Home is where the Halloween heart is, and the heart of my home is my Halloween kitchen. The space is where we cook our meals (and all the sweets I love), play board games, work on craft projects, and spend a lot of our time. Therefore, I knew I had to make it reflect our interests and passions.
My inspiration for the space was the Halloween imagery from vintage Halloween cards. Over the years I slowly added more and more spooky touches. It is an ever-evolving space that gets better each year!
My favorite area of the kitchen is our dining area. I created my own Halloween chandelier from tin tea light candle holders. The main picture on the wall is a limited edition print of “The Skeleton Dance” from D23 a few years ago. A hand-made Day of the Dead garland from my great aunt hangs above it. There is a custom-decorated kitchen island (from IKEA) in the background. The nun skeleton came from HauntX in 2007 and has haunted my kitchens throughout college and beyond.
My plate set is 222 Fifth Wiccan Lace from Home Goods. I, unfortunately, was behind the eight ball on this one and had to scour eBay for my set. The pumpkins are drink-safe led light ice cubes.
Here is a close-up of the IKEA kitchen island. I used mod podge and Martha Stewart craft paper to give it the Halloween design. The yellows and oranges fit perfectly with the rest of my decor. I am quite happy with how easy it is to clean and how well it has held up over 5+ years of use.
Since I hate blank white walls, I love to add lots of wall art to spruce up my apartment. The spiderweb artwork is a real spiderweb that the artist found hiking in a wooded area in Western New York with real WNY preserved leaves. I do not have her name, but you can find her vending at Canal Fest of the Tonawandas every year.
My oven area. The picture and utensil holder are DIY projects I completed myself. The owl holders are from Masters3Sisters on Etsy. I spend a lot of cooking time in this area, and can’t help but smile every time I look up at the cute owls and my Haunted Mansion print oven mitts.
I used vintage Halloween stickers from Amazon.com and mod podge on a plain brown ceramic holder to make this beautiful custom utensil holder. It is little details like this that elevate the theming. When you want to make a room unique, look out for plain items that can be enhanced. It makes all the difference!
A framed vintage Halloween postcard print keeps my sink area on-theme. A cat candy dish makes the perfect sponge holder (just bleach it weekly to keep germs at bay). Of course, I have to have lots of Bath & Body Works soap on hand.
Now for my work in progress, my prep area and hydroponic garden. The gravestone print features one of my favorite morbid poems:
"Remember me as you pass by. As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, soon you will be. Prepare for death and follow me"
The skeleton picture is from Spirit Halloween. The skull picture was a thrift store find (it had an original price tag on it as $200, but I got it for $15). I love thrifting for decor pieces – it is a great way to find unique items. Additionally, when I thrift items, I feel less afraid to use them for DIY projects since I did not invest as much in them.
Yes, you can also see my 8-Foot ceiling spider peeking over from the horror-movie themed living room – but that is a whole other story!
Other little touches include skull glasses atop a Home Goods serving board, and a vintage Halloween trinket box.
As cool as my kitchen is (to me at least), things get even more spectacular for holidays and date nights. My ample supply of tablecloths, centerpieces, dinnerware, and LED lights allow me to set unique tablescapes. Here are just a few:
I hope you enjoyed a tour of my kitchen. It is ever-evolving, so I will post again after the next major round of changes.
Do you have any suggestions of cool kitchen items? What does your kitchen look like? Let me know on Instagram & Twitter @EmilyIsHorror
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