Hi guys! So, while I was moving furniture out of my living room this week I got a bunch of ideas for how I may want to rearrange my furniture when it comes time to move it back into the living & dining rooms… Except, I may ask for help for that because everything is SO sore today. couches are heavy and hard to move.

Anyway, I think that out of all the things in my house, the mantle is the spot that I change up most often. Since it’s the focus of the first room that people see when they walk into my house, I think it’s a fun space to add seasonal trinkets and pretty objects.

With the amount of change my mantle goes through, I’ve come up with a list of tips & tricks for decorating them, which I wanted to share today!

1. Decorate around one “big” piece. Be it a mirror or a piece of artwork, using a large piece works to draw the eye upwards and makes the mantle area a focal point. Since my living room has eastern facing windows, I use a mirror on top of my mantle to reflect light back into the room from the West facing kitchen windows.

2. Try to style your mantle decorations in a triangle shape.

3. On the next “tier” down on your triangle, include objects that are a medium height, I use some tall candle sticks that I coated with chalk paint, and some pillar candles.

Lovely example of photo art & plant decor from Lonny Magazine!

4. Don’t Overload Your Mantle. If you want to display a few of your child’s creations, that could look awesome! But avoid displaying EVERYTHING all at once. Likewise, if you have an art collection you want to show off(like this one from Lonny Magazine), pick a few key pieces that relate to each other by color or theme, and display the others elsewhere.

5. Include a few smaller pieces, but not too many, along with the large and medium sized accessories. Too many small items will make your mantle look short, larger items in the mix draw the eyes up! Different heights also create interest in the space.

6. For an elegant look, choose a framed mirror and hang it above the mantle, add sconces or candle holders on either side that match the mirror on either side. A vertically hung mirror can help the room appear to have higher ceilings. Adding three similarly sized & colored smaller objects at the bottom will help the space look unique, but also uniform!

7. A large clock would also look great above a mantle! I like clocks in the living room, that way I can keep track of time without having to check my phone all the time!

8. One simple idea for mantle décor would be to add a large canvas painting or print, with smaller accessories flanking it. Either vases from thrift stores, or little candles would look great and could add pops of color!

9. If you have a fireplace in your dining room, placing some pretty dishes on display on the mantle could be a really pretty and fun way to add texture and color to the space!

10. If you’re looking to add unique textures to your wall, baskets could be the solution for you! I love how this mantle décor(from Design Hunter!) keeps the size of the baskets similar, but switches up the colors! On the flip size, you could also use similar colored baskets and switch up the sizes!

Tips for Decorating a Mantle