How to Reuse Your Halloween Decor for Fall
/Transition Your Spooky Halloween Decorations to Cozy Fall Decor
If you love summer like I do, and refuse to admit the weather is getting colder until Oct 1st at the earliest, you'll likely be scrambling to decorate for Halloween by the time you get your butt in gear. At least, that's what happened this year. Believe it or not, this was the first time I've ever decorated my own house for Halloween!
A few weeks ago, I posted about how I decorated for Halloween on a budget, but with very little initial direction as to what I wanted it to look like. After some trial and error (and several trips to Dollar Tree), I finally put together a mantel design that I really liked.
But now that Halloween is over, I figured it was time to switch up my décor to something less spooky and more fitting for the autumnal season. BUT, of course, I didn't want to spend a bunch of money buying all new décor. So in this post, I'm sharing how to transition your Halloween decorations to general fall decor in 4 steps.
Gather All Your Decorations
When I started transitioning my mantel from Halloween to fall décor, I tried to leave everything as is and just pluck out the Halloweeny stuff. But I quickly realized the décor was kinda looking like I just threw some stuff up there with no real effort.
You see, when I decorated for Halloween, I styled the vignettes on either end of the mantel based on the decorations I had available.
Now that I removed a bunch of the décor, it just didn't flow anymore. I figured the best course of action was to start from scratch. So I cleared off the mantel and lay all the decorations out together on the kitchen table. If you’ve decorated multiple areas of your home, gather the decorations from all around your house.
Remove All the Blatantly Obvious Halloween Stuff
Sorry, bats, ghosts, and spiders, but you gotta go.
This is a pretty obvious step, but it's worthwhile to say that you need to remove the Halloween décor from your pile to really see what you have left to work with. After going through my decorations, I still had pumpkins, gourds, and candles galore left. I also kept the bunting I made hanging on the mantel.
Decorate With The Decorations That Are Left
Now that you have a clean slate to work from, start creating new vignettes. Don't get stuck on which items you paired together before. Just start picking things up and placing them where you think they'll look good now. And don't be afraid to move them around a couple of times to see what looks best. You might be surprised at how much you like some of the items you put together.
Add a Few New Items
When you're happy with your décor, you can choose to be done. Or, if you feel like you still need to add a little sumthin' sumthin', do it! On my mantel, I added some leaf garland from Dollar Tree and a bag of acorns/pinecones I grabbed from Hobby Lobby. Everything else was leftover in my Halloween décor.
Bonus Step
If you’re feeling real crazy, knock some stuff over!
But seriously - to get a more natural look, don’t place all your decor perfectly upright or evenly spaced. Lay some items on their side, use different elevations to give other items height (I used boxes, bowls, and candles), and let your design be fluid. This will help your design flow better.
And there you have it
An easy peasy, inexpensive way to decorate for fall by mostly using what you already have on hand. Do you have any other tips on reusing your decor for different holidays? I’d love to hear them!
