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One thing that I looked most forward to when house-hunting and dreaming of owning a home one day was having a mantel to decorate. We lucked out with this home because not only do we have two fireplaces in our home, but they are beautiful old Victorian fireplaces. Both have very unique details and designs to them, so I often like to design and style around them on the more minimal side of things, especially with our Living Room Fireplace.

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Breaking it down…

Breaking down the details and some tips to help you decorate your own mantel!

Something reflective

I personally love the look of a mirror on a mantel. In both spaces you can see I did this differently. One mirror that has a subtle frame and the other that has a bold frame. I chose this based on the fireplace and the amount of detail in it. The living room fireplace has a unique bold design, so I went with a subtle but large mirror that suits that 10′ ceilings. In the bedroom, I went with a more unique frame since the fireplace itself isn’t as bold and unique. Again, in the bedroom, I worked with the 9′ ceiling heigh and picked something proportionate to this. This gold Mirror would be too short with 10′ ceilings, but works great with 9′ ceilings. For reference, the 3′ gold mirror is used in the bedroom with 9′ ceilings.

Add a vase with real or faux greenery

This is my favourite set of faux greenery branches from Amazon (seen in the living room), or I also love dried greenery too as seen on my bedroom mantel.

Decorate in a “Triangle”

Something tall, something lower, and something in the middle. This is a general decorating and styling design principle that is used, especially in bookcase styling!

Layer

Layer your mantel decorations. If you take a look at both of the mantels I have styled, you can see how the vase and art is layered in front of the mirror, a smaller vase, candle, or decoration in front.