When it comes to decorating, there is no wrong time for anything. It all comes down to personal comfort, taste and needs — ultimately what brings you joy. That being said, decorating for a holiday too early can sometimes draw unwanted glares from the neighbors.
While it’s far from time to start throwing up those Christmas lights, fall has arrived. That means that Halloween decor is going to start making its way onto front porches any day now. With that in mind, experts are not quite giving the green light to go ahead and set up all of the sticky spiderwebs and scary skeletons you’ve got.
“There is no right or wrong time to start decorating for Halloween,” Dayna Isom Johnson, Etsy’s trend expert and judge on NBC’s series “Making It,” told marthastewart.com. “But I personally like to bust out the cobwebs and pumpkins when the air starts to feel a little cooler and crisper.”
According to a YouGov survey of 1,500 U.S. adults, as reported by Better Homes and Gardens, only 5% of respondents said that it is acceptable to put up Halloween decorations before Labor Day. Another 16% said it is OK to put up decorations between Labor Day and Sept. 30. A total of 47% of survey takers, however, said they will not be putting up their holiday decorations until sometime between Oct. 1 and Oct. 15.
Lynn Lilly, a Michaels Maker and the founder of Craft Box Girls, told marthastewart.com that Oct. 1 is when she generally brings out the Halloween decor.
“Some people say anytime is the right time to start decorating for Halloween, but if you are like me and decorate for every holiday and season, the timing can be tricky,” Lilly said. “My rule of thumb is as soon as October 1 rolls around, I pack away the fall harvest decorations, put on my witches hat, stretch out the spiderwebs and start planning my annual Halloween hunt.”
For people living in hotter climates, she said to consider holding off on the pumpkin carving until later in the season.
“If you live in a warm climate like me, start your Halloween decorating with faux pumpkins and get the real pumpkins mid-month when it is a little cooler outside,” she said. “Nothing is worse than a sunburned, stinky pumpkin.”
Hunter Boyce writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
