It's Black and White and Fall All Over in a Holiday-Happy Home

Sarah Macklem’s children have different ideas about Halloween decorating than their mother has.

“The kids love severed body parts and all that stuff,” says Macklem with a good-natured shudder. A home stylist based in suburban Detroit, she forgoes disembodied limbs for a seasonal decorating style that looks elegantly understated, but is sourced largely from thrift stores and discount retailers.

To keep things sophisticated, Macklem builds upon her home's black and white palette, overlaying touches of autumnal color in things like dishes and towels, while rendering familiar objects in unfamiliar ways. (White ceramic pumpkins, anyone?) Her seasonal handiwork goes up around Labor Day and culminates in a neighborhood Halloween party at her house.

"Decorating is my life," says Macklem, "and I take advantage of every opportunity I have to do it."

When it comes to seasonal decorating, Macklem exerts a light touch. Color sets the mood in the dining room, where the basic black and white decor is sprinkled with touches of autumnal color. Proportion plays a pivotal role in her convivial tablescape: Linens and dishes fill the tabletop without making it feel crowded.


"I have a fascination with mixing and matching table settings for holidays," says Macklem, who augments her everyday dinnerware with paprika-colored bowls she sets out just for fall, and black dishes she picked up at a thrift store (eight place settings for $10).

The designer made the runner from a piece of tapestry-weight fabric, attaching grosgrain ribbon to the edges with fabric glue. The reverse side is black, gray and red, so she simply flips the runner over for Christmas.


Macklem paid $12 for this dresser at a thrift store. It was a little musty, so she removed the drawers and aired out the piece for a week, then primed and painted the insides of the drawers to eliminate any remaining odor.

She painted the outside her favorite black (Martha Stewart's Silhouette), and now uses the piece in her dining room to store serving pieces and business files. (The dining room doubles as her design office.)


Macklem focuses her seasonal decorating on areas like the dining room, living room and entry. "We do a lot of Halloween parties," says the mother of three, "so I try to concentrate the decor on the rooms where we do our entertaining."


Macklem forgoes the skeletons and cobwebs, adding orange pillows to some of the rooms to pick up the seasonal theme.

The dining room walls are painted in Crevecoeur from Martha Stewart Living. A gray with undertones of green, the color is one of those in-between shades that appear to change depending on what accents accompany them.


Macklem ties chalkboard place cards around the napkins at each plate, and writes the names using a liquid chalk marker. When the party's over, the tags can be wiped clean and used again.


For the centerpiece Macklem paired dyed sunflowers from the supermarket with hydrangeas cut from her garden. She likes using natural elements like twigs and flowers in her holiday decorating. "That helps keep it from looking kitschy," she says.


Artificial pumpkins from the craft store are stacked in a tiered basket from Sam's Club. If Macklem doesn't have time to pick up flowers, she simply places this in the center of the dining table.


Orange throw pillows are added to the living room in the fall, as are the orange mats framing the silhouettes. Macklem painted the monogram on a piece of MDF, and paired it with a stack of artificial pumpkins and a string of medallions that say "Trick or Treat." The thrift store spider was a concession to the kids' desire for something creepy.


Macklem chose the home's black and white color palette in part to make the interior more conducive to holiday decorating. She just switches out the accents for each occasion.


When the holidays approach, Macklem turns the living room bookcase into an improvised butler's pantry, filling it with supplies for entertaining. "This house is ready for a party at a moment's notice," she says.


The bottom shelf is filled with baskets of artificial pumpkins. Even storage can be beautiful if you use the right container!


A black thrift store cat poses beside a vintage-looking sign. Macklem found the seasonal homily on the Internet, produced a copy on her color printer and added the frame.


Colorful towels add a seasonal accent to the powder room. "I wanted a little pop of orange in the fall," Macklem says.


Macklem was married in the fall 14 years ago. Her mother dried some of the flowers from the wedding and used them to make a wreath, which she presented to the newlyweds when they returned from their honeymoon. The wreath still looks great and hangs proudly on the front door. "We think it's a sign that our marriage was meant to last," says Macklem.


The kids are always late for the school bus, so Macklem hung this helper in the hall. The clock is a reproduction from Pier 1, which was marked down to half price because it was damaged. Since the finish was already distressed, Macklem couldn't tell the difference.


Cornstalks are readily available from farms and roadside stands — even some of the big-box merchants sell them. Macklem strapped a few to the pillars on her house (the source for the name of her company, The Yellow Cape Cod) and paired them with other autumnal accents.


Seasonal plantings add a festive touch to the urns by the front door. This year Macklem used mums from the grocery store; last fall she planted boxwood.


A trio of loosely stacked gourds adorns the front stoop. The gourds are a nice alternative to pumpkins, Macklem says. "They come in many more colors and shapes."


Macklem picked up the lanterns at Sam's Club. They came festooned for Christmas, so she removed the extra adornments for autumn. The candles are battery powered and are controlled by a timer.


Son Max gets into the autumn spirit in the backyard.

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