The Haunted Mansion-Northside is the blog of James Lopez, an extremely talented artist and animator who used to work for Disney. He does not do things by halves: Last Halloween, for instance, he turned a friend’s front yard into a wrecked pirate ship. When he moved into his new house, he decided that he wanted his office to have a Haunted Mansion theme. And darned if he didn’t decorate it that way.

I cannot adequately express how thoroughly awesome this is. Three walls are covered with the Bradbury & Bradbury wallpaper used in the foyer of the Disney attraction, and the fourth was hand-painted using a stencil to mimic the wallpaper in the Corridor of Doors. He’s got all kinds of pictures and busts similar to the ones in the attraction, and even managed to find a wall sconce that’s an exact match for the ones used near the front entrance.

A couple of his separate posts cover his creation of the Staring Statues and Bat in a Birdcage props that he uses as decoration.

Lopez sculpted his props from scratch, but we Mere Mortals without his vast artistic skill can find alternate ways to decorate. DoomBuggies offers a 13-Hour Wall Clock, for instance, and Haunted Mansion collectibles are widely available on eBay. You can also check out the DoomBuggies Links page for lots of inspiration and craft ideas.

This office would be a good project to build up over time, as funds and ambition allowed. As a bonus, using a Haunted Mansion decorating theme is a good way to subtly introduce goth elements into otherwise-mainstream decor; folks are somehow more comfortable with rabid Disney fans than with goths, even though I can tell you from long experience that the former are a whole lot scarier.

I’m tempted to start saving up for that foyer wallpaper right now.