Our mantels rarely get enough credit or enough love — but they’re often the focal point of many a living room. In fact, they typically display treasured family photos, floral arrangements, seasonally-appropriate bunting, or, in the winter, stockings, garland, or menorahs. So let’s appreciate the mantel. It holds upon it warm family memories and the distinctive flair of your home.
Here are some great tips for decorating your mantel this holiday season!
Paragon Homes Presents: Creating the Perfect Winter Decor for your Mantel:
- Get kitschy with cheeky DIY bunting! Bunting offers a fun, traditional-meets-modern look. It is whimsical and has a simple retro feel to it. Bunting flags can be done up fancy with sophisticated glitz and glam, or can be downplayed for a fun, nostalgic, and crafty look. Pinterest is a great source of ideas for all-things-bunting!
- Go traditional with faux snow, holly, garland, and Christmas stockings.
- Do a modern rustic-chic look with twigs, industrial pieces, burlap, and simple candles.
- Glam it up with lots of gold, silver, and sparkly tchochkes. Some of our favorite home decor for this type of look comes from HomeGoods or Target.
- White out! Create a chic look by giving your mantel a winter white-hot makeover. Think white resin decorations, frosted glass, and white-on-white picture frames holding black-and-white photos.
- Make it fun! Add a bit of fun to your mantel by displaying kids’ artwork in fancy frames. String popcorn up to make a retro kind of garland, and display a gingerbread house or other kid-friendly and homemade nick-knacks.
- Stick with a color scheme. It doesn’t have to be all white, and it needn’t go with the holiday season. Pick a color, then make sure every piece on your mantel fits the theme.
- Use your mantel as a place to display all of the holiday greeting cards that you display.
- Turn your mantel into an advent calendar, lining it all the way across with pieces counting down to Christmas.
- Celebrate the holidays with your entire family. If you are hosting a holiday party and some of your family cannot attend, put photos of those family members on your mantel and set up a video camera or webcam on the mantel so that they can witness the fun from across the miles.
- Not into holiday or seasonal decor? Keep your mantel simple with a couple of candles, books, of picture frames.
Here is a great article on mantel decor from HGTV, and a video filled with great ideas from Martha Stewart. Tell us, which look is your favorite?