topic Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING in Home

FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Oznell — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 21:25:07 GMT

I'm not lucky enough to have a mantel; our little 1910 cottage has a 'buried' brick stack that goes up through the house, but no fireplace. So I like to dream! I pretend that my narrow entry table, and the top of my closed cabinet in living room are my mantels, and decorate accordingly.

Found these ideas:

That painting, with the ethereal light in the middle of it, is a warm touch, punching up the light of the candles... I like the "unplanned" look of the mantel.

I have a weakness for the soft green of old celadon pottery, so like this. But not the sculpture, that would go.

Here's my favorite thing to have over a mantel, though-- a gilt mirror. Mantel is artfully layered.

Oh, and the other thing I love, is old books on a mantel. This might be controversial, but I love to decorate with my collection of old, frayed books-- and they can be turned so the spine faces in, or out! Literature purists sometimes become incensed at this, but I'm a bookworm and don't think it shows disrespect! On the contrary. Look at those precious brass bunnies and milk glass mixed in.

Quite symmetrical.

More books, whimsical painting, and what looks to be an old christening photograph of baby-- love the 'personal' nature of this....

Beautiful. A leaning mirror is my favorite, also like that's it a bit off-center. Or is it? The tiny paintings and other accessories are exquisite.

Not wild about every accessory, but here's another one with such character, and a sweet doggo.

Now this person is a really pottery hobbyist. I think the blurb said it is 1920's, "Constance Spry" pots, which rings a faint bell. I wouldn't have this large a collection on the mantel year round, but it's handsome, a fun change. The very English practice of putting invitations and cards on the mantel is given a cute twist with the hand holding one....

By contrast, here's a really stripped down mantel, and I like it too. Allows that gorgeous fireplace to shine.

Obviously, not for all the time, but this one somehow strikes me as witty, extravagant, but not taking itself too seriously. So nice the way the brass candlestick collection picks up the glint of the gilt mirror. A great backdrop for a photo or ceremony, clearly.

Casual, summer look, with sort of cubist art and couch turned to not even face fireplace. Fresh, seasonal.

Would anyone fortunate enough to have a fireplace, care to describe what your mantel is sporting right now? Will you change it out for spring? Whenever it comes, ha.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Kachina624 — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 21:35:28 GMT

Nothing is more fun then gathering your treasures together and staging your fireplace mantel. I also have a high sideboard that I stage like a mantel, so I have double fun.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

spiderw — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 21:43:30 GMT

I absolutely love all the pictures and displays, the mantels are lovely on their own. I decorate with old books also and would definitely display them on a mantel with a collectible or an old photo.on top. The picture displays are all so appealing and show such pretty ideas, all enhance the rooms.

I have a mantle in the summer home I own but now rent.. When I used to stay there for the summers I always decorated with antiques and vintage decor. Oddly enough, there was a stuffed pheasant on the mantle left when my parents bought the house in the fifties. For some reason I left it there surrounded by my decor and while I do not like stuffed animals on walls or such, I felt it fit the country feel. That was a long time ago.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

DREAMON — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 21:45:22 GMT

We do have a mantle. I decorate it with more for each Holiday. Off Holiday season I have less and go with a Seasonal look.

I don't care for books on mantles and definitely not books in a fireplace. That looks like you have no where else to put them and stuck them in the fireplace ....and want to burn them.JMO.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Jackyl — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 21:50:24 GMT

Great post!! We built a house out of necessity three years ago, and along with a lot of other things, a fireplace is all new to me.

My mantle has: A puppy budda statue, Valerie's mercury glass candle holders with her blue lit round spheres, a black/grey vase with black flowers in the middle, a wood sign about dogs, and my grandmother's small burgundy glass vase. I don't change it out because I have no idea how what I'm even doing now looks okay.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

AuntG — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 21:50:44 GMT

The Fixed Upper lady once listed what looks good on a mantle. Art work, green plant, stacked books. I think she had candles of varying heights too. I saw several different styles, but the look always worked.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

ECBG — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 21:52:27 GMT

@Oznell

All of these were a lot of fun!

You could look through basic kinds of antique stores and pick up a mantel to put against your wall! I would put an antique basket or antique bucket of fern or flowers in the opening.

I just google imaged them!

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Mominohio — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 22:29:52 GMT

I grew up in old homes with grand fireplaces, and my first house had a real beauty as well. I'm currently 26 years into a house without one, and I miss it terribly.

I'm also a real snob about they style of the fireplace and mantel that I like, and how it should be decorated.

Not that anyone needs to agree with me, but my pet peeves with mantels are mirrors or pictures that people just sit on the mantel. I hate it. They should be hung, and at a precise height, not all the way up on the ceiling. I also think it horrible to mount a tv over a mantel or fireplace. Simply can't understand why anyone would ruin the beauty of a fireplace with a black hole of technology.

Less is more on a mantel most of the time for me. Holiday garlands and candles/lanterns and such overdone during the season are ok oftentimes for me though.

I rarely see a mantel in stock photos that I think is well dressed today.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Snowpuppy — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 22:47:43 GMT

@Mominohio , preach, girl!!!

I hate to see photos of decor/non-functioning fireplaces! It's like having a broken appliance being proudly displayed in your living room.

Fireplaces, woodburning or propane inserts are hugely popular up here but they are mostly necessary for a secondary heat source and anyone I know that has one....it actually functions. Like with real wood and all the work!

What happened to hearths? @crazycockermom has a full wall brick fireplace with a beautiful hearth she decorates.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

NickNack — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 22:54:31 GMT

I love all of your examples @Oznell . I just finished decorating my mantel in November. I posted the picture in the forum at the time. I have three vases on one side--one with flowers. On the other side I have two brass candlesticks with candles and a picture (print). I'm very happy with how it turned out.

I love the painting in your first picture. I really love the brass bunnies, especially the smaller one. I wonder if they are available to buy somewhere. I also really like the whimsical painting with the bunny.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Mom2Dogs — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 23:06:53 GMT

@Mominohio We have a floor to ceiling fieldstone fireplace with a mantle, it takes up about 2/3 of the wall...it's long!

It's a beautiful fireplace but the contractor did not put in any places to hang things. I decorate for every season and sometimes use a mirror and my only option is to let it rest on the mantle. I do agree about the TV on the mantle....my neck would be in a world of hurt and I don't want a television to be the focal point of the room.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Mominohio — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 23:07:38 GMT

@Snowpuppy wrote:
@Mominohio , preach, girl!!!

I hate to see photos of decor/non-functioning fireplaces! It's like having a broken appliance being proudly displayed in your living room.

Fireplaces, woodburning or propane inserts are hugely popular up here but they are mostly necessary for a secondary heat source and anyone I know that has one....it actually functions. Like with real wood and all the work!

What happened to hearths? @crazycockermom has a full wall brick fireplace with a beautiful hearth she decorates.

@Snowpuppy

I loved when @crazycockermom would post pics of her fireplace. She was doing such a great job with a couple of things. First her fireplace is so rustic (for lack of a better term) with all that beautiful brick, and she was choosing decor that actually complimented and matched the style. So many people take a super elegant fireplace and yuck it up with primitives or modern things, or they take more rustic ones and try to glam them up. I think that fireplace decor needs to stay in the lane of the size/color/style/manterials used in the fireplace.

Again. being way to preachy! I just have a thing about it.

And I agree that a fireplace should function if at all possible (I know there are older homes that need a great deal of work on the fireplace to be safe, and funds aren't there sometimes to make it safe, so you do what you have to).

We considered having a fireplace built in our home here but the expense just can't be justified for the home's resale value, and once we could afford it, I don't feel we would get our money's worth out of it, for the time we most likely have left here.

I've considered getting a great old mantel and making a fake, just to scratch the itch a bit, but I haven't done it, and probably won't. I so miss a wood fire. Had them all my life, growing up and as an adult till moving into this house. Sigh.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Mominohio — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 23:11:44 GMT

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
@Mominohio We have a floor to ceiling fieldstone fireplace with a mantle, it takes up about 2/3 of the wall...it's long!

It's a beautiful fireplace but the contractor did not put in any places to hang things. I decorate for every season and sometimes use a mirror and my only option is to let it rest on the mantle. I do agree about the TV on the mantle....my neck would be in a world of hurt and I don't want a television to be the focal point of the room.

@Mom2Dogs

I'd love to see your fireplace! I bet it is stunning!

It took me years to understand that not every fireplace was like what I grew up with (older homes with a standard fireplace, brick with big wood mantels). Over time, I have come to love a variety of fireplaces and especially love how they vary with the style of home or the geographical location.

Have you ever posted pics here of yours?

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Kachina624 — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 23:16:40 GMT

@ECBG wrote:
@Oznell

All of these were a lot of fun!

You could look through basic kinds of antique stores and pick up a mantel to put against your wall! I would put an antique basket or antique bucket of fern or flowers in the opening.

I just google imaged them!

@ECBG. lol. Looks like a drunk did the brick work.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Kachina624 — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 23:22:19 GMT

@DREAMON wrote:
We do have a mantle. I decorate it with more for each Holiday. Off Holiday season I have less and go with a Seasonal look.
I don't care for books on mantles and definitely not books in a fireplace. That looks like you have no where else to put them and stuck them in the fireplace ....and want to burn them.JMO.

@DREAMON. Books, whether on mantels or tables, make great elevators to give height and importance to lesser objects. I've got a couple of fat, old leather-bound books with character that I use for this purpose

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Catiele — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 23:24:20 GMT

I am in the process of changing out my mantle so I thank you for the pictures. I was up late last night trying different arrangements. I finished I think? Or not.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Kachina624 — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 23:31:05 GMT

I'm sure many of you will be horrified but this is my favorite fireplace. I can see it with a huge wreath and red bows around the horses' necks at Christmas. The man pictured carved them.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

Mom2Dogs — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 00:05:07 GMT

@Mominohio I have not posted photos...it's a bit of a pain since I don't have a smart phone. Maybe I will at Christmas.

When I first started decorating the mantle, I was overwhelmed thinking I had to decorate the entire length, then one day the light bulb went off and I do just the center now, (it ends up being 1/2 of the mantle). so much easier and really looks better.

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

NickNack — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 00:30:32 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
I'm sure many of you will be horrified but this is my favorite fireplace. I can see it with a huge wreath and red bows around the horses' necks at Christmas. The man pictured carved them.

@Kachina624 What a talented man!

Re: FIREPLACE MANTEL DECORATING

DREAMON — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 00:54:07 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:

@DREAMON wrote:
We do have a mantle. I decorate it with more for each Holiday. Off Holiday season I have less and go with a Seasonal look.
I don't care for books on mantles and definitely not books in a fireplace. That looks like you have no where else to put them and stuck them in the fireplace ....and want to burn them.JMO.
@DREAMON. Books, whether on mantels or tables, make great elevators to give height and importance to lesser objects. I've got a couple of fat, old leather-bound books with character that I use for this purpose

@Kachina624 ,

Attractive bound books used as a pedestal/elevator I could live with and probably would really like ...but books on the inside of a fireplace is not something I would ever do.

I do have a few stacks of leather bound books in different areas of my home. I love all of them.

This may sound crazy but (in my mind) putting the books inside the fireplace is disrespectful ..it would be like placing my parents Wedding picture in the fireplace...it's just the way I feel about it.