With over half of U.S. households celebrating* Halloween and 66 percent of them planning to participate in trick-or-treating, make sure kids are safe and sound when coming to your door. Here are some tips to make sure this Halloween isn’t physically frightful at your home.

Keep a Clutter-Free Haunted House

Homeowners should remove anything a child can trip over from the front yard, porch and stairs leading to the front door. Make sure all walking paths are clear of lawn decorations, potted plants, extension cords, hoses, gardening equipment, bicycles, barbecue grills and anything else trick-or-treaters might run into, especially when they can’t see at night. And don’t forget to leave the front of the house and exits well-lit and the lawn sprinklers turned off.

Corral Your Pets

Your guests don’t need to feel threatened by a strange dog, or worse yet, knocked over by an excited  pet because of unfamiliar visitors. So, make sure all your pets are on a leash, and if your dogs are prone to barking at strangers, put them in an interior room so they won’t see trick-or-treaters at the front door.

Spooky and Safe Decorating

• Decorate outside with ghouls, goblins, mummies and tombstones in a way that they won’t tip over or blow away. When considering props, use fake and safe alternatives – rather than anything sharp or heavy.
• Don’t become Clark Griswold by overloading your electrical outlets with decorations. Instead, follow manufacturer’s instructions to prevent damage or injury.
• Make sure decorations are kept from sources of fire. Avoid open flames altogether and consider LED lighting or battery-operated candles for optimal safety. When selecting decorative lights, check for safety certifications such as UL, CSA, ETL or another nationally recognized laboratory. And don’t drape fabric or crepe paper over light bulbs or you might have a fire on your hands.

The trick to making Halloween a treat for those costumed candy collectors is to have a scary, but safe, haunted house for them to visit.

Whether your fall interior design aesthetic is spooky, sophisticated or somewhere in between, it’s the ideal moment to implement some fresh ideas to spectacularly enjoy the season. If you’re ready to deck out your home for fall, here are five easy, creative ways to infuse fall colors and textures into your décor:

Add Seasonal Wreaths

Not only do fall wreaths add beauty to your front door, they can also add a to

uch of the season inside your home. Try a playful twist on the traditional fall palette with unique “statement” fall wreaths, which are a must-have this fall. For the crafty, DIY wreaths are a whimsical way

to add some vibrancy to your usual autumn décor. Remember, wreaths are versatile! Display a colorful wreath as a table centerpiece or hang it from a pretty ribbon to enjoy it from a different perspective.

Update Pillows

Switch out summer pillows in lightweight fabrics in your family or living rooms for luxe, velvet ones in rich, fall shades. Think burgundy, cinnamon or caramel velvets and warm brown brocades, or classic fall colors in strong hues like burnt orange or exotic chinoiserie red.

Swap Out Rugs

Change area rugs throughout your home, replacing lightweight summer jute rugs with thick, plush rugs in rustic, autumn colors to make rooms look and feel warmer.

Add Flowers

Create a beautiful fall table with distressed and repurposed containers filled with your favorite fall lowers and dark-hued berries. Or make a cornucopia of fall colors by arranging autumn blooms on a chic serving tray. Mimic nature’s fall transformation by introducing dried floral arrangements into your home – adding a rustic vibe to match the season. Add some beautiful fall-colored flowers, like mums or cockscombs, to your front porch or patio.

Cozy Up Outdoors

Make the most of fall’s cooler evenings by creating a small conversation area around a firepit on the deck or in the backyard. Bring out a few pillows and autumn-inspired throws for the chairs and keep a large basket nearby so yo

u can easily bring the linens indoors if inclement weather threatens.

These are just a few of the many ways to fill your home with autumn beauty without overhauling your holiday décor stash.

Need a little help around the house? Today’s technological gadgets can clean gutters, mow lawns, vacuum floors and even clean your toilet bowls. This real-life tech is accessible for everyone to make life a little easier. Check out these cool ideas for some smart home cleaning gadgets.

Say Goodbye to the Pool Boy

Robotic pool cleaners can brush, scrub, vacuum and filter your pool’s surface, making them just as handy, if not more so, than your typical pool maintenance company. Say goodbye to pesky leaves, dirt and grime on the pool walls with a touch a button. Top-of-the-line models let you set daily or weekly schedules with hassle-free cordless options.

Lawn Time Coming

The days of fighting the lawn (and the H.O.A.) are over. Robo lawn mowers are rapidly evolving to become even more efficient, streamlined and even quieter for painless grass cutting. That way, you can focus on spending time with family and friends instead of mowing your lawn under the hot sun. Many models can be scheduled to cut when you want them to and offer easy control, so you can take the work out of yard work.

Toilet Talk

Smart toilets offer amazing technology such as ultraviolet light for sanitizing, night lights, self-cleaning nozzles and deodorizers. These thrones give you more than the traditional toilet. Newly added comforts such as a heated seat, automatic opening and closing lid, front and rear warm water sprays, auto flush and warm-air dryer make your bathroom a high-tech experience.

Pet Products Save The Day

Tired of constantly cleaning the litter box? There’s a robot for that. Check out this awesome list of smart pet products, including a remote-access automatic feeder, glow-in-the-dark collars, automatic pet door, treat tossing camera, GPS trackers and of course, the self-cleaning litter box. You and your furry friends will be glad you did.

Smart Starts in the Garage

If you’ve ever been locked out of your garage, you know the feeling. That’s why smart garage door openers have been popping up everywhere to give homeowners access to easy-to-use tech. From Amazon deliveries to letting family and friends inside, these clever openers don’t just click to close. They let you have control from your phone with daily notifications, custom schedules and even home lighting accessibility while you’re away.

Let’s not forget gadgets that wet mop, clean windows, scrub barbecue grills, offer companionship and even teach the kiddos. With so many options today, new technology can be a reality of modern life and can make yours so much easier!

There’s something magical about watching a movie on a warm summer night under the stars with friends. If you’re not close to one of the few drive-in theaters still in existence, no worries – you can easily transform your backyard into an outdoor home theater. Here are five tips for turning your backyard into a pop-up movie theater.

Projector and Screen

If you want to capture the essence of the drive-in theater, there’s no substitute for a good projector. An outdoor projector should be at least 1,200 lumens, a measurement of how much light a device emits. Another must-have feature are HDMI ports, so you can connect items such as Blu-ray DVD players. If you don’t want to invest in a projector, bring your TV and DVD player outside.

Comfy Seating

Provide your guests with a range of comfortable seating options, including patio furniture, lounge chairs, blankets and outdoor pillows. Of if you have a pool, even better. Host a raft-up party and invite guests to bring their own pool float to relax on while the movie plays.

Snackage

Step up your game by creating a popcorn bar for guests. Fill small decorative bags with popcorn and offer an assortment of candy treats, marshmallows and other sweet mix-ins. And, of course, a movie night wouldn’t be complete without offering some classic movie-theater candy like Raisinets, Jujubes and the perennial favorite – Junior Mints!

Soft Lights

While your yard needs to be dark enough to see the movie, you also will need a little light so guests don’t trip over each other on the way to the snack bar. String lights and luminaries are a nice inexpensive option, casting a glow over your yard without distracting from the movie.

De-bugging

Spray the backyard before guests arrive, or, if your backyard isn’t generally buggy, offer them insect repellent. There is quite an array of natural bug-repelling options available to keep the swatting to a minimum.

Hosting a backyard film fest isn’t as challenging as you might think. With just a little planning ahead and some creativity, you can bring the drive-in movie theater experience to your backyard… possibly even better.