I’ve never been a fan of overly spooky Halloween décor; over the years, I’ve tried my hardest to decorate my home for Halloween in a way that feels a little more elegant instead. I adore all the burnt orange tones that come with autumnal interiors, so I try to embrace a ‘natural look’ as much as possible, while still throwing in the odd black bat and plush pumpkin.

I’ve always preferred decorating a focal point in my home, whether that’s the front door or a fireplace mantel, to create a striking display. So, here are a few of my past and present Halloween projects, along with some tips on how to achieve the look.

For a mantel, sideboard or shelf, add height at both ends

Fireplace mantels, sideboards and shelving are great places to decorate for Halloween. While you might not want to adorn your home with an entire garland, you can build up a simple display by starting with height at each end, adding just a few decor pieces in the middle.

An urn vase filled with autumnal stems at one end and tall candlesticks the other creates a balanced Halloween display, while you could just use these items on their own if you want something more paired down! For autumn flowers and foliage, twisted willow branches always work well, while Dunelm sells some great Chinese lantern and autumnal leaf fauxs.

Decorate Your Door

Last year, I created this huge front door display for autumn and Halloween. While it’s quite voluptuous, the vast majority of it is constructed from twigs and sticks collected on a dog walk in my local forest.

To hold them in place, get a large plant pot or bucket and fill it with quick-setting cement, then push in the base of your tall sticks into the cement before it sets to create an arch shape. You don’t need to fill it out with faux stems like I have, you can simply use exterior battery-operated fairy lights instead for a budget-friendly, elegant display.

Invest in some thick black ribbon

I love using ribbon for all my seasonal displays. You can drape it, tie it around the base of candlesticks, or make bows with long tails to hang down staircase bannisters, fireplace surrounds, or tie it to branches for a whimsical Halloween.

Create a floral display within a carved pumpkin

Who said Halloween can’t be pretty? One of my favourite displays for Halloween is to gather a small bouquet of flowers and place them inside a carved out pumpkin.

Put a simple small vase (or a grave vase works well due to the ikebana lid) filled with water inside your hollowed out pumpkin, then put together your arrangement. If you want too, you can carefully place the cut pumpkin top back on at an angle.

Don’t forget to keep your water topped up for your arrangement to last five days or more!

practical pumpkins

If you are hosting a Halloween dinner, mini pumpkins make a great table setting idea as natural candle holders. Simply core the middle out with an apple corer and slide your candle in the hole, making sure that it is secure.

If you want to avoid carving, why not just paint pumpkins straight onto their skin? I like to use leftover pastel paint colours and then spray the stem in gold.

If you prefer longevity, why not invest in some pretty ceramic pumpkins that don’t go mouldy that you can use indoors? Homesense is a great place to source ceramic pumpkins that you can re-use every year!