HOW TO DECORATE A MANTEL

A mantel is often the focal point in the living room/den. In my house, it is the first thing that captures your eye when you walk in my front door. Of course, since the hubby insists that the TV is hung above the fireplace, we look at this every single day. Recently, I stepped back, took a long, hard look at it and decided that it needed a makeover. Isn’t it funny how you can live with something for over a year and then suddenly it hits you like a ton of bricks that it needs changing?

Here are some tips to creating a more attractive mantel (even with a big, black box displayed above it!).

1. Look for design inspiration for your mantel.

After looking around at some of my favorite sites on Instagram and Pinterest, I was inspired to make some changes. (By the way, my very favorite Instagram account is My Texas House. She has an amazing house that always gives me design inspiration.)

2. Add a focal point to the mantel.

From the pictures above, you can see that they have a focal point in the center. My focal point is my television. If you don’t have a TV hanging above the fireplace, you can count your blessings! Not really, I don’t hate the TV there, but I LOVE to give my hubby a hard time about it! What I meant to say is you might want to add a large clock like this one from Kirklands. Some people also like to add a large mirror to their mantel as the focal point.

I noticed that all of my favorite mantels have height and that was something that I was missing. I searched and searched for affordable topiary trees and found these. (When I bought them, they were on sale for 40% off and they are now out of stock, but if you keep looking, I bet they will be back in no time.) I thought they would be the perfect height to add some visual interest.

When I put the trees on the mantel, I liked it, but I felt like it was still needing more. The trees weren’t as tall as I hoped for (yes, I even measured before I ordered) so I knew that it still needed more.

Of course, any chance to go shopping at my favorite stores is a great thing!  I’ve said before that my favorite places to shop for decor are Homegoods, Target, Kirklands, and Hobby Lobby. So one Saturday morning, I left the house early and hit up all of my favorite stores.

3. Add some height to the mantel.

I knew that I needed some height on my mantel so that was the first thing that I started searching for. I stopped at Kirklands and found this vase. I figured if I added some woody stems to it, this would make the perfect piece. I found a great wood box at Hobby Lobby to add more height to my topiary tree, along with the woody stems for the vase.

4. Add some filler to the mantel.

It isn’t absolutely necessary to add anything as a filler, but I felt like for my mantel, I needed something under the television. I added a tobacco basket, a fun quote and a little greenery for color.  How do you think it turned out?

Bottom line is that you want to enjoy what you see.  Maybe you don’t want your mantel to be decorated at all.  That’s totally up to you. After all, your home is your home and the great thing is that each of us have our own taste. We don’t have to all decorate in the same way. After you decide what to do, sit back and enjoy the beauty!

Be Blessed,