Decorating our home’s fireplace mantel at Christmas is easier than any other time of year. Stockings arranged just so, evergreens and holly draped elegantly, beautiful flameless candles to flicker through the night … but what about the rest of the year and other holidays? How should we style our mantels in the middle of March, the hotness of August? Everyone is different, but we have some fun styling ideas and tips to take you from winter to fall, and all of the fun times in between, and we think you’ll love them!
Choose a Seasonal Theme
I love changing up the style and decor of our fireplace. I especially enjoy decorating it for the holidays, big and small! Christmas is my absolute favorite but decorating for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s, and Easter are equally as exciting. But I only keep those holiday decors up through that particular holiday so I go with four major changes through the year with the holiday styles mixed in there for good measure.
My mantel is always aligned with the four seasons and I love adding little elements of fun for the eyes. Here I’ll share some of my favorite mantel decor ideas for each season.
Winter
When the Christmas decor comes down our first mantel decor change happens. It’s still winter so I go with classic winter colors and fun design elements. Whites, silvers, and icy blues are my colors of choice.
Stockings are replaced with metal snowflakes, a string of lights, or another fun winter-themed element. I, of course, need my flameless candles to have a spot on the mantel. I incorporate flameless candles into every mantel design I do. I don’t have to worry about flammable items, we can enjoy the special touch that the candle offers, and it adds an element of style.
I try to use items that allow me to vary the height of items for eye-catching designs and candles are especially easy to do this with. Win-win all around.
Finally, I choose a backdrop. Sometimes that backdrop is a simple picture. I’ve used an old fashioned white-washed window before. Shutters, metal motifs, and framed mirrors are also good choices. I have two rules when choosing a backdrop: one, it has to have a texture or depth to it and two, it can’t distract from the decor items of the mantel.
Spring
To me, spring symbolizes renewal. The trees come back to life, flowers bloom, and new plants bud. I love incorporating fresh greenery and pops of color in my spring mantel style and one of my favorite looks is similar to this one. The varying heights of candles draw the eye in while the pops of color speak of the trueness of spring. Adding a texture to the background gives a focal point to the room while adding an element of style to the mantel.
When you’re trying to decide on a style for the season, consider your current situation. Sometimes a simple, fresh look is needed to calm the chaos of life.
One year we took fresh tulips and placed them in beautiful white jugs for a simpler design. We had four of them across the mantel with a few flameless candles as accent points. The fresh and clean look was exactly what we needed that year.
Summer
We don’t use the fireplace in the summer but love the feeling of home, warmth, and ambiance that a fire creates so in the summer we utilize an abundance of flameless candles to help create that effect. And because they are flameless, there is no added heat to the house!
My summer designs tend to be more beach-themed than anything because that’s where my family’s always at the happiest.
I try to choose all of our home decor based on what makes our family smiles and that doesn’t end at the fireplace mantel.
There are many different design elements you can incorporate into a summer fireplace mantel, depending on what makes your family smile. A mirrored backdrop to send rays of light around the room, a plant inside the fireplace to add a touch of greenery, candles in the fireplace to add to the ambiance. The list could go on and on.
Use light colors, soft textures, and clean lines for a pure summer look.
Fall
Pinecones and acorns and pumpkins, oh my!
Hues of red, orange, and browns galore!
Fall brings cooler weather, vibrant colors, and lots of fun decor ideas to the home! One of our favorites for our fireplace mantel is glass jars filled with small fall items and a flameless candle nestled inside. Not only is it a beautiful style but it adds a touch of warmth to the home as the nip of fall comes in.
We usually need to start a fire in the fireplace by the middle of October but until then, I keep an array of fun fall harvest vegetables on display, much like this. To insert flameless tealights into your harvest vegetables simply cut a circle out of the stem area.
Beautiful and simple are my key elements when I am choosing any of my mantel designs. I want it to help make our home feel welcoming and warm and I want it to look pretty too. I mean, isn’t that what we all want?
Tell me, what’s your favorite season to decorate your mantel?