How to Decorate Your House for Halloween

We’ve all seen them: those great houses that seem to be able to perfectly capture the creepiness of Halloween. They have just the right mix of inventiveness and spookiness that ensures any young visitor will leave giggling and happy after their trick-or-treat visit.

So, how do you duplicate something like that at your own home? You could, of course, go visit one of the many Halloween stores that pop-up each year and spend a bundle on props that will look bland and boring and … well, bought. Instead, with a little planning, you could turn what would otherwise be a boring and hap-hazard display of shop bought props into a truly frightful experience for your young visitors.

The one thing that every successful haunted house has is a theme. Decide early on in the process exactly what the effect is that you are striving for and make sure you stick with it.

If you want a haunted house theme, then you will need to ensure that everything inside and outside of the house matches that theme.

Don’t break the ‘mood’ of the theme by placing a space alien in the front yard, you need to provide your visitor with continuity for the experience to be truly memorable and fun. Plan it well ahead of time.

This is the perfect time to sit down with your kids and turn what would otherwise be a process into a fun project that the whole family can take part in.

Grab the digital camera and take some photographs of the front of the house and all the areas inside that you plan to decorate.

Treat the project as though you were making a movie and storyboard out each part of the house you are decorating.

Pin the photos you took earlier to a board and grab a couple of pens. You can draw on the photos to illustrate the effect you are looking for.

Make a list of things you will need and try to make sure everybody in the family gets a chance to add their own ideas.

When it comes to decorating the house there are a lot of items that are just hanging around your home that you can potentially use for set decoration.

Rummage through the closets and don’t forget to look in the attic for clothes and such that you can use to enhance the look of your Halloween project.

Think about some of the creepy movies you have watched, maybe even rent a couple to help fire up your imagination for the big event.

Most important of all, remember to have fun. The more you involve your family and friends the more successful the final result will be.