As the darker evenings start to creep in, talk is turning once more to costumes, treats and pumpkins. But while many of us may reluctantly be faced with dragging out the skeletons, battered witch hats and bat lights that no longer work, for these Halloween lovers, decorating their homes is one of the highlights of the season.
Interior designer and colour consultant for Stillorgan Decor, Emma Edmonds lives in Wicklow with her Maltese terrier Maxi and two “part-time” cats. Having collected autumnal decorations since she was in her 20s, she loves transforming her house for the season.
“When it comes to Halloween, more is more as far as I’m concerned,” she says.
Edmonds has a penchant for Martha Stewart Living magazines, where she gets a lot of her decorating ideas.
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“I love traditional decorations made from wood, metal or ceramic, in classic black, white and orange with a dash of glitter for a touch of magic. My favourite is a life-sized black witch silhouette, which I made from a piece of plywood, and I always add a broom and black lantern from Ikea so she can stand guard in my front garden.
Also outside, Edmonds gathers apples from her trees, which she displays in baskets, with pumpkins, gourds and squashes – along with a few carnations in baskets and some ornamental cabbages – at the front door.
Edmonds decorates every room in the house (which you might recognise from this year’s Home of the Year), except her dressingroom.
This means that even the bathroom, bedroom and kitchen have a few spooky touches.
“I like a room to have fun for all the senses so I use scented candles. I particularly like the cedarwood, nutmeg and orange candles from Brooke and Shoals at this time of year, and I put them in some plain black metal and glass lanterns – H&M Home, Ikea and Woodie’s have lovely ones.
She’s also a fan of using food in her displays.
“I use platters with black grapes and fresh figs and display them with fake black spiders on top – and also make cup cakes with icing and add some jelly fangs and raspberry coulis to make it look like vampire fangs. I think spooky food is all part of the fun.”
To keep things tasteful, Edmonds decorates her mantle with just one or two colours – black and white or autumn green and rust.
“I also love velvet pumpkins and splurged this year on two gorgeous black glitter skeletons to stand either side of my black front door. I also like to add texture to a sofa or chair with fake fur rugs, cotton knit throws and lots of squishy cushions – TK Maxx have some great Halloween-themed ones. A lot of my decorations are battery operated, including howling ghosts and witches that say ‘Boo!’ when you walk by – and I use pampas grass, wheat sheafs and tree branches with leaves in vases to bring the outside in and they look great in any room. I also drape mirrors with black lace, just in case of a passing vampire.”
One of her favourite decorations is a flying witch that her grandmother bought her on a trip to Manchester, while she also loves her white pumpkins (from Homesense in Blanchardstown) with the letters Halloween spelled out on each one.
Also a big fan of Halloween is Lisa Joyce, who lives in south Dublin with her husband Paul, daughter Sadie (5) and Paul’s mother Claire. Working as a nurse specialist at the Mater hospital, she is planning a witched-themed Halloween party this year and will be decorating the house accordingly.
Fans of Hocus Pocus (you can watch the sequel now on Disney+), Joyce and Sadie will be dressing up as the Sanderson Sisters on the night, and are prepping the house for it.
Using her Cricut Joy cutting machine, which she finds great for crafts, Joyce has made a “Welcome the Witch” sign, using a leftover piece of scaffold plank, for the front porch, as well as a few witchy signs for around the house.
“I picked up some extra decoration supplies from Dealz, EuroGiant and Aldi and I started (getting ready) with our little blackboard wall, which I try and change monthly, or seasonally. It is a great way of changing the whole look of the kitchen/dining area without spending a fortune and I stuck to the witchy theme as well as adding some bats for extra fun,” she says.
Also a feature in her house this spooky season is a light fitting over her dining table, to which she has added seasonal foliage such as some autumn leaves and some hanging pumpkins.
“The table will be decorated for Halloween weekend and we plan on making lots of themed goodies for our party, including a brain cake and witches’ hat treats.”
The front door is the best place to decorate for the trick-or-treaters, so Joyce will be adding witches’ hats and brooms, pumpkins and signage this year along with some lights.
“We will decorate the mantelpiece with some creepy candles and scary spiders and add some spooky bunting. I will have Halloween towels in the loo and a few pumpkins around the house – including the bedrooms and bathrooms – some of which I have made myself with yarn and I’ve also bought some plain ceramic ones which I painted and decorated.”
A tip that can be easily copied is to keep any nice bottles you come across during the year. These can then be turned into “potion bottles” for Halloween.
“They look great filled with coloured water (using food colouring) and handmade stickers on the front,” she says.
Joyce typically picks things up as she sees them throughout the year.
“Dunnes Stores had some fabulous Halloween decor this year as does TK Maxx, but it sells fast when it comes in – and Dealz and EuroGiant is great for cheap and cheerful.”
In Westport, Co Mayo, Lorraine Hayes owns a balloon styling business, The Air Necessities, which specialises in organic balloon garlands.
Last year, she wanted to make Halloween special for her little girl, so decorated her front door with a balloon garland in autumnal colours. For added effect, she contacted a local farmer who kindly supplied her with hay bales, upon which she rested some artificial and real pumpkins.
Like Joyce, Hayes is also a fan of her Cricut machine.
“As pumpkin carving can be quite messy and time consuming, I came up with an idea that rather than carving the pumpkins’ faces out, that I would use my Cricut cutting machine, which we use in the business to personalise balloons, to cut out pieces of vinyl for their faces and stick them on.”
Plenty of ideas then, to up your decorating game this year.
Happy Halloween!
Spooky decorations
Ceramic pumpkins: Stingy Jack Pumpkins from shop.jemmamillen.co.uk. Large £50 (€57) or hanging bauble £20 (€23)
Photography by Simon Mills http://photosby.si/
Autumn wreath: Filled with a mix of pumpkins, hydrangea, roses and Gerbera from Sharon Keenan Interiors ( €63.20) https://sharonkeenaninteriorsanddesign.ie/collections/autumn-wreaths-decor2/products/60cm-rustic-harvest-wreath
Decorations: Sitting pumpkin rabbit, www.homehubirl.ie (€7.99)https://www.homehubirl.ie/products/4-5cm-shelf-sitting-pumpkin-rabbit
Personalised trick or treat bags: Don’t let anyone steal your stash with these bags, www.churchtowngifts.ie, (€7.49)
