Pillboxdesigns is an Etsy seller that specializes in vinyl wall decals in all kinds of creepy designs: Bats, Nosferatu, quotes from Beetlejuice, and loads more. They even offer a custom monogrammed coffin which might make an interesting wedding gift.

These are a great way to spruce up your space without doing anything permanent, so they’re a good choice for apartment-dwellers. They’re also much cheaper and easier than stenciling the walls. (Plus they give you the opportunity to quickly peel them off and hide them if the in-laws drop by unexpectedly.)

The seller also offers faux hearse-style landau bars so you can turn your Volkswagen into something a little more sinister. Heh.

(via Haute Macabre)

Haunt Style found this over at Baxter King, although there’s no indication where Baxter got it. I really like the mix of patterns, and the cheery colors would make it a nice way to slip a little spookiness into an otherwise-mundane decorating scheme.

In addition to scraps of wallpaper, you could also do this with fabric and make a throw pillow or quilt (it’d be a very good candidate for reverse applique).

It would also make interesting wrapping paper for a special gift; cut the skulls and contrast out of colored tissue and glue them onto a backing of plain white wrapping paper.

I love that the project is so simple, given how attractive the finished result is.

Artist Heather Jean has spent a lot of time turning her home into “an atmosphere to suit my eccentric and esoteric tastes.” Although she says her decorating style is more horror- than steampunk, there’s plenty of both influences at work.

The Steampunk Home has more photos.

I like this look because it’s interesting without being cluttered and it doesn’t rely on unusual paint, wallpaper, or carpeting. The walls are white, the paint detailing is dark but not weird, and the floors are plain. This would be a great way to bring an enormous amount of character to an apartment or other space where you couldn’t do a lot with the walls and floor. It’s also the kind of design scheme that you can build up over time, collecting oddments as you run across them.

Here’s a rather brilliant and subtle decorating idea: British artist James Hopkins carefully arranges mundane objects into artwork with “hidden messages.” I’m not quite sure how “hidden” the skulls are, but I love the arrangement.

This would be a fun project if you’ve got a bare wall to cover. Get a cheap bookshelf and arrange random knick-knacks in a similar skull pattern, collecting additional objects over time to fill in any gaps. Simple but extremely effective.

Link (via Haunt Style)

David over at Dark Artifacts has a brilliant suggestion for a gothy accent piece: A framed manuscript page that you make yourself. I really like the “museum artifact” look, and the method couldn’t be easier.

Check out his post for project instructions. He doesn’t go into detail on aging the paper, so if you’ve never done it before take a look at Curbly or Instructables for tutorials.

You will pardon me whilst I pick my jaw up off the ground. Etsy seller VonErickson offers this unbelievably gorgeous velvet-upholstered sofa in red, black, or purple. The lid even closes.

It’s $3,500 plus a variable (and presumably fairly large) amount of shipping. Sure, that’s more expensive than Ikea, but the Swedes know nothing about this kind of awesome stylishness. I’d love to make this the focal point of a dark living room.

I’ll go get a mop for my drool now.

Link (via BoingBoing)

I’m oh, about four months early for this post (at least in this hemisphere), but I’m on a draft-cleaning kick and I’m tired of looking at it. Think of this as giving yourself plenty of time to plan a pretty table centerpiece involving pumpkins.

You can actually keep this look year-round if you use Funkins instead of real pumpkins, so it’s not that premature. If you squint.

Anyway. Pumpkins.

• Use a medium-to-large pumpkin as a vase: Cut the top off and scoop out the guts. Cut a piece of floral foam to fit inside, soak it in water, then put it in the bottom of the pumpkin and insert the stems of fresh flowers into the foam. Alternately, place a potted plant with trailing vines (like ivy) into the pumpkin and let the vines swirl down the middle of the table.
• Use miniature pumpkins as candleholders: Cut off the top and scoop out the insides, then test for steadiness. If the pumpkins are a little wobbly, cut a thin slice off the bottom to level them. Group the pumpkins in the center of the table, using a variety of candle heights for added interest. (If you’re using the same size candles you can also vary the heights by stacking two pumpkins, securing the bottom one with florist’s pins.)
• There’s always the standard jack-o-lantern. In addition to festive carving you could stencil on designs, hot-glue craft jewels all over it, or make Martha Stewart’s celestial pumpkins.
• Arrange a variety of pillar candles or an unmatched collection of candlesticks in the middle of the table, tallest ones in the center. Scatter fall leaves, dried gourds, Indian corn, or miniature pumpkins randomly around the bases of the candles.
• Place a large glass bowl or cylindrical vase in the center of the table and fill it with miniature pumpkins. For a little contrast, add apples or small gourds.
• If you’re decorating a large table, make a whole pumpkin patch: Set a large pumpkin in the center of the table and place a medium-sized pumpkin on each side, about 8″ away. Space one or two small pumpkins the same distance from the medium ones, the continue down each end with three or four mini pumpkins. Fill in the spaces between pumpkins with silk leaves in fall colors.
• Arrange a collection of bell jars along the table, each one displaying a single mini pumpkin or cluster of fall leaves.
• Arrange a large pumpkin or assortment of fall fruits on a pedestal cake plate. Festoon with twigs of berries, ivy strands, and fall leaves.

Notes:

• If you plan to have your centerpiece in place for more than a couple of hours, it’s a good idea to put something underneath the pumpkins and any other fresh decorations to protect your tabletop. You can use plastic and hide it, or choose something like pretty ceramic plates and make them part of the decoration.
• Some species of ivy can be mildly toxic. Don’t use fresh ivy in any edible decorations (like bowls of fruit).

There’s been a recent stir in the news about a 17th-Century “witch bottle” unearthed in England (read about the find at Times Online and MSNBC); although over 200 have been found, this is the first one that’s intact.

The discovery is interesting, but I’m also much taken with the bottle itself. It’s described as “salt-glazed stoneware,” and I love the imposing bearded face on the neck. A bit of online digging led me to the fact that many witch bottles were made of salt-glazed stoneware flagons known as “bellarmines” after the feared inquisitor Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino, whose face was traditionally embossed on the neck. (So that’s not some ancient pagan god on the bottle, it’s a really uptight Catholic.)

Original bellarmines are reasonably easy to find, but expensive (I found a couple on eBay for around $600). Fortunately they apparently lend themselves to lots of reproductions: Moonstone Pottery has them, as does Hudson Claypotter. There’s also a lovely one at Colony of Avalon, but it’s a bit pricier than the others.

A bottle like this would make a lovely display piece, especially considering the history of what they were used for.

After running across this rather arresting–but artistic–warning sign, it occurred to me that it and similar signs would make attractive and unusual decorations.

A quick search should turn up quite a number of them, but you can also check places like Safety First! for loads of examples. These vintage radiation warning posters, this “mental hygiene” sign (from the University of Minnesota collection) and “dangers of unkept hair” warning (from this site) would all be attractive artworks. Copy shops like Kinko’s can print good-quality oversize pictures, so you could have these blown up to poster size and framed.

You can also find similar pictures commerically available, particularly propaganda-style posters from WWII. This “Consider the Consequences” print is attractive, and this German poster is definitely eye-catching.

If you want something a little more spare and modern, look for unusual examples of the type in the thumbnail above (that one came from a chipper/shredder warning). symbols.net and freesignage.co.uk have some good resources.

You could even do a collection of prints, all on, say, a VD-awareness theme. Unusual and educational.

If you have a little extra cash and are looking for some really unusual decorative items, there are a couple of upcoming auctions you might want to keep your eye on.

Guernsey’s is preparing to auction a collection of torture items from the 16th century, including shame masks, a rack, and even an executioner’s sword. (The proceeds will go to Amnesty International, which I think is a nice touch.) The site doesn’t list the auction schedule yet, but there’s an article about their plans here.

There’s also an entire Victorian museum collection being sold off May 18-21 in Newent, Gloucestershire. The Shambles Museum is a steampunk paradise, with everything from vintage furniture to stuffed guinea pigs. Catalogue and information about the sale are here. A Guardian article about the museum and sale is here. There’s some amazing stuff listed in the online catalogue, so if you’re anywhere in the area you might want to take a look.