How to Prepare Your Deck and Backyard for Halloween Party Guests

The holiday season is quickly approaching, and Halloween marks the start of it for many folks. This candy- and costume-filled evening provides the perfect excuse to gather with friends and let loose. If it’s your turn to host the festivities this year, you might want to utilize your outdoor spaces to accommodate your guests (especially if you plan on inviting lots of people). As long as someone can keep up with the trick-or-treaters at the front door, your backyard and deck are the perfect spots for a festive and fright-filled party -- as long as you prepare your property ahead of time. Fortunately, you’ve still got about a month to get everything in order.

Here’s how to prepare your deck and backyard for Halloween party guests this year.

Clean and Tidy Up Before Getting into the Spirit

The Halloween aesthetic is grim, worn down, and dirty. While it’s fun to embrace the darker side of life for a night, cleanliness is a prerequisite for a fun, successful Halloween party. After all, you want there to be enough room for all your guests as well as your decorations and other holiday essentials. If your deck and backyard are cluttered and filthy, your party will likely end up being a drag rather than a spooky hit. So, before you go ahead and transform your property into a haunted haven, take the time to declutter your yard and deck and give your deck a good cleaning. Autumn is a great time to hire pressure washing services anyway (chances are your siding and gutters could use a good washing in addition to your deck).

You Want Your Deck to Be Creepy, Not Creaky

You don’t want your guests to be in any real danger while gathering on your deck, of course, even if you’re going for an unsettling aesthetic. Just as you should clean your deck and yard before going further, you should also inspect your deck for any repairs. The more people standing on your deck at a given time, the higher the probability of a potential collapse, especially if your deck’s structural integrity is in question. Do yourself, your deck, and your party guests a favor by securing your deck and, if necessary, protecting its surfaces with fresh deck stain. Note that minor repairs and a new coat of exterior deck stain aren’t always enough to ensure your deck’s structural soundness -- if you detect rot, unevenness, or other structural issues, seek a professional opinion. More severe repairs and/or replacements may be in order. If you tackle this stuff now, your deck should be ready in time for a fun and safe Halloween get-together.

Introduce Frightening Furniture

Once your deck is squeaky clean and secure, you can start furnishing and decorating your outdoor space in festive fashion. If you really want to get in the spirit and impress your guests, you can find various Halloween-themed deck chairs, tables, and other furniture online and at certain stores. You don’t have to go so far to keep things aesthetically aligned with Halloween, however. If you have old blankets or T-shirts lying around, you might cut them up sporadically (the more frayed edges, the better) and hang them over your deck chairs to imitate a decrepit look. You can also purchase spooky tablecloths and even spray paint old furniture black, orange, and gray if you’re willing to go that far -- most important of all is making sure there are enough places for your guests to sit and set down their food and drinks when they want to.

Don’t Be Afraid to Decorate!

Even if you can’t transform your deck and lawn furniture in time for Halloween, you can make up for it by decorating your house exterior to your heart’s content. With only one night out of the year dedicated to the weird and eerie, feel free to go as far as you want when decorating your deck -- there’s no such thing as tacky or too gaudy on Halloween. To get the most out of your decorative efforts, use your deck’s inherent features to your advantage. You can stretch fake cobwebs across posts, place haystacks and jack-o-lanterns in corners, hang string lights along banisters, etc. The more fun you have with this process, the more fun your guests will have when they finally get to experience it all.

Light the Way

Dressing up and goofing around after dark isn’t exactly a recipe for safety, so make sure your outdoor spaces are well lit. If you live in a lively neighborhood that mostly celebrates the holiday, chances are your entire street will be lit up for much of the evening, which is a big help. Still, the more visibility there is during your Halloween party, the better. In addition to your festive lighting, keep your primary deck lighting nice and bright until the party’s over.

Set up a Spooky Awning

The weather in late October is often unpredictable, and rain is certainly a possibility. If the forecast poses the possibility of rain, do yourself and your guests a favor by installing some sort of overhead covering (nothing is worse than trying to eat wet candy in a wet costume). Otherwise, you’ll have to move the party inside, and you might not have enough space to host a successful indoor event.

Warm Your Guests with Outdoor Heaters

Speaking of the weather, Halloween night tends to be chilly. While some of your guests are bound to be bundled up in warm costumes, others might be wearing less. Either way, providing some heat for your guests will ensure that everyone stays comfortable while hanging out outdoors. A central firepit is a great source of heat, though it might be too limited for the number of people at your place. If you really want to warm things up, consider installing several tall outdoor heaters for people to stand next to in case it gets too cold.

Keep Your Lawn in Check

Your lawn might not be all that visible at night during your Halloween party, but people will definitely notice if it’s overgrown or otherwise in rough shape. If you plan on utilizing not only your deck but also your backyard for the festivities, mow your lawn prior to the party, and make sure any large roots or stumps are clearly marked or out of the way before anyone trips over them.

Host a Halloween Party to Remember this Season

Plenty of preparation goes into hosting a fun, safe, festive outdoor Halloween party, but the effort is well worth it. If you need help along the way, however, look no further than Nash Painting. Our expertise in exterior painting, deck repair and coating, pressure washing, surface preparation, and more will help you throw the best Halloween party in Nashville, Brentwood, or Franklin, TN this year. To learn more about us, our services, and our values, call us at 615-829-6858 today!