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For some holidays, the majority of the festive decor lives inside the house, but on October 31, the scheme is all about outdoor Halloween decorations. After all, something needs to entice the neighborhood kids to make a stop at your house, and it won’t be indoors. So, if you need some help getting started, you’ve come to the right place. Ahead, we have more than 60 brilliant outdoor decor ideas that range from spooky to charming and everything in between. The best part? So many of them are DIY, so you hardly have to spend any money to go all out.
If you want to lean more into an autumnal floral setup than you do an artificial graveyard, we’ve got you covered. On the flip side, if you’re aching to transform your front porch into a giant spider web dotted with faux creepy crawlers, you’ll find a few ideas below to get you started. What’s more, if you see something you like on our list, you may be able to buy it right then and there. Our only suggestion? If you happen upon something that sparks (or, shall we say, spooks) your fancy, don’t wait. Snap it up fast before someone else does. These picks are so fun that we can’t imagine they’ll be around for long.
Whoever said all outdoor Halloween decorations have to be scary is sorely mistaken. In fact, we are all for a pumpkin-heavy setup that's cheery above all else. All you need to do is snag a few planters with smiling jack-o-lantern designs, fill them with your favorite blooms, and call it a day. Otherwise, feel free to paint the designs on yourself.
If you have a patch of land you're willing to sacrifice for a terrifying Halloween decoration, this is a good idea. It's easy to miss, but anyone who takes a glance will surely panic.
When we say elevate, we mean in terms of aesthetics and, well, literally. If you don't have a lot of ground space to spare for your outdoor Halloween decorations, use your window boxes as a perch for your carefully carved pumpkin.
This may look like a great fall vibe, which it is, but it doesn't require much effort. Simply plop a pumpkin (carved or not) beside a fall wreath and drape both with some faux webs.
If you live in a place warm enough to host an alfresco Halloween fête, hang some string lights, banners, and more from the walls. Don't forget the pumpkin and hay motifs.
This outdoor Halloween decoration might require more heavy lifting than the others, but the payoff is worth it. Trick-or-treaters will certainly approach with trepidation when they make eye contact with these spooky onlookers.
Don't leave your pets out (out of the fun, that is). Instead, drape some spare sheets over them and let them greet trick-or-treaters. We can't promise they'll bring the scare factor, but we can guarantee your house will be the most loved on the block.
If you overdid it on the pumpkins, don't toss the extras. Paint them white, give them faces, and hang them from the porch. From afar, they'll look like flying ghouls.
This spiderweb made of black-painted branches and twine is a fun craft project that artistic kids will love to take on. Once it's done, let them decorate it with leaves, faux spiders, or anything else that comes to mind.
Use your spare sheets, napkins, or tablecloths to erect a hyper-realistic (but also pretty cute) ghost in the backyard. Bonus points if you surround it with pumpkins.
If you already have a fence, you're already halfway there. Otherwise, buy a cheap one online along with some miniature plastic skulls and "keep out" signs.
There are lots of pumpkins in various shapes and sizes, so instead of buying only the classic round ones, opt for a few different kinds and create a little community of gourds in the front yard. The options are pretty limitless.
Here's a low-effort, high-reward outdoor Halloween decoration option—especially if you already have lawn chairs. Just order a lazy skeleton and let him take a load off.
This stylish setup is equal parts chic and spooky. A delicate mix of flowers, colorful pumpkins, faux cobwebs, and skeletons creates that coveted cool look.
Halloween and graveyards go hand in hand, so if you want to stay on theme, go big in your front yard. The best part? You can't really overdo it.
If your garage faces the street, don't let it go to waste. Cover the door with a giant web complete with its own spider. Feel free to make both yourself or buy them premade to save time ahead of the big day—or shall we say night?
Decorate with kale and corn? We think so. Fill miniature planters with the bright vegetable and surround them with pumpkins and tricolor corn.
Some people prefer decorating for Christmas, others like Thanksgiving, but for a select few, Halloween is the holiday to go big on decor. If spooky season is your favorite, don't hold back. Hang lights, carve pumpkins, and drape faux cobwebs wherever you can.
Here's how this one works: When the little ones approach, they'll see the pumpkins and maybe a fake black cat propping the door open and won't think much of it. Then, when their guard is down, someone jumps out in a scary mask and screams. Now, that will haunt them forever.
Picket fences are great for Halloween, so if you happen to have one, go all out with signage, cobwebs, and more.
Janae McKenzie is the Associate Shopping Editor at House Beautiful, where she regularly covers the best of the best in home brands. Since joining the House Beautiful team in 2023, Janae regularly creates seasonal gift guides in addition to reviewing and evaluating home decor, bespoke furniture, and accessories. Janae also routinely tests viral products, from luxury sheets to high-tech air purifiers, determining quality and guiding readers to the best purchases possible. Janae holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and began her career at Food Network shortly after graduation. She also covers relevant shopping deals and celebrity news in the home space, a skill she honed during her tenure as a news writer at Glamour. When she’s not writing or scoping out the next mattress to test, you can find her hunting for trinkets to add to her bookshelf or artfully arranging her Playbill collection.
Jessica Cherner is House Beautiful’s Associate Shopping Editor, a role she’s honed since joining the editorial team in September 2022. Since then, she’s been testing and reviewing viral products, carefully curating timely gift guides, and tapping her vast network of interior designers to weigh in on decorating debates that often have the Internet divided. Though most of her day-to-day is product-focused, every now and then, she manages to publish a few home tours, which are the types of features she has written over the course of her eight-year career and in previous roles at 1stDibs and Architectural Digest. In her current role as a shopping editor, Jess has mastered the art of swapping decor in and out of her own New York City apartment to fulfill her seemingly never-ending quest for the perfectly styled space.
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