Don’t get spooked. Yes, Halloween is just around the corner. But, no, it’s not too late to help your home’s decor look even more boo-tiful than usual.
Now, there are obviously an endless variety of decorations for your yard and your home to add a dash of the dark side, go full-on horror film, or turn your place into a Halloween-themed amusement park. But what about the rest of your design decor? How can you add a bit of spooky to your interior design and upholstery that suits your style?
Today will be all about helping you do just that. Whether you’re hoping for Halloween chic or scary, there are quick and easy ways to use fabrics to give your home a gloriously ghoulish vibe.
The Simple Fabric Accents To Focus On To Make Your Home Halloween Chic
Let’s start with some chic. Halloween is one of those holidays that can easily take over your home’s interior design style in a way that feels cluttered and visually noisy. So let’s start by simplifying things.
In the world of upholstery and interior design, there are those big decisions around things like the fabrics to choose for larger furniture pieces and accent pieces. But then there’s the joy of smaller, cheaper, and more flexible elements that add that extra special something and can be swapped in and out for seasons, holidays, and special events.
Here we turn, once again, to elements like throw pillows, slipcovers, and table runners. We’ve talked before about DIY throw pillows anyone can make—including a no-sew how-to for beginners.
And we’ve talked about how you can do the same with slipcovers and make your own, or let us make it even quicker and easier with a custom slipcover. And table runners can be as simple as a length of hemmed fabric or as ornately finished as you desire.
And all of the above are easy to add and easy to store away. And it’s hard to beat the impact they can have in shifting the style and feel of your home’s interior design. So start by considering where you’d like to add or swap out those accents.
Choose Upholstery Colors That Cast A Spooky Seasonal Spell
As surely as everyone has their own favorite Halloween candy (Reese’s peanut butter cups — obviously), everyone has their own version of decor. From cartoonish to grotesque to sophisticated and nostalgic. But there are some consistent themes. Like colors, for instance.
Classic Halloween colors include black, white, orange, earthy brown tones, and even gold or silver. And, for fabrics, there are essentially no rules texturally, use what feels best for your home. And this is where you’ll find a path to Halloween chic. No need to depart wildly from your overall existing design vibes. Bringing in pops of color will do most of the heavy lifting in setting the theme.
Taking a neutral-colored sofa and adding throw pillows in classic black and white plaid and solid pumpkin spice tweed will do the trick—or is that a treat? Are you putting out some of those small pumpkins or gourds on a table or mantle? Add a table runner in an earthy burlap brown linen weave fabric or even a novelty abstract graffiti pattern in browns and blacks.
Of course, bold works too. Like sofas slipcovered in durable eco-friendly pearl white denim. Then add throw pillows in bright orange wool paired with black and white striped woven acrylic for contrasting textures and seasonal colors that crackle with energy.
Whatever approach to fabric colors you choose, take your existing style and simply tweak it with accents that whisper — or scream — the colors of the season.
Quick Tricks To Give Your Halloween Decor An Extra Design Treat
Slide your home decor a bit away from simply chic and into a bit more spooky with details. We love a bunch of the ideas Country Living offers in this piece but especially slide 23. It’s genius in its simplicity and impact.
A bit like a slipcover but with a twist. To get the look in your home, just pick a ghostly fabric like sugary white linen built with the protection of Crypton. And then simply drape it over furniture and other fixtures to create the illusion of an abandoned haunted house.
While you’re at it, check out these Halloween decor hacks from designer Emily Henderson. Our favorite is so simple it’s scary. *wink*
Take the bookshelves in your family room, living room, or elsewhere and flip the books around so that the edges of the pages show instead of the spine. As Emily points out, “Not only does it automatically give an old-timey look to the space, but you can easily accent your temporarily more monochromatic decor without creating too much visual chaos.” Nice, right?
Curtains can join in on the fun, too. Make it bold by adding some midnight black or sinisterly dark burgundy red velvet curtains. Or keep within the theme but also have the lightness of sheer fabric with charcoal sheer Sunbrella curtains.
And speaking of sheer, another route to Halloween decor that steers clear of looking like a theme park is to skip the fake spiderwebs and cobwebs but get a similar effect.
Sprinkle sheer fabrics in smaller strips draped over existing curtains or draped and billowed in larger swaths amidst other decorations on tables, mantles, or even the porch. Sheer fabrics in colors like shadow, smoke, linen, and an earthy taupe can help create that effect.
The Least Scary Thing About Decorating Your Home For Halloween
Perhaps the most surprising—and least scary—thing about Halloween is decorating. Because unlike some other holidays locked into traditional elements, Halloween decor can be as unique and original as you—and whatever costume you go with.
While you’re certainly free to go all in and turn your home into a haunted house showcase, you don’t have to. Let’s review some takeaways to get you on your way to using fabrics to help you make your boo-tiful decor dreams come true.
You can add Halloween vibes without overwhelming your existing style through fabric accents like pillows, slipcovers, and table runners. Use those accents to bring in the black, white, orange, silver, gold, and earthy tones of the season. Let yourself play with fabrics in flourishes that mimic the more spooky and sinister themes without surrendering your home’s inner chic.
And don’t be scared of all the choices and how to get there. That’s why we’re here. And it is such a treat to help you.