Twenty-five houses, dressed for the season.
A limited lookbook of suggested holiday designs, from All Hallows to Midnight. Each one is photographed, drawn as a plan and priced, piece by piece.
View the 25 designsAll Hallows
Halloween, played in candlelight and shadow rather than neon.
5 plates
II.Harvest
Autumn and Thanksgiving: straw, wheat, heirloom gourds and long tables.
4 plates
III.Noël
Christmas in evergreen, warm white and a single ribbon color.
12 plates
IV.Midnight
New Year's Eve in silver, gold, ink and candlelight.
4 plates
Selected plates
All 25 designs
Midnight Manor
A Second Empire house played as a single, slow reveal: one figure, one beam, and every window held low.
The Hudson Valley Harvest Porch
Straw bales, heirloom pumpkins and a wheat wreath on an 1890s farmhouse porch.
Grand Staircase Garland
A lit garland in even swags down a walnut rail, each one tied with deep green velvet.
The Champagne Terrace
Edison strings overhead, a teak table with lanterns and a champagne bucket, a heater for midnight.
The Nordic Porch
Oak door, eucalyptus wreath, two potted spruces, a sled and a cluster of white lanterns, in Scandinavian restraint.
The Countdown Mantel
Silver eucalyptus and fairy lights, mercury glass at each end, and a large clock to count down to.
A note on staging a house
Every holiday display is a piece of theater whether its owner admits it or not. There is an audience at the curb and a curtain time at dusk. The scene has to read in the three seconds it takes a car to pass. I light stages for a living, and this edition is what I would do with a front door, a mantel or a dining table if each one were a set.
Each plate gives you a photograph of the finished scheme, a plan or elevation keyed by number to every piece in it, and a list of the pieces with prices from the retailer. The plans are meant to be followed, so take them to the porch.
— The Editors, KR38 Creative
Field Notes
All sixLight Your House Like a Stage
Key light, fill and color washes: how a professional lighting designer would light your front porch, using gear you can buy at Home Depot this weekend.
No. 02The Best Halloween Animatronics, Ranked by a Show Designer
Twelve-foot skeletons, reapers and a whole hearse: which animated props actually perform on a front lawn, and how to stage them so they read from the street.
No. 03How to Choose a Holiday Light Projector
Pattern projectors, laser 'firefly' units and window-ghost video kits are three different tools. Here is what a projection designer looks at before buying one.
One design, every Sunday in season.
A new plate each week from October to New Year's, with the plan, the pieces and what they cost.