would look lovely all year round, too.

11. Pick out elegant Halloween lighting ideas

Halloween lights needn't be garish – there are plenty of sophisticated lighting ideas, such as this gorgeous golden glass pumpkin light decoration, that house-proud homeowners will enjoy displaying. 

12. Create a warm welcome with deep, autumnal shades

Want to make more of an impact? Pick out pumpkins in bolder, deeper colors and in different shapes and sizes. Combine them with painted pumpkins – or faux pumpkin decorations – flowers, lanterns, and even autumn leaves, and arrange until you are happy with how they look. 

13. Hang a Halloween garland over doors

Children will love a fun bunting or garland, and design-conscious adults will approve of this cute by from Graham & Green.

14. Look for pumpkin decorations with a difference

These pumpkin decorations are made from upcycled books – how clever! They add a wonderful touch as a table centerpiece and will certainly serve as a conversation piece while providing that cozy fall look. You can even use them to decorate your fire mantle, end table, hutch, book case, or give them away as party favors. At Etsy. 

15. Decorate pumpkins with Halloween stickers

Another lovely project for children to be involved in – if you want to do something a little different to carving your pumpkins this year, why not add a scary sticker? These are at Etsy.

16. Or use découpage to give pumpkins a fresh look

And, finally, the project the children are going to enjoy the most – and one that will definitely make missing out on trick or treating this year easier to bear: découpaging on to pumpkins. We would, of course, suggest you cover faux pumpkins so you can keep these beauties for next year, and as keepsakes if the little ones have made them. All you need is some pretty giftwrap and a flour and water glue mix. 

17. Get creative with card

Want to keep your Halloween decorating ideas subtle? One way to do so is to simply set pumpkins around a fireplace; if you want to create a cute display that can be seen from outside too, some simple bat shapes cut from card and hung at the window with fine thread will do the trick. 

How can I make my house look more spooky?

If you're over elegant and looking to make your house look more spooky, there are a number of things you can do quickly: cut out bats, witches and crows from black paper and stick them at your windows with soft lights behind; paint golf balls as bloodied eyes and scatter them around the front yard or put them in a bowl; create a front yard cemetery – Amazon sells plenty of graveyard decor with battery-run lights. Add fake cobwebs around windows and the front door; again, Amazon sells fake cobwebs. Lastly, hire a fog machine, swap outdoor lightbulbs for red or green ones, and play a scary soundtrack: Halloween Howls is a good one.