Best Indoor Halloween Decorations: The Ultimate Guide
Halloween offers a fun excuse to get creative with spooky and festive decorations. While outdoor Halloween decor shines in the darkness, indoor decorations let you set the scene for Halloween parties and gatherings with friends and family. With the right indoor Halloween decor, you can transform any space into a delightfully spine-tingling setting.
This ultimate guide covers everything you need to know to decorate the interior of your home for the haunted holiday in style. We’ll explore ideas for the best indoor Halloween decorations throughout the house, from the front door to the dining room. You’ll find tips for decorating on any budget, using classic motifs and unique DIY projects.
Follow our advice to make your home frightfully fun this Halloween!
Contents
Best Indoor Halloween Decorations: Classic Scene Settings
When it comes to indoor Halloween decor, you can’t go wrong with classic motifs and familiar figures from Halloween lore. These best indoor Halloween decorations let you quickly achieve a holiday look and set the tone for Halloween.
Pumpkins
What better way to usher in the Halloween season than with pumpkins? Carved jack-o-lanterns are a must for porches, but you can bring the pumpkin fun inside too. Painted and decorative pumpkins add festive fall flair to mantles, shelves, side tables, and more. For extra pop, accent them with leaves, flowers, and other seasonal botanicals.
Fill big glass apothecary jars or vases with mini pumpkins or gourds to create a gorgeous table centerpiece or entryway display. Place a pumpkin next to your front door to greet trick-or-treaters. Stagger pumpkins down your staircase or along the mantle for texture and visual interest.
Witches, Bats, Spiders, and Cats
Play up the spooky side with the best indoor Halloween decorations starring classic creepy characters. Hang a witch silhouette in the window or prop a life-size witch near the front door to give guests a fright. Place a posse of witch figurines in the kitchen, atop the dining table, or along the fireplace.
Ghosts and Skeletons
Ghosts and skeletons are the best indoor Halloween decorations, ranging from friendly to frightening liven up any indoor Halloween scene. Hang ghostly string lights along the banister or drape creepy cloth ghosts across door frames. Place a skeleton in a rocking chair or make a skeleton dinner guest by adding one to your holiday dining table.
For a homemade touch, cut simple ghost shapes from white sheets to create an easy but impactful decoration. Suspend them from walls or ceilings or layer them over lamps for an eerie glow.
Best Indoor Halloween Decorations: Unique Crafting
Once you’ve set the classic Halloween mood, up the ante with unique, eye-catching decorations. With a little DIY spirit, you can make memorable decor on any budget.
Potions and Apothecary Jars
Create an immersive witch’s lair with homemade potion bottles and spell books. Make potion jars by filling glass containers with water tinted with food coloring, then add extras like plastic bugs, glitter, or spooky noted labels. Display them together on shelves like a mad scientist’s lab.
Wrap empty jars with burlap or Halloween print fabric to make decorative lanterns, then add battery-operated LED candles or string lights. Group them on the dining table or use them to light up a mantle or bookcase.
Monster Lab
Design a monstrous science lab using fun Frankenstein-esque touches paired with science equipment. Adhere to monster eyes and mouths to clear glass flasks and test tubes for freaky lab tools. Suspend rubber body parts from the ceiling-like samples.
Add electrodes, old scientific charts, and spooky anatomy models to complete the look. Place a lab coat and goggles on a skeleton for a zany undead scientist.
Creepy Centrepieces
Dining tables and side tables are the perfect platforms for creepy centerpieces. Fill bowls or cloches with creepy crawlies like scary scorpions, hairy tarantulas, or freaky body parts.
Use floral foam to arrange bones, feathers, and flowers for macabre arrangements. Or create a “blood spatter” with fake blood and a food splatter screen. Drizzle fake blood down indoor plants or across platters of Halloween treats.
Best Indoor Halloween Decorations Throughout Your Home
Extend your indoor Halloween décor throughout the house to immerse guests in the holiday spirit room by room. Follow these tips to decorate different areas for a cohesive haunted home look.
Living Room
As the heart of your home, the living room deserves special attention. Light the fireplace or candles to set an eerie mood. Toss creepy throw pillows on sofas and use Halloween-themed blankets and table runners. Fill apothecary jars with branches and string lights for ambiance.
Dining Room
As the site of Halloween meals and parties, your dining room should highlight scary fun. Use a Halloween tablecloth and themed napkins, plates, and cups—available at party supply stores. Craft creepy centerpieces and display seasonal flowers like mums or sunflowers. Scatter leaves, votives, and treats across the table for a festive finish.
For an extra unique touch, incorporate serving pieces from the Halloween collection at Arthur Court Designs. Made from durable aluminum, these pieces feature artistic motifs that complement your Halloween décor
Kitchen
Carve pumpkins for the counter or hang witches from overhead racks to haunt your kitchen. Decorate your knife block with zombie arms or bones. Place mats with spiderwebs, scarecrows, or autumn motifs add holiday spirit to breakfast nooks.
Bathrooms
Even bathrooms deserve Halloween love. Hang ominous warning signs on the door: “Abandon hope all ye who enter here”. Drape bloody cloth on mirrors, place rubber rats in the tub, or scatter candy wrappers on the floor.
Bedrooms
In bedrooms, tuck creepy plush pillows in beds and hang ghost or bat string lights. Cover light fixtures with black lace for a gothic look. Decorate dressers and desks with pumpkins, leaves, and Halloween knickknacks. Place a skeleton or zombie in a corner to keep watch while you sleep!
Read more: 20 Fun Outdoor Halloween Activities for Adults Only
Decorating for Halloween on Any Budget
The good news about indoor Halloween decor is there are options at every price point. Follow these tips to decorate without breaking your budget:
- Shop sales at party and craft stores. Stores like Arthur Court Designs offer exclusive coupon codes on Halloween goods leading up to the holiday. Sign up for email lists to get more coupons.
- Make easy DIY decorations. Many simple yet effective decorations can be made for cheap. See our homemade ideas above!
- Repurpose what you already have. Turn household items like vases, jars, and fabric into the best indoor Halloween decorations. Reuse last year’s decorations too.
- Shop second-hand. Check thrift stores, Facebook Marketplace, and Buy Nothing groups for discounted Halloween goods.
- Stick to a color scheme. Buying all orange and black decorations creates cohesion without buying too many different pieces.
- Prioritize high-impact decor. Focus the budget on statement pieces for tables, entryways, and mantles that make a visual impact.
- Layer decor over existing furniture. Using what you already have cut down on costs. Dress up bookshelves, desks, etc.
Follow these tips and get creative with Halloween spirit to design a festively frightening look without the frightening price tag!
Finishing Touches for The Best Indoor Halloween Decorations
Once your indoor Halloween décor is complete, add finishing touches to tie your look together:
- Illuminate displays with string lights, lanterns, and candles for ambiance. Use flameless LED candles for safety.
- Incorporate holiday aromas like cinnamon, clove, and pine needles in the decor.
- Use moss, crumpled cloth, fallen leaves, and branches to accent displays.
- Play ambient sounds like howling winds, creaking doors, and thunder to enhance the atmosphere.
- Display blown-out candles and candy wrappers to make decor look “used”.
- Affix creepy silhouettes and warning signs on mirrors and windows.
As you deck out every room for Halloween, remember to put safety first. Attach any heavy decorations securely, avoid real candles, and place decor out of reach of pets and kids. By following our guide to the best indoor Halloween decorations, you’re sure to have the spookiest house on the block this haunted holiday season!