Spook Your Spot-Budget and Space Friendly Halloween Decor Ideas

It’s HEREEEEE.

Spooky season is here. Truth be told, my interior design aesthetic is very much spooky szn 24/7, 365, but I do like to add a couple more Halloween specific items (ie it says “Halloween” on it somewhere, otherwise it’s likely to end up in the year round category) once we hit mid September. I live in a studio apartment with limited closet space, so I can’t be storing giant decorations. Additionally, I am very thrifty. Shelling out $30 for a foam tombstone is not my vibe. So without further ado, here’s my SPOOKY SZN 2020 Halloween Decor.

Halloween Caution Tape- Target
I zig-zagged Halloween theme caution tape on the inside of my front door. I used double stick tape and these are the same pieces of caution tape from last year. I folded them up nicely when I took everything down and it made putting them back up a snap because they were already cut fit perfectly. I even had most of the double stick tape still on my door because getting that stuff off with my nails became a non-priority after one scratch. So, thanks to my inability to care I had the markers already in place, too.

Halloween Signs-Dollar Tree
I found these signs at the Dollar Tree. They’re made of particle board or something similar, so they’ll store nicely and be in good shape for next year. I’m a sucker for anything with glitter, therefore these were a no brainer at $1/each.

Black Cobwebs-Target
My cobwebs are re-purposed from last year, as well. I even re-used the thumbtack holes in my wall from hanging them in 2019, because I really don’t need to be adding any more holes to the wall, even tack sized ones, because RENT DEPOSIT. The tacks are clear, the web is black, the sky is blue.

Frame wall
I had the idea for a frame wall probably a year ago. Finally got my hands on some free frames from a “buy nothing” neighborhood group I am in (I am THRIFTY guys, THRIFFFTYY). I tried to channel HGTV and traced the frames onto paper and then hung the paper on the wall to position everything which resulted in me living with random shapes of paper taped to my wall for a couple months. Finally, I got the gusto to hang the frames a couple months into the pandemic, along with the black floating shelves. As soon as I started, I wanted to stop. Everything is crooked. Even the shelves, which I used a level for. I am just going to say I did it on purpose for a true spooky vibe.

I know what you’re thinking, after I got the frames hung we were off to the races. Wrong. For another couple of months I had empty frames on my wall, aside from one that had a stock photo of a random family in it. That was charming. Leaves on the ground kicked me into high gear and I decided to fill the frames with spooky szn images I had found on Pinterest. I have a whole “Spooky” board if you want to check mine out and see if anything speaks to you. Below is the current result of my frame wall.

I actually have more frames (and shelves) that I haven’t hung yet because I am still recovering from the first round, but you get the gist. If a frame wall isn’t right for your space you can switch out whatever photos you currently have up with Halloween themed images, or just print out pics and make a spooky collage if you have a wall that you want to spice up quick & easily. I am all about easy and affordable solutions.

Window clings-Target/Dollar Tree
I got all of these at Target last year, aside from “Keep Out” which was a 2020 Dollar Tree find. I made sure to keep the packaging so I could re-use and everything was able to make a second appearance except for 2 ghosts that were white when I put them away but were orange when I took them out because I put an orange cling on top of them, thus they ended up looking like Donald Trump. Well, the ghosts were in a whole other realm than him, aka had swag, but nevertheless, they got thrown out (hopefully the same will be happening on November 3rd to the other orange object I mentioned.

Spiderweb Fabric- Joann Fabric & Crafts
The spiderweb netting fabric I put up last year as a decoration but decided to leave it because it’s very me and I liked the a nod of goth royalty it provided. I can’t remember the exact yardage but it was likely 2-3. I also made that body pillow pillowcase out of seance fabric. You already know that’s a 365 situation. (This picture is from last Halloween. I have a dresser on the left now but my bed isn't made and my motto is work smarter not harder).

Skulls- An ongoing situation
The skulls have always been year round items, but I keep an eye out for new ones to add to my collection every spooky szn. The metallic silver I found this year at Joann Fabric and Crafts on sale for $11.99 and I used a coupon to get an additional percentage off so it was a bargain. Joann’s always has coupons and great decor. Download their app / subscribe to their mailing list and you’ll always have some good coupons to cash in.

DIY Painted Pumpkins
My girlfriend and I decided to paint some pumpkins this past weekend as we are both Libras and she had just celebrated her birthday. Apparently pumpkins are scarce this year? I guess that makes sense considering the hells cape we are in. We were hoping for pumpkins a bit bigger but these worked out just fine. Truth be told, I was kind of stumped on what to do with the small amount of pumpkin painting real estate I had in front of me. As you can see I made one bleed and I tried to do a space/star/galaxy inspired situation with the other, but painting isn’t my strong suit. #LIBRASZN

What does your Spooky Season Decor look like? Are you more autumnal or ghouly? I want to see pics! Seriously, this is one of the few things I enjoy, share your spooky spaces in the comments or use #NoeHalloweenFromHome on Instagram so I can seeeeee.

Keep it Creepy,

Court