Turning your home into a 1920s speakeasy
Planning to host A Speakeasy Murder?
With a few carefully chosen decorations, some atmospheric lighting and plenty of jazz music, you can make your guests feel as though they’ve stepped into an illegal speakeasy beneath the streets of 1920s Chicago.
Aim for atmosphere rather than authenticity. A handful of vintage-inspired props, dim lighting and period music will do far more to immerse your guests than filling every corner of the room with decorations.
Whether you’re hosting your first murder mystery party or you’re a seasoned organiser, these simple ideas will help bring your Roaring Twenties speakeasy to life.
Create a secret speakeasy entrance
Part of the fun of Prohibition-era speakeasies was that they were hidden from the authorities. If possible, make your guests feel as though they’re discovering a secret bar rather than simply walking into your living room.
In A Speakeasy Murder, Fat Stan’s Speakeasy’s entrance is concealed inside a changing room within Dora’s Dress Shop.
So you could hang a sign outside saying “Dora’s Dress Shop.” Once inside, you can put a “changing rooms” sign outside the door to where you are playing.
Drawing a curtain across a doorway can help create the feeling of entering a hidden nightclub.
Keep the lighting low
Speakeasies were intimate, smoky venues with warm lighting rather than bright ceiling lights.
Instead of relying on your main lights, use table lamps, battery-operated candles or warm white fairy lights tucked behind furniture. If your lights have a dimmer switch, even better.
Warm lighting instantly makes the room feel more like a jazz club and less like an ordinary sitting room.
(But don’t make it so dark that players can’t read their character booklets!)
Set up a cocktail bar
Every speakeasy needs a bar, even if you’re serving soft drinks throughout the evening.
A small table or kitchen worktop can become your cocktail station with just a few simple additions:
- Cocktail shaker
- Glassware
- Bottles or decorative decanters
- Ice bucket
- Drinks menu written on a chalkboard or card
Even a modest drinks station becomes a focal point for the evening.
Add a casino corner
A Speakeasy Murder takes place in a venue where gambling is part of the entertainment, so adding a few casino-themed decorations helps reinforce the setting.
Scatter poker chips, playing cards and dice across tables, or cover a small table with green felt to resemble a card table. If you happen to own a roulette wheel, this is the perfect excuse to bring it out.
Guests don’t need to play any games—the decorations alone help tell the story.
Dress your tables
Simple table decorations can dramatically improve the atmosphere without costing very much.
Black tablecloths immediately give the room the appearance of an elegant nightclub. Add battery candles, small flower arrangements, empty whisky bottles, playing cards and poker chips to complete the look.
Vintage-style ashtrays also make excellent decorations, even if nobody smokes.
Create a stage for the entertainment
The music is one of the defining features of any 1920s speakeasy, so it’s worth giving your band and singer a little corner of the room to call their own.
If you have a piano, that’s ideal, but it’s certainly not essential. A microphone on a stand, a music stand or even a chair draped with feather boas can suggest a performance area.
Fill the room with 1920s jazz
If there’s one decoration you can’t see but everyone notices, it’s the music.
Search for playlists featuring 1920s jazz, Dixieland, ragtime or early swing, and keep the volume low enough for conversation.
The music should provide atmosphere without drowning out the game’s discussions and accusations.
Add a few gangster touches
Small props around the room help transport your guests to Chicago during Prohibition:
- Vintage suitcases
- Fedora hats
- Old-style telephones
- Wooden crates labelled “Olive Oil”
- Fake money
- Empty champagne or whisky bottles
- Pocket watches
- Cigars (props only)
You don’t need dozens of decorations—just enough to suggest the world your guests have entered.
Decorate the walls
Printable vintage posters are an inexpensive way to transform blank walls.
Look for posters advertising:
- Jazz performances
- Silent films
- Boxing matches
- Vaudeville shows
- Travel destinations
- Cigarettes or soft drinks
Print them on cream paper for an authentic appearance.
Hide modern technology
One of the simplest ways to improve immersion is to remove reminders that it’s the twenty-first century.
If possible, hide phone chargers, remote controls and brightly coloured packaging before your guests arrive. Throwing a dark cloth over a television or covering modern shelving with a vintage-looking tablecloth can make a surprising difference.
Scatter period props
A few carefully placed accessories help convince guests that the speakeasy has been operating for years.
Try leaving around the room:
- Newspapers
- Playing cards
- Feather boas
- Cocktail recipe books
- Vintage cameras
- Pocket watches
- Empty bottles
- Hats and gloves
These little details also make wonderful conversation starters while everyone arrives.
If you only do five things…
Don’t worry if you’re short on time. These five ideas will create most of the atmosphere your guests will remember:
- Dim the lights.
- Play 1920s jazz throughout the evening.
- Create a small cocktail bar.
- Scatter playing cards and poker chips around the room.
- Encourage everyone to dress in Roaring Twenties costumes. (Click here for our 1920s costume tips.)
With those simple touches—and a cast of colourful gangsters, singers, gamblers and socialites—your guests will soon forget they’re in your dining room and feel as though they’ve stepped into an illicit Chicago speakeasy.
Decorations don’t need to be elaborate; the combination of atmosphere, costumes and the story of A Speakeasy Murder will do the rest.
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