Indoor Halloween ZSHUZSH !!! (Can it be tasteful and not tacky?)

I still have two small children at home, so there is always a battle with them to make our house festive for Halloween...but not too bloody and gross and scary...and, MOST important, NOT ridiculously tacky.

So...can Halloween decor be tasteful and NOT tacky?  That is always the question that pops into my head every October.  Below is my attempt at tasteful Halloween decorating...

In my foyer,  I added a spider my son made in preschool to the lampshade and a pumpkin painted on a small canvas by my daughter in Kindergarten.

Also in the foyer, I added a smallish white ghost candle given to me years ago by a student...simple.

Next to my kitchen table, I pieced together this Halloween inspired wreath.  This wreath has been everywhere in my house...most recently on my front door with a 4th of July ribbon.  I brought it inside...added a glittery spider and a polka dotted ribbon to hang in between my windows.  Easy and REpurposed.

In the family room, I added this simple twig pumpkin I bought at Home Goods.  Again, I zshuzshed it up by adding a burlap ribbon that has spider webs embroidered on it.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's all in the details and finishing touches.

In my dining room, I added these three silver pumpkins on my sideboard.  Scary?  Nah.  Cute?  Yah.

Apple green adds a punch of color with this glass hurricane filled with Granny Smith apples.

Another spider hanging from a lamp shade in my living room...this one was made by my daughter in preschool.

Decoupaged plastic pumpkin made in Kindergarten at the school party...not terribly gaudy, but borderline.

Green glass pumpkin placed in my living room as a subtle touch of FALL...

This spider was hung by my son as his touch on Halloween.  I couldn't deny his attempt of "decorating"-- it warmed my heart...I'm such a sucker for a little zshuzshing.

Kitchen zshuzh included glittery skulls buried in mini pumpkins and spiders all set in an antique bread bowl.  This is one of my son's favorites, of course.  Almost scary...but not.

Another favorite of his, glittery skull surrounded by spider and bat rings placed in a cake dome.  Eeek!

I think everyone should have a FABULOUS candy bowl.  I got this glittery number at The White Rabbit a few years back.

 I added this witch hat I used to wear at Halloween for my students to zshuzsh it up a bit more...

A few more glittery skulls were added to this antique silver platter that always sits on my coffee table in my living room.  It usually holds this fleur de lis finial, green moss balls, cream pillar candles, and mother of pearl buttons...I just switch out a few of the items for the upcoming holiday.  

This console table in my family room holds all of the keepsake items my kids have made for me over the years that I have not (stealthy) thrown away.  I affectionately call it "The Grave Yard"--fitting title for Halloween, eh?

Front to back:  Day of the Dead inspired clay skeleton standing in a glittery Coke can bottom, scary coffin with red glitter glue as blood, white pumpkin stem tree landscape art, brown paper bag twisted tree, and the painted and super stuffed paper bag pumpkin.  Sentimental, I know.

And, of course, the creme de la creme...the traditional plug in PLASTIC lighted pumpkin.  Everyone MUST have one of these!!!  Tacky, but a tradition.

Go ahead and zshuzsh something this weekend.  You'll feel so much better.  Promise.

A little Halloween Zshuzshing goes a LONG way!

Every year my friend, Sheri, and I decorate my urns on my front porch for the upcoming FALL holidays...it is always so much more fun to decorate with someone else.  Sheri has a GREAT eye for detail, and I just love to see what she comes up with from year to year.

With the cold nights upon us, I knew that it was time to retire my ferns...

So...Sheri and I went to the Kirkwood Farmer's Market and bought a basket full of pumpkins, gourds, sticks, and a bag of kettle corn for sustenance.  I already had the white birch hurricanes, the white birch wrapped mini candles, the corn, some berries from Sheri's yard, and the black glittery twigs from the previous years.

To get our creative juices flowing, we paired our kettle corn with some delicious pinot noir and got to work.  Here is what we...or Sheri...came up with!  

Gorgeousness.

The next day, my daughter, inspired from the urn decorating, wanted to contribute to the Halloween fun and decided she wanted to carve a few of our pumpkins.  I knew it was going to be messy...and I wasn't really up for all the goo.  So instead, I suggested we GLITTER them!  She perked right up at the word GLITTER and went to the computer to get just the right font for our pumpkins to spell out B-O-O!  I know...so original...but it was simple and to the point.  Sometimes that is all you need.  

Simplicity.

...or in this case, GLITTERY simplicity.

A few more zshuzshing accessories were added to the seating area.  The chevron rug was a gift from my brother for my birthday purchased from Ballard Designs.  The rockers got some Halloween inspired pillows from Target and the (oh so soft) throw blankets came from Home Goods.  The giant pumpkin head was purchased from Home Goods years ago...it is so cute at night when the candles inside are lit.  Not really spooky at all, but that is just fine with me.

This year's zshuzshing addition were these super cute spider webs I scored at Red Lead in downtown Webster.  They are very light in weight, so I knew they would be perfect to suspend from the porch ceiling.  With a little bit of creative thinking and some time teetering on a ladder, this is what I came up with...

I found these little googly eyed spiders in the dollar bin at Target!

Voila!  Lots of impact without spending a lot of money!

 Up next?

A little Halloween ZSHUZSH for the inside of my home!

Office REnovation and REdesign--Design Dilemma!!

Client background:  After living in an old Webster home for 13+ years, it took my clients, Liz and Dave Austin,  almost 2 months to purge and organize their house before placing it on the market.  Not wanting to make the same mistakes with clutter and disorganization in their next old Webster house, they contacted me for help.

Formal Living Room--leading into Dave's office

Project 1 (out of 422)-- Dave’s office:  

The Austins want to turn an old sleeping porch/ sun room off the formal living room area into Dave’s office.  

Design dilemma: The small room is u-shaped with a fire place, former radiator case and long windows on three sides.  Traditional office furniture will not work.  Dave would like a work space that is organized and as clutter free as possible since the office can be seen from the formal living room via glass French doors.

Pros of this space:  bookcases, fireplace, gorgeous wood floors, french doors, and tons of natural light

Cons of this space:  (ironically) all of the PROS mentioned above, long and narrow, paneling, radiator case is empty, and shiny insulation on the backside of the end windows...really?!?

This office REnovation and REdesign is going to be interesting...can't wait for you to see what this wonky and wonderful space turns out to be!!!

Stay tuned.