I read a couple of articles, and here are some thoughts I have about them.
The 5 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Decorating for Halloween
Firstly, I think it's a lot of pretentious crap. :-D But they do have a couple of good points. Like "If you have to wipe fake cobwebs away to get through your front door while trying to see straight ahead of the blinding strobe light, you’ve gone too far. Halloween decorations are meant to be whimsical, but not inconvenient, impractical eyesores."
The main thing here is that you do you. Do what pleases you, what you find nice, whimsical, if you like that kind of thing, even a little inconvenient if it assists in creating the atmosphere you want. Decorations are there to create the mood, atmosphere, air, and feeling. There are no "you should" or "don't do this, it's a mistake" other than you going against what you want.
“The biggest mistake people make when decorating for Halloween is going the traditional route"
I say total BS to that. That's not a mistake at all if you want to take the traditional route. So some fancy schmancy designer doesn't like orange. *I* like orange and it's MY house, not his!
The traditional Halloween colors are the colors found in nature; the color of soil, wet bark, midnight sky, root vegetables and pumpkins, autumn leaves... That is why the traditional colors of Halloween are black and orange. All the other colors added to the Halloween palette are things like bone white, rotting flesh purples, moldy green... :-D
Now, if you don't want to take that route, take whichever you like. There are no problems with people having a pink Halloween, or turquoise, white, the whole rainbow. You do you, as said.
I like the idea of using a lot of textures and such, so adding metallics to the mixture is just a good idea. I mean, if you look at those pumpkins above, I love the blend of textures. The iron, the wood, the stone, the rough pumpkin and the smooth pumpkin, the crispy leaves, and the carved wood. (I think it's carved wood, it could be carved pumpkin, to be honest. I just like to think it's carved wood.)
If you want to have an all-black Halloween, go for it. And don't "romanticize it", if that's not your "speed".
Going kitschy about Halloween is all fine. Go all store-bought. I personally love vintage and antique things, hand-made things (high-end artisan stuff as well as kid's pottering), and I have a very eclectic, bohemian style, but that's me.
Sure, if you buy the usual dollar-store things everyone has, you won't win any prizes for individuality, creativity, and originality, but why would you need to? This is a holiday, not a design competition.
Also, the Kusama pumpkins... er... uh...
About the lighting... yes, do use colored light bulbs. There are tons of things to do with lighting. Read up about that, and experiment.
7 THINGS I’VE LEARNED ABOUT PLANNING A KILLER HALLOWEEN PARTY
"Halloweenie Roast started with a very simple concept: roast hot dogs around a fire pit in my parent’s backyard. (I have no outdoor space, and they’re gracious enough to share theirs every October.) Year two I did the same thing, and I’ll be honest – I was kind of underwhelmed by my own party. It wasn’t the Halloween gathering I wanted. So the next year, I went BIG. I added a theme. I had one of my photographer friends create a photo booth for us. I made tons of Halloween-themed goodies. I added a costume contest. And it was a HUGE success."
Remember to appeal to all senses. Touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste. Most people just think about the sight, especially now in the Pinterest age, with a lot of visual inspiration. But things like music and smells are very effective in creating the proper (desired) atmosphere.
This House Doesn’t Half-Ass Halloween
"I change out all the etageres, vignettes, mantels, hutches — you name it. Sometimes I even color code my bookshelves with orange, black, and white spines."
I think this is a very good advice. Change some details. Change the "soft furnishing", like curtains, sofa cushions, towels, etc. You can paper the books, or turn them spine against the wall so that only the white pages show out. That will create a very nice backdrop for items.
Also, incorporate everyday items into Halloween decorating. "The easiest thing is to look at the color of things. For me, I have my mother’s typewriter from college as a Halloween decoration because it is orange. I collect vintage cameras and in the right setting, they can be spooky. I mentioned I like subtle spooky. Not everything has to scream BOO in your face — black and orange Murano glass ashtrays, vintage Band-Aid tins, doll heads, game pieces and more can be Halloween decorations in the right setting."
