So for a month or so you’ve been watching scary movies, picking out candy to pass out to kids in the neighborhood, and doing what you can to get into that Halloween spirit! Of course, sometimes Halloween has this pesky habit of landing on a weekday, so if you’re the sort that likes to host Halloween parties at your house you might have some planning to do the weekend before in order to get everything ready! But if you’re reading this on a Friday and you haven’t quite gotten started yet, no need to fear! We’ve got some tips here on how to quickly clean up and prepare your house for a Halloween party for people of any age! Settle on a Theme: Sure, you know it’s going to be a Halloween party, but what kind of vibe are you going for? Will it be more aimed at your kids and their friends, or are you shooting for something a little closer to your own age? You can’t start cleaning all willy-nilly without deciding on a theme and intended audience first, so try to take a second and figure out exactly what you’re looking to do. Keep ‘Em Decorated: No matter who you’re looking to entertain with your party, it’s always a good idea to get some decorations up! Clean off a table and put up some carved pumpkins (real or otherwise), get some decorative wall shelving to hold some spooky knicknacks (haunted pictures, skeletons doing things, etc), and if you have any good wall decorations like movie posters, now’s a perfect time to get them out! Open Up The Living Room: Odds are you’ll need somewhere for the party to congregate, and living rooms are the perfect place for this. If you’ve got the space, move your furniture around to open up a centralized area for people to meet and loiter. Maybe have some of your favorite seasonally-appropriate movies playing (and get a TV stand to hold your TV and expansive scary movie collection) to set the mood, or at least get a tablet or MP3 player so you can play “Monster Mash” a few times. De-Clutter A Little Bit: While you’re at it, now might be a good time to de-clutter your main floor to open up some space for guests and festivities. Set up some wire shelving in your basement or attic (unless you’re using either of those spaces to host your party, because as we’ve mentioned before, basements are pretty scary) and get some of your clutter or decorations safely out of the way to free up space for new decorations, or even just a place to leave your drinks! Get Those Invites Out: Finally, all you need to do is get people to your party! Like the first step, consider the ‘vibe’ of the party you’re going for and get ahold of anybody you’d like there. Tell them if they need to bring anything with them, and you know what - go ahead and make costumes mandatory. Isn’t that the point of the holiday, after all? Of course, cleaning up after the party is a whole other problem...but you can worry about that afterwards! Happy Halloween from everyone here at The Shelving Store!