Hi All,
I wanted to document the progress of creating my Haunted Hotel theme for my indoor party this year and have a place to request feedback as I progress in this journey. My normal setting for the party each year is that of an old, decaying house/mansion but I thought about mixing it up this year, a little. With inspiration from previous Haunted Hotels found here, I made the decision that this would be the easiest in order to use a lot of my existing decorations.f
As a save the date message, I sent out hotel reservation confirmation notes to each party guest and included a small key (looked old world and picked up from Michaels) that was attached to a key tag that contained the date and time of the party. I attached tiny magnets to the key tag so they could be mounted to the fridge or such.
I've been buying vintage pieces (hotel desk bell, letter holder, cathedral radio, etc.) to set the tone of a 40's hotel but yesterday (Saturday) was the first day I have had the opportunity to actually work on the project. My house has a large "front room" which contains the foyer, living room, and dinning room all as one big open space. This is where I usually spend most of the time setting the scene for my party. The foyer will become the check in area, the living room will be the lobby extended, and the dinning room will serve as the "lounge" where the party buffet is set. These rooms will be the only areas where the hotel theme is prominent and the music will only be 40's music coming out of the repro cathedral radio. The remainder of the house and the outdoor deck and patio have seasonal decor for Halloween but don't speak specifically to the hotel theme.
Here is the current progress on the check in desk in the foyer. The desk and columns are simply made of foam insulation board covered in wood grain-look contact paper. I still plan to add some type of small lights to the front of each column and add dust and cob-webs to both the desk and the props. Any and all comments are welcome!! I'll go on to put a pile of luggage, my zombie bell hop, and my 6 foot tall metal knight in this area to complete the look.