Sarah Macklem’s kids have various thoughts about Halloween decorating than their mother has.
“The children love severed body parts and all of that stuff,” says Macklem with a good-natured shudder. A home stylist located in suburban Detroit, she forgoes disembodied limbs to get a seasonal decorating style that looks elegantly understated, but is sourced mostly from thrift stores and discount retailers.
To keep things complicated, Macklem builds upon her home’s black and white palette, overlaying touches of autumnal color in things like dishes and towels, while rendering familiar objects in unfamiliar ways. (White ceramic pumpkins, anybody?) Her seasonal handiwork extends up around Labor Day and culminates in a neighborhood Halloween party at her residence.
“Decorating is my entire life,” says Macklem, “and that I take advantage of every opportunity I have to take action.”
The Yellow Cape Cod
If it comes to seasonal decorating, Macklem exerts a mild touch. Color sets the mood in the dining area, where the basic black and white decoration is dotted with touches of autumnal color. Proportion plays a pivotal role in her convivial tablescape: Linens and dishes fill out the tabletop without making it feel crowded.
The Yellow Cape Cod
“I have a fascination with mixing and matching table settings for vacations,” says Macklem, who augments her regular dinnerware with paprika-colored bowls she sets out just for fall, and shameful dishes she picked up in a thrift store (eight place settings for $10).
The designer made the runner out of a sheet of tapestry-weight fabric, attaching grosgrain ribbon to the edges with fabric glue. The opposite side is black, black, red and gray, so she simply transforms the runner over for Christmas.
The Yellow Cape Cod
Macklem paid $12 with this vest in a thrift store. It was a little musty, so she removed the drawers spelled out that the piece for a week, then primed and painted the interiors of the drawers to eliminate any remaining odor.
She painted her favorite black (Martha Stewart’s Silhouette), and now employs the piece in her dining area to store serving pieces and business files. (The dining room doubles as her design office.)
The Yellow Cape Cod
Macklem focuses on her seasonal decorating on areas such as the dining area, living room and entrance. “We do a lot of Halloween parties,” says the mother of three, “so I try to focus the decoration on the chambers where we do our entertaining.”
The Yellow Cape Cod
Macklem forgoes that the skeletons and cobwebs, including orange cushions to a number of the chambers to pick up the seasonal theme.
The dining room walls are painted in Crevecoeur out of Martha Stewart Living. A gray with undertones of green, the color is among those in-between shades that appear to change based on what accents accompany them.
The Yellow Cape Cod
Ties composes the names using a liquid chalk mark, and chalkboard location cards at every plate round the napkins. When the party’s over, the tags could be wiped clean and used again.
The Yellow Cape Cod
For your centerpiece Macklem paired coloured sunflowers in the supermarket with hydrangeas cut out of her backyard. She likes using natural components like twigs and flowers in her holiday decorating. “That helps keep it from appearing kitschy,” she says.
The Yellow Cape Cod
Artificial pumpkins in the craft store are piled in a tiny basket out of Sam’s Club. If Macklem doesn’t have the time to pick up flowers, she simply places this in the middle of the dining table.
The Yellow Cape Cod
Orange throw cushions are inserted to the living room in the fall, as are the orange mats framing the silhouettes. Macklem painted the monogram on a piece of MDF, and paired it with a heap of artificial pumpkins plus a series of medallions that say “Trick or Treat.” The thrift store spider was a concession to the children’ desire for something creepy.
The Yellow Cape Cod
Macklem chose the home’s black and white color palette a part to make the interior more conducive to decorating. She just switches the accents out for every event.
The Yellow Cape Cod
If the holidays approach, Macklem turns the living room bookcase to an improvised butler’s pantry, filling it with supplies for entertaining. “This house is ready for a celebration at a minute’s notice,” she says.
The Yellow Cape Cod
The bottom shelf is filled with baskets of artificial pumpkins. Even storage could be amazing if you use the right container!
The Yellow Cape Cod
A black thrift store cat poses beside a vintage-looking sign. Macklem found that the seasonal homily on the world wide web, produced a replica on her color printer and added that the framework.
The Yellow Cape Cod
Colorful towels add a seasonal accent to the powder room. “I wanted a little pop of orange in the fall,” Macklem says.
The Yellow Cape Cod
Macklem was married in the fall. Her mum dried some of the flowers from the wedding and utilized them to make a wreath, which she introduced to the newlyweds when they returned from their honeymoon. The wreath still looks great and hangs proudly on the front door. “We think it’s a indication that our marriage was intended to last,” says Macklem.
The Yellow Cape Cod
The children are almost always late for the school bus, therefore Macklem suspended this helper in the hall. The clock is a reproduction from Pier 1, which was marked down to half price because it had been ruined. Since the end was already distressed, Macklem could not tell the difference.
The Yellow Cape Cod
Cornstalks are easily obtainable from farms and roadside stands — although some of those big-box merchants sell them. Macklem strapped a couple of to the pillars on her house (the origin for the title of her company, The Yellow Cape Cod) and paired them with other autumnal accents.
The Yellow Cape Cod
Seasonal plantings add a festive touch to the urns by the front door. This season Macklem used mums in the supermarket; final fall she planted boxwood.
The Yellow Cape Cod
A trio of loosely piled gourds adorns front stoop. The gourds are a nice choice to pumpkins, Macklem says. “They come in many more shapes and colors.”
The Yellow Cape Cod
Macklem picked up the lanterns at Sam’s Club. They came festooned for Christmas, so she removed the additional adornments for autumn. The candles are battery powered and are controlled by a timer.
The Yellow Cape Cod
Son Max gets to the autumn spirit in the yard.