Trend Tuesday: Tricks and Treats for a Stylishly Spooky Halloween

Having grown-up in the “Halloween Capital of the World,” this delightfully devilish day has always been one of my favorites. If you weren’t aware of this haunted halloween honor bestowed to my birth city then I’ve got to take a moment and scare you straight. This “title” does NOT go to Salem, Mass or Hell, Mich, but to none-other-than Anoka, Minn. Don’t believe me, go ahead…google it, I dare ya. 

I was raised in THAT house, you know, the one that scares the pants off people and sends some little kids running from the door instead of towards it. Of course, all meant in frightfully good fun. One little girl in the neighborhood used to ask her dad every year if she could go to the “blinking house with the talking pumpkins.”  My dad has a habit of going overboard with ALL holiday decor; to my mom’s dismay (but I believe she secretly enjoys it too). He puts strobe lights in every window of the house, hence the blinking. And he wires mini speakers into the jack-o-lanterns then plays eerie music from a stereo inside the house. He has bodies coming out of graves in the ground and skeletons hanging from trees and lots and lots of spider webs. Now, that’s just a teeny tiny taste, but you get the idea. 

So all my life I’ve been surrounded by spooky scenes on Halloween. I guess it’s no surprise that one of my color forecasting specialities is in seasonal decor. I work closely with many of the top halloween product designers, manufacturers, and wholesalers. I travel to holiday market where we trade trend information and preview the year’s most spellbinding stuff and spooktacular colors. This Halloween’s color concoctions are about two things….True Neutrals (black, white, and gray) and Secondary Hues (orange, green, and violet). Probably not a huge surprise as those are all pretty classic colors of All-Hallows-Eve. What’s tricky about this year’s trend is that it’s not about the color but the freaky fun finishes adorned by the colors. Check out my palette below along with tricks and treats for making your Halloween Hauntingly  Hot.

Monochromatic & Analogous: Oranges with Black and/or White

Tricks:

Use a proportion or contrast ratio where one color obviously dominates the others. 70% black to 30% orange or vice versa creates a nice balance.  

Use multiple values of orange; light, medium, and dark, all mixed together for interest and surprise. Then add black or white as grounding neutrals in the scheme.

Treats:

True Neutrals: White, Black, and everything in between – HOTTEST HOLIDAY LOOK!

Tricks:

Let the neutrals share the eve by using each equally in the decor. This 50% to 50% ratio creates a relationship between the light and dark.

Add pizazz to your neutrals by incorporating ivory or dark gray and fancy finishes like glitter, gloss, sparkle, or shimmer.

Treats:

Triad: Secondary Combination with Green, Purple, and Orange.

Tricks:

This ones for the kiddies! Keep it whimsical with a lot of color and just little dabs of black or white.

Use bright pumpkin oranges with the witch inspired green and purple. Stay away from the dull or light variations of these colors as they can clash with each other and cause unrest. Let’s keep it spectacular not scary!

Treats: