Hauntingly-chic Halloween dorm decor for spooky season

"It’s all in the details. Orange and black are two of the most iconic symbols of this late-October holiday," says Lori Miller, interior designer and principal at LGC Interior Design.

"You can easily incorporate these colors into your living space through accessories such as festive door decals, spiderwebs, black spiders, and orange pumpkins. Focus on your room's color palette for a subtler take on Halloween décor. By incorporating accents of the classic Halloween color scheme in your room, you can make your space feel festive—without getting too literal with your décor."

If you're in the dorms, you're likely not allowed to make any permanent changes so try to avoid damaging anything. As long as you don't drill into the walls or paint anything in the room, you'll be all set to add spooky decor touches here and there with wall tapestries, posters, throw pillows, area rugs, and more.

"Halloween is the perfect time to have some spooky fun decorating a small
dorm room," says Bob Thomas, a fully certified interior decorator, house painter, and owner of Hearthandpetals.com

"With a little creativity, you can easily transform your small dorm space into a festively frightening Halloween hangout on a student budget!"  

Here, he has provided four inexpensive, creative ideas to make your space
festive:

1) String orange and purple string lights along the walls and ceiling to
set a Halloween mood. Use Command hooks to hang them easily without
damaging walls. Battery-operated jack-o-lantern string lights work too.

2) Cut out black paper bats and ghosts and tape them to your walls as easy
décor. Paint a small ghost or bat shape on a cheap canvas for easy DIY
wall art.

3) Use strips of sheer purple, orange, or spiderweb-print fabric as an easy
no-sew curtain over your window. Attach with Command hooks or tacks for
a festive accent.

4) Set a Halloween mood at night with battery tealights in pumpkin buckets
or small cauldrons on shelves. Place painted mason jars with tealights
on your desk as festive lamps.

5) Decorate your mirror with artificial vines, leaves, and spiders to make
it a creepy focal point.

"You don’t have to break the bank, especially if you’re not going to keep these up all year, so consider scouring thrift stores, Facebook Marketplace, and bargain basements to find some suitable décor," says Forrest McCall, co-owner of Mama Needs a Project.

"Keep things in good condition so that you can donate them after the season is over. Or, choose items which fold away small and are easily stored. Swapping over cushion cases, or using fabric to make Halloween bunting, for instance, will work well for this."