Every year, starting on the first of October, Jenny Rausch and her family hit all of the major Halloween stores to collect only the spookiest and creepiest decorations to make their vision come to life. Skeletons, beheaded dolls, ghouls, chainsaws—nothing is off-limits.
“My version of Halloween is a little different than most people’s version–mine is a little more theatrical,” says Rausch, owner of Karr Bick Kitchen & Bath. “In terms of thinking of fun ways to decorate for Halloween, you’re kind of creating a scene.”
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This year, skeletons joined Rausch’s family at the dinner table.
“I was imagining them being wealthy and around for a really long time, kind of like a vampire acquiring all of this wealth,” she says.
Rausch completed the look using aged finery and unpolished silver to play into these characters and their past life. Rausch’s ghouls also became pet owners this year, acquiring skeleton dogs.
“One of the dogs is sitting on its hind legs looking up, and so I took a rat and I put it in her hands like she was giving him a treat,” she says. “You know, what would I do with my dog if I was a ghost?”
Rausch also looks for affordable ways to spook up her home, using a lot of spider webs and a greenish-gray gauze.
“When you drape that over things, it instantly makes it look old and is a nice way to create the scene,” she says.
Rausch’s biggest piece of advice to someone decorating their home is, “do what you love and don’t care what other people think. Make it magical, and wherever you draw your inspiration from—watch that.”
Growing up, she was drawn to the haunted mansion in Scooby-Doo’s television theme, as well as the Victorian-style house and witches’ apothecary in Practical Magic.
“When the weather gets cool, some people look for pumpkin lattes,” says Rausch. “For me, I’m looking for things I can use to decorate for Halloween.”
