Decor & Set Design

Decorating for your mystery party can be a major focus, or simply a nod to your theme and location.  We typically create a different “set” for each room or space we use, based on the plot and setting of the story.  For example, our Maya mystery featured an outdoor marketplace, a research base camp, mess tent, and a pyramid tomb.  In our sanitorium mystery, we included a “day room” for the patients, a dining room, and an outdoor activities room on our patio (for painting, music, etc.)  Our DMZ mystery offered an outdoor meditation shrine, International Diplomacy Center, dining room, and a demilitarized zone out on the patio.  

For a simple party, your décor could consist primarily of your table setting.  Bring in colors and tableware that fit your theme.  Add a few centerpiece props and accents and call it a day. 

 If you enjoy decorating and have more time to prepare, plan a layout and design for each set you plan to create and a list of projects to build and items to purchase or acquire.  We love to shop swap meets and thrift stores in the months leading up to our parties, finding inexpensive and unique props that fit the party.  We usually then donate them back, but we have found some great items that we kept and added to our prop department over the years.    

We also look for diy projects and ideas online for our sets and props.  They are frequently easy, inexpensive, and result in one-of-a-kind decorations. 

In recent years, we have also taken advantage of online shopping, especially for hard-to-find props that are key to a set or to the plot.  One of our favorite finds in recent years has been the growing market in fabric tapestries or wall hangings.  You can find hundreds of inexpensive tapestries online for a variety of settings, including hardscapes such as brick or stone walls, building interiors and exteriors, outdoor landscapes, etc.  A large tapestry can cover an entire wall and really set the scene for your party.  We typically use thumbtacks or staples to hang the tapestries; both do little damage to your walls or ceilings and work quite well.    

We also have a large collection of solid tablecloths which we hang as walls as needed, enclosing/creating areas for different sets, and which allow guests some privacy when questioning (or attempting to murder) each other.  These also hang nicely from walls or from the ceiling with thumbtacks.  Even if you can’t find a tapestry on point to your setting, if you have large areas of bare walls, stapling a tablecloth to the wall, gathered in so it hangs like a drape, is extremely effective, adding color and interest to your décor.  You don’t need windows to add attractive blocks of color and print to your set.