Halloween Home Transformation in Black & White

Simone Lagies, shown with her cat Lucretia, says her dislike of the color orange once thwarted her Halloween decorating. But seeing a white pumpkin sparked the imagination of this San Diego artist and decorator. Using items she already had (such as old books, seashells, and glass cloches), Simone cast a Halloween decor spell in black and white. Her clever ideas are easy to duplicate in your own home.

Any other time of year, you want your home to be welcoming. But at Halloween, go all out to scare those who dare to enter. Haphazardly arrange antiques and natural accents (bird's nests, coral, etc.) on the mantel. Then string spider webbing from floor to ceiling to give the impression the room was abandoned long ago.

Pick up old books at antiques stores and estate sales. Accent the books with towering candles that conjure up images of stormy nights with no electricity.

A sideboard looks eerily deserted when crisscrossed with spider webbing. Mismatched hardware and lamps outfitted with wire-only shades offer a quirky Halloween look.

Vignettes are fun to design and easy to change. Behind the faux spiderweb, vintage-look books and a glass cloche with a blackbird add mystery to the scene.

Don't have a white sofa? Cover your upholstered furniture in plain white sheets for a low-cost transformation. Then create a Halloween-worthy atmosphere using everyday items (such as candles, vases, and trays) as foundations for eerie accents.

Glass cloches offer a simple place to display your favorite creepy items. A fork in a pile of plastic party-favor eyeballs and a gigantic spider make ghoulish specimens.

Incorporate creepy creatures throughout your space. Here, a silver spider makes its way across the coffee table and ravens keep watch from inside a glass cloche.

The back of this cabinet was painted black to make it easy to see the bendable skeletons frolicking among the dishware.

Tip: Don't want to paint the back of your cabinet? Simply cut black cardboard to fit.

Plain white dish towels get in the Halloween spirit with iron-on transfers. Find copyright-free clip-art, photocopy onto transfer paper, and iron the images onto a clean towel.

Flash cards propped in metal flower frogs and encased in footed apothecary jars send a spooky message.

A pair of crows stands guard while a scary skeleton couple quietly rest nestled in a comfy backdrop of white linens.

Fangs, purchased at a costume store, sit in a glass toothbrush holder for a frightfully fun bathroom decoration.