Ghosts and goblins, witches and brew, bats, spiders and other creepy-crawlies -- these are the symbols of Halloween that can send chills down the spines of little ones during this holiday season. And, of course, pumpkins are ubiquitous, fresh at farmer's markets and grocery stores, picked to line porch steps and grace tabletops indoors, often after they're carved into fanciful or spooky designs -- a practice that has captivated generations of families.

But if you've never felt skilled with the tools, no worries. There are plenty of no-fuss, less perishable pumpkin options, which also can be stored to enjoy season after season. In styles that are suited to your home, decorating for Halloween has emerged as a seasonal event that, for retailers, has become almost as huge as the Christmas holiday.

It's a scary thought. Last fall, it was estimated by the National Retail Federation that Americans would spend a record $9.1 billion on Halloween. That includes costumes for pets! Of that figure, about $2 billion or more go to decorations.

And Halloween ornamentation has becoming more sophisticated over time.

Trend forecaster Michelle Lamb, founder and chairman of Marketing Directions, which publishes The Trend Curve for designers, architects, retailers and manufacturers has tracked the Halloween development for years and devotes an entire report to the topic for her subscribers. In this year's installment, "Haute Halloween and Fall," Lamb notes that Halloween has a new point of view, with themes emphasizing fun rather than fear. In addition, the ofrenda trend of Dia del los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, "now extends beyond its original Mexican heritage" and is "more celebratory than hair-raising." Alongside Halloween motifs, such as werewolves and bones, is typical fall fare drawn from autumn foliage and brilliant color changes.

Some of the impetus for design has come from fine craft. There are communities that have long celebrated the Halloween season, and some, like the charming towns ringing Lake Michigan in Door County, Wisconsin, go full tilt with fabulous displays that highlight Mother Nature's own spectacular fall canvas during the month of October. There you'll find pretty, artisanal, hand-carved wood pumpkins painted in soft pastel hues that mirror their real heirloom counterparts in apricot, sage and ivory. Patchwork scarecrow wreaths, wood and fabric cats, witches, pumpkins and other commercial fare are also to be found.

Grandin Road sensed the trend a decade ago, when the company began ratcheting up its orange and black themes. Its Halloween Haven assortment of unique upscale products that work nicely in home decor, features around 350 items ranging from $12 to $1,800. The annual dedicated catalog is a delight for those who look forward to this seasonal decor. The offerings have evolved beyond kitschy, and the palettes have expanded to purples and now rich burgundies. There are pumpkins bedecked in fashionable patterns. Beads and glitter add glam notes.

"We are definitely about celebrating every day," says Grandin Road senior merchant Kelly Lambert. "Our customer likes to decorate her home year-round. That's why we really went after Halloween and harvest to give her something more sophisticated."

Harvest naturally is key, with russets, golds, aubergines and sage greens drawing from the landscape.

"We also test other palettes -- like burgundies and reds, in addition to neutrals that kind of work with outdoor or graveyard looks, with dried leaves, twigs and moss," says Lambert. "Unexpected motifs like florals. Also brights -- there's a vibrant group with more hot pink and turquoise." It's a direction seen in Christmas decor as well.

"We play with scale, too, in ways that are not traditional," says Lambert. "There's an opportunity to mix and match styles. Our customers enjoy decorating -- they just get into it."

Almost everything analogous to Christmas applies -- lights to outline home exteriors or nestle into mantel or wreath decor, ornaments, garlands, even snow globes. The Halloween variety may have a graveyard scene instead of a Nutcracker or angel. Anything graphic -- like spider webs -- has great potential for design. Decorated pumpkins stacked in graduated shapes become sculptural objects, perhaps an alternative to trees in planters near the front door.

Many retailers now have a tab devoted to Halloween on their websites. At Pottery Barn, there are stunning hand-blown pumpkins of recycled glass that look amazing with strands of LED lights set within. Or pumpkins in a wide range of media, like punched ceramic pumpkins crafted from terra-cotta clay, some with leafy motifs; German silvery glitter; mosaic and bronze mercury glass in rose gold, and even one in an electric shade of teal blue.

At Pottery Barn there also are tombstone chalkboards with messages like "art attack," lit oversized spiders, skeletons in coffins and haunted tree yard stakes with scary face outlines in the flat black trunks. There are fab skeleton wine glasses with metal stems and bony fingers that reach up to clutch the glass. Or a full-body metal skeleton that is the base of a wine glass. Skeleton hand serving utensils and place card holders add to the fun.

Entertaining, of course, is a big part of Halloween hoopla. Whether it's light strands with pumpkins or bats, these can brighten mantels, stair bannisters or mirrors. Seasonal grapevine wreaths can be tweaked with the addition of skulls, pumpkins, black cats, ghouls and spiderwebs. Accessories like cookie jars, dinnerware and accent plates bring fun to the table, as do tablecloths and runners, including a beaded Day of the Dead example at Pier 1.

Some witches have morphed into downright glamorous creatures, figures cloaked in attractive garb that is reminiscent of angel figures. Even the dangling witches' feet from Raz Imports are more fun than fear-inspiring, with spiderweb bedecked stockings and festive marabou feathers collaring the ankles.

Crate and Barrel invites its customers to "decorate if you dare," and clearly its offerings are on trend and consistent with the retailer's modern style message. The chic black matte trend seems perfect for Halloween fare, as at Crate and Barrel with a set of modern faceted black iron pumpkins with orange interiors that glow with light. Even matte black iron letters that spell out BOO are classic and on message. At Granin Road, a black pumpkin sports graduated cutouts along the spines, which look like stripes with a warm white glow from inside.

MacKenzie Childs offers its signature courtly black-and-white check pumpkin taper candleholders of poly resin, accented with gold leaves spilling over the top for a festive look. And Jay Strongwater, known for high-end bejeweled ornaments and objets, features a gilded pumpkin box made of mouth-blown glass and hand-polished metal, which sells for $725 at Horchow (www.horchow.com), and is destined to become an heirloom.

Outdoor Halloween decor has grown as well, with more options for lighting, including broomsticks and candelaria to mark pathways. For lawns, there are a variety of werewolves, coffins and graveyard markers, with skeletons as well as ghosts, which when lit, as in a set of three from Grandin Road, can add an eerie glow.

So bring on your creepy, playful or even elegant creativity. With retailers all-in for Halloween and fall decorating, time is ticking to see if you've got game -- either DIY or with some of the colorful, fun symbols of the season.

Sources for Halloween

-- Ballard Designs, 800-536-7551, www.ballarddesigns.com

-- Crate and Barrel, 800-967-6696, www.crateandbarrel.com

-- Grandin Road, 866-668-5962, www.grandinroad.com

-- Pier 1, 800-245-4595, www.pier1.com

-- Pottery Barn, 888-779-5176, www.potterybarn.com

Even if you don't know what a dovetail is, you can appreciate this technique of hand-crafting that enables wood joints to fit together elegantly, without nails. Whether it's the silky satin luster of a piece of walnut, an uber-smooth waxed frescoed surface, the hug of quality hand-loomed wool or the uneven edge of a rustic earthenware plate from a potter's wheel, the touch seduces. Like the John Legend lyric in "All of Me," we especially love the "perfect imperfections."

Top marketing buzzwords in home design today? Craft. Bespoke. One of a kind. Artisanal -- a word that has found its way to farmer's markets and supermarkets, with everything from bread to jam, just as "craft" now can describe a beer or whiskey. And if "eco-friendly" and "sustainable" are part of the package, all the better.

"The current interest in craft and hand made things is a direct reaction to the digital age," says New York-based designer Michele Varian, known for her jewelry, fabrics, wallcoverings, furniture and lighting, as well as her Soho shop that showcases about 100 other designers. "The less we have natural and physical things in our day-to-day life, the more we crave it."

There is historical precedent. The Arts and Crafts movement in the late-19th century was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution that began in the mid-18th century. But when technology really began to explode, John Naisbitt, in his 1982 best-seller "Megatrends," called attention to what he coined "high tech, high touch" -- a reminder that human connectivity cannot be ignored. And that was before we were tethered to our smart phones.

Still, there's sometimes a desire to unplug and soak in nature and art. Besides a current craving for the look and feel of craft, it's all about personalization.

"The time is now," says Bruce Andrews, whose eponymous design company based in Evans, Georgia, prides itself on good old-fashioned craftsmanship with heirloom potential -- signed bespoke pieces that are made in America.

"People are tired of commercialization of luxury," says Andrews. "Millennials are looking for one-of-a-kind in contemporary surroundings. But I feel there's a little more to it than that. It's about quality."

And a growing number of consumers are calmer about waiting for it, not just four to six weeks, but sometimes several months.

Customization also has become a part of branding, and it's a marketing tool for furniture makers and retailers now offering more options for "making it your own," with leg and arm choices on sofas, hardware options on cabinets and, of course, fabric for upholstery.

Documenting the efforts through Pinterest and Instagram also has boosted the idea. And then there's the "Maker's movement," which has an ever-expanding DIY base looking for a personal hands-on adventure or one for profit, perhaps selling the wares they make on Etsy.

Not all applaud the effort, especially things like 3-D generated products.

"The Maker's movement was triggered by the digital age," says Varian. "Being able to procure things with the click of a button separates us from the value and care of what it takes to create that thing. Thoughtful people want to reverse this reality and see value in preserving the skills necessary to make objects that we desire."

The convergence of tech and art can be really exciting, though. An example might be when an artist like Helen Wilson of Witch and Watchman hand-paints modern chinoiserie or whimsical dark romantic flora and fauna, and then digitally translates it to fabric, wallcovering or a fetching apron.

Artists are becoming more accessible in the design mainstream at furniture markets like High Point, North Carolina, or shows like WantedDesign NYC, Made London and ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair). Crafts have a more global reach, with venues like Showcase Ireland in Dublin and Heimtextil at Messe Frankfurt, where textile creators as well as larger brands, get noticed.

In one small booth at Heimtextil, graphic fabrics in cinnamon, black and white caught the eye. Mid-century? African? Southwest? Not at all, it turned out. Alexandra Petrache of HALFDROP proudly brought to life her interpretation of Romanian folklore as well as handicraft.

"More and more people are looking at items like clothing and furniture in the way they have been looking at food for some time," says Hillary Petrie, a principal of Egg Collective. "Knowing the provenance of what we put into our bodies is translating to the items we live with on a daily basis. Consumers want more and more to know where specifically their money is going -- to what maker and to what story -- as this provides a meaningful and honest connection to the item."

When we have an opportunity to meet the maker, we're more charmed with what's behind the design.

Aoife Mullane, a young Irish designer, rhapsodizes about her inspiration -- the sea near her home. Organic patterns may come from pebbles on the beach.

"I consider my fabrics as artworks that are translated into textiles for interiors," she says. Her collections combine traditional textile techniques of hand-painting with the high-end effects of foiling. She screen-prints and hand-dyes, which give her fabrics an authentic look, clearly are not mass-produced. Mullane's pillows, wallcoverings and lampshades have metallic touches of aluminum and copper.

Websites often give a glimpse into the backstories, the artistry, the inspiration and the process, all of which really makes us fall in love with the product.

At Egg Collective Designs in New York, Stephanie Beamer, Crystal Ellis and Hillary Petrie bring architecture, art and woodworking backgrounds together, with their beautifully crafted wood, leather, stone and metal pieces.

John Strauss, an artist and sculptor with a master of fine arts degree, brings others into furniture collaborations. Tracy Hiner of Black Crow Studios painted a graphic blue-and-white watercolor that underwent digital manipulation to create larger, more varied colors, says Strauss. It's the face of a console painted in navy blue lacquer.

Besides beauty and quality, sustainability is a concern. Fashion designer Eileen Fisher started a zero-waste initiative called DesignWork, which creates beautiful fabrics, pillows and artwork out of recycled clothing.

"You can return (a garment) to an Eileen Fisher store," says Jan Rothschild, a spokesman for the company. "It doesn't matter if it's torn or stained. You get a $5 credit, and scraps from old garments are recycled into design. Every piece is different because we're working with raw material. We can control color ... and we're learning about controlling pattern now. Not one thing will look like another."

Fisher hopes others will be inspired (Patagonia is another leader) in an industry where roughly 85 percent of its product becomes waste in a landfill.

The most positive takeaway from embracing craftsmanship is that it makes us appreciate the beauty, the skill set, the passion and the time that went into a piece. That also makes it less disposable. You keep it because you love it and may want to pass it on. And that's a win-win for all.

Sources

-- Adriana Hoyos, 305-572-9052, www.adrianahoyos.com

-- Amullane, a.mullanedesign@gmail.com, www.amullanedesign.com

-- Bunakara, 678-701-3665, www.bunakara.com

-- Craft Associates Furniture, 312-725-4900, www.craftassociatesfurniture.com

-- Dunes and Duchess, 205-422-0084, www.dunesandduchess.com

-- Eileen Fisher Design Work, 800-445-1603, eileenfisherdesignwork.com

-- Eskayel Studio, 347-703-8084, www.eskayel.com

-- HALFDROP, contact@half-drop.com, www.half-drop.com

-- John Strauss Furniture Design, 330-456-0300, www.straussfurniture.com

-- Maggie Cruz, 305-742-4862, www.maggiecruzdesign.com

-- Michael Wainwright, 413-717-4211, www.michaelwainwright.com

-- Michele Varian, 212-343-0033, www.michelevarian.com

-- Witch and Watchman, 323-387-8569, www.witchandwatchman.com

A beautiful interior, like an amazing landscape, has you at first blush. After that Instagram-worthy moment sinks in, you start soaking in all the details in the room -- a sculptural chair, a fabulous artifact, intriguing lighting or enchanting art.

Colors -- singly or in tandem with unexpected mates -- first command attention. But nuances of shades and textures, along with metal accents and rich woods make even neutrals anything but bland. And the dynamic of patterns adds energy in a pretty floral, a mod geometric, a bold stripe or an artsy abstract.

Don't forget to look up. Because not all ceilings are created equal, painted in contractor favorite -- ceiling white.

At designer show houses from Kips Bay in New York to San Francisco, the spotlight this year often was on top. Especially with patterned wallpapers, most definitely on the uptick.

For some designers, the ceiling is the fifth wall -- with potential for creative heights.

Not so for Jamie Drake of the New York-based design firm Drake/Anderson.

"It's an integral part of a room," says Drake. "Every part needs to be considered -- baseboard, wall or ceiling. With a tall ceiling, there's an opportunity to bring some intimacy. (Treating) a low ceiling brings the eyes up."

San Francisco artist Willem Racke feels that ceilings are underutilized as a decorative element.

"I love adding color, or even designs, such as herringbone or stripes, to a ceiling," says Racke, who collaborated with Susan Chastain on a room for the San Francisco Decorator Showcase. Inspired by 1960s geometric art, he painted a series of concentric squares whose pinky tones fade into a shot of apricot. The ceiling is a deeper tone of that tangerine.

Drake, with Caleb Anderson, deftly teamed both fabric and paper to create a dynamic focal point above, in the room they designed for the 46th-annual Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Manhattan. First, they clad the space in a mustardy fabric with a sheen, as well as areas that appear worn away. In addition: strategically placed hand-beading. They pulled the fabric up to wrap existing ceiling beams, which were enhanced by adding slightly larger crown molding. Between the beams, they had a small-scale pattern installed. "It's almost like a textural weave," says Drake, "printed in subtle grid metallic in three shades on a white ground."

A neoclassical vibe often permeated Alexa Hampton's interiors, and this room at Kips Bay nodded repeatedly to her husband's Greek heritage. Art featured Hellenic statuary as well as Acropolis scenes. The backdrop for all: a swag -- in a hand-painted paper she designed with de Gournay. The brilliance of it is how it wraps the corner, where the trompe l'oeil melds with real drapery. Artist Chuck Fischer painted a mural for the ceiling; it was photographed and digitally transferred to a canvas for hanging.

At the San Francisco Decorator Showcase, designer Jon de la Cruz used real fabric to tent the TV room, evoking childhood fun of setting up forts with bed linens. The linen he used was beaded, which added a a bit of sparkle to billowing walls and ceiling. And at Kips Bay, designer Mark D. Sikes created a tented effect with blue-and-white striped fabric in a small vestibule space leading to the bedroom he designed.

One of the reasons Kim Hoegger papered the ceiling -- actually, all the walls of a bedroom she designed for the Julian Price designer show house in Greensboro, North Carolina, is that she wanted it to feel special.

"The paper envelops the room," says Hoegger, who furnished it with a beautiful French daybed and painted dresser. "It's like a jewel box."

The paisley in a warm cocoa and blue with white ground isn't overpowering, and she also brought it into the adjacent powder room above white and black tile, original to the house, which was built in 1929, covering the ceiling as well.

"The inclination might have been to go with black and white," says Hoegger. "But I didn't want to do something expected." The result is romantic, a little bit exotic, making the space feel "collected."

Denise McGaha had a unique perspective for a room she designed for the Savannah Southern Style Now show house last November. She designed a wallpaper with an allover lily pad pattern, and she put it up on the ceiling, "to make it feel like you're underwater looking up at the lily pads."

She teamed it with peachy drapery, which has a swirling pattern inspired by beta fish.

Another approach is to highlight only the ceiling. A graphic dark-ground floral mural by Stephan Blachowski graces the ceiling of a powder room in the San Francisco Decorator Showcase. Here the walls are alternating gray and white marble, and create a wide stripe. The modern vanity has a clapboard surface.

Small spaces such as these can afford to be a bit brazen -- even whimsical. Artist George Venson's big lips are a fun treatment, again, up and over the ceiling, in a powder room at last year's San Francisco Decorator Showcase.

Jamie Drake riffed from a set of nine Gene Davis prints in an adjacent space to pull colors for his own artwork on the walls of a powder room in New York's Flatiron District. He designed a checkerboard for an allover pattern.

Especially in an all-white room, a patterned ceiling can create drama. Australian designer Greg Natale used a gold-and-white herringbone pattern (it's available in a wallcovering he designed for Porter's Paints) on the ceiling, a Kelly Wearstler Tracery rug with a modern abstract pattern on the floor, and hot pink Tom Dixon chairs that pull from a Damien Hirst painting.

There actually are many ways to draw the eye up.

-- Paint it. Choose barely there pastels, like Jamie Drake opting for a soft boysenberry mousse in a bedroom with soft spring green papered walls. Or choose a zesty hue like apricot or tangerine, as painter Willem Racke did to pair with his ombre wall mural for a San Francisco show house. Moody hues like indigo or dark chocolate also can be very effective, especially with white moldings and/or paneling. Matte finishes are attractive, while high gloss delivers drama and is reflective.

-- Celebrate architecture. Inherited coffers or plaster ceilings can be stately and elegant. Or add your own. Armstrong has a series of applications that replicate coffered ceilings, wood planking, some in light weathered finishes, and even tin or copper tiles (www.armstrongceilings.com).

-- Paper it. Patterns add punch, either in matching patterns or with solid painted walls. And metallic papers in gold, silver, copper or a combination lend shimmer.

-- Cover it with fabric. A tented effect can be exotic, romantic or have an ethnic vibe, depending on the pattern.

-- Consider peel-off options. Tempaper (www.tempaperdesigns.com) has a range of sophisticated patterns from chinoiserie to Southwest, including collections by Cortney and Robert Novogratz and HGTV's Genevieve Gorder. They're easy to install -- and just as easy to take down and move on to your next obsession.

Sources

-- The Alpha Workshops, 212-594-7320, www.alphaworkshops.org

-- Dina Bandman, 650-867-8644, www.dinabandman.com

-- BLANKwalls Design, 415-269-4694, www.blankwallsdesign.com

-- de Gournay, 212-564-9750, www.degournay.com

-- Drake/Anderson, 212-754-3099, www.drakeanderson.com

-- Denise McGaha textiles and wallcoverings by Design Legacy, 972-869-4914, www.denisemcgaha.com

-- Alexa Hampton, Mark Hampton LLC, 212-753-4110, www.markhampton.com

-- Kim Hoegger Home, 214-856-3962, www.kimhoeggerhome.com

-- Phillip Jeffries, 973-575-5414, www.phillipjeffries.com

-- Greg Natale for Porter's Paints, enquires@porters.com.au, www.porterspaints.com

-- Barbara Ostrom Associates, 201-529-0444, www.barbaraostrom.com

-- Willem Racke Studio, 415-252-1341, www.willemrackestudio.com

-- F.Schumacher, 800-523-1200, fschumacher.com

-- Mark D. Sikes, 323-378-6927, www.markdsikes.com

-- Voutsa, info@voutsa.com, www.voutsa.com