Dress up the Mantel

Company is coming and the mantel is bare or full of odds and ends.

The holiday is fast approaching and you want to make a display to highlight the romance of life.   To decorate, to set the stage, to hang the stockings for Santa Claus’s descent.

This picture above illustrates a balanced mantel that reflects the owner’s taste.  My friend Kathleen used restraint on her mantel and I love the quiet feel of the composition.

A mantel is a composition.  Balance Scale Proportion & Weight.

Here is another mantle that is cleverly designed with color, read all about it on Melissa’s blog The Inspired Room – Melissa used a narrow shutter to add height to her fireplace. And interest with texture, with the wreath.

There are many ways to illuminate your mantel – here are a couple of simple ideas you can try :

Make a row of same or similar objects

Can be Candles of varying heights

Vases

or candlesticks or anything else that you collect

Like little fir trees  of one height or gradually getting higher in the middle while the two ends are the same height.

If you have not much budget and nothing to use Hurry to your nearest thrift store and gather up a bunch of glass vases,

fill with a candle, even a tiny candle in each of these glasses below,  or fill with a group of holiday ornaments that match your room decor with or without snow  or use fruit – real or fake or anything that has sparkle. Strands of pearls or pinecones.

Use your imagination to make it work or create your own garlands  like this clever one with ribbon and pine cones

another fun and easy way to decorate is with art and a garland – like this mantle I spotted at a fellow designer’s house

Anything in a theme is appealing color or glass and a mirror reflecting the look behind adds glamor, and this garland is easy to find at a craft store, add some flowers and candles and voila!

Check out these wonderful ideas from Country Living.   Mirrors really do have a lot of power. They reflect light, space and bounce energy around the room.  Make sure that the mirror and the garland are scaled to look perfect.  Like in the picture above, the garland is thick to counterbalance the tall mantel.

The white glass give a retro look that is very much in keeping with snow and holidays. Simple and stunning – a group of these beauties would be spectacular with  silver or white ornaments, candles or flowers

Besides the appeal of mirrors,  A piece of art that reflects the colors of the ribbon and flowers is easy to create and looks festive.  Like this mantel at a designer friend’s home, ribbon and a garland of lights wrap fake greenery to give an artistic and sophisticated look. Doesn’t that look rich?

Here is another version of the same idea using three items that are the same size

I you prefer a mix of found items, it always looks better with candles and lights, like I did here on a bookcase, last xmas using white and green throughout the house. This would work  well on a mantel.

If you have a stove type heater and no mantel, create interest by using a mirror and some ornaments or greenery as we did here in a one day makeover of a family room that was full of holiday stuff.

The stone looks dark and dirty and the ornament is way to high to look good.

and here is the same fireplace after – see what a mirror can do to a room ?  We found this beauty stuck in a corner and it really brings the hearth to life.

Here is a mantel I spotted in a window of a local chain store – can you spot the mistakes ?

Looks like a jumble on the mantle -  it would have made more sense to raise the wreath or get rid of it. A bigger wreath or a row of 3 down the mirror would have worked too.

The Large lantern and little flower should have been repeated on the other side.  Or a group of reindeer.

Or a repeat of lantern flower lantern flower,

or even a odd numbered grouping of silver candlesticks.

Balance and scale are very important on a mantel and the art or mirror needs to be in the correct scale to make the whole piece work.

Always look at the whole piece – the mantel, the art above, the objects on the mantel and the items on the floor to really see the picture.