When you live in the Ocala, FL area you won’t have the fall foliage of many towns, but you can still create a wonderful Halloween setting for your home. Decorating ideas can be fun, scary, or just plain seasonally beautiful. No matter what you budget, your home can reflect the feel of the autumn holiday by using a few of the following decorating ideas.
Make Your Home Scary
Want your Halloween guests to get a fright they won’t soon forget? Turn your front lawn into the perfect horror scene. Place life sized figures in the yard half buried. Position them so it appears that they are crawling up out of their eerie graves. You can use actual mannequins or make your own scarecrow style people. Stuff old clothing and use ski masks for heads. The allusion is best if the lighting is kept dim enough to only show a silhouette.
Use zombies, ghosts, and horrific monsters to reach out to guests as they pass by. Use your “created figures” or have some fun dressing up to play the part. Don’t forget the area around the front door and porch. Fill this space with wicked faced jack-o-lanterns, coffins, and witches cauldrons over flowing with fake body parts, rodents, or snakes.
Child-Friendly Halloween Decorations
Many of us have little ones stopping by for trick or treat. You can still have a Halloween look without the scary stuff. LED light strings in orange, green, purple, and gold work wonderfully. Wrap them around porch rails and pillars. Use them to outline the house, doors, and windows. Add hanging lighted balls from the trees, and place solar powered path lights along the walkways to keep the little ghosts and goblins safe.
Pile up happy faced jack-o-lanterns that look friendly to the younger crowds. Place cuddly black kitty cats along the sidewalk and on the porch. Make ghosts out of white sheets for the front lawn, but don’t forget to paint on a friendly face.
Seasonal Autumn Décor
You can simply use a harvest theme to decorate your home for Halloween. The best part is it can stay up right through Thanksgiving, and it will still look fabulous. When living in the Villages you may not have fall naturally, but it is easy and affordable to bring to your home. Position uncarved pumpkins along walkways and by the door. Look for unusual varieties, shapes, and colors to add interest.
Place hay bales around and hang dried ears of corn on the door. Scatter miniature pumpkins and gourds around for more visual detail. Use traditional scarecrows in the lawn. Go for a garden variety rather than scary. Plants, wheelbarrows, and other such items can be set around them.
Making Your Home Fit the Season
You can still have a terrific Halloween home even if you live in a tropical setting. It just takes a little creativity. Have fun with it, and before long you’ll be a big hit in the neighborhood with guests of all ages. To see what homes are currently for sale in the Ocala and Villages area, view our listings: