The Easy Way to Decorate a Mantel for Every Season
Decorating a mantel for every season is so much easier than you think! Just pick two anchor pieces to keep up year-round, swap out a few accessories and you’re done. Today, I’ll show you exactly how I’ve decorated my own mantel!
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The Easy Way to Decorate a Mantel for Every Season:
Choose two anchor pieces…
For my fireplace mantel, I started with a tall white vase and a large window pane mirror. These two pieces stay up year-round as my base. From there, I simply swap out a few accessories each season to give the whole mantel a fresh, new look.
Now, let me show you how I decorate each season…
Winter Mantel Ideas:
A simple and cozy mantel look for winter…
In January, I like to keep my fireplace decorating to a minimum. For example, I left some of my holiday greens in the vase and displayed a few pine cones. To the right of the mirror, I placed my gold candlesticks with simple white tapered candles. After putting away all the colorful Christmas decorations, this look is a fresh and easy way to start the new year.
Other items to use for the winter months:
- Replace the pine cones with 3 small wooden houses or decorative objects.
- For Valentine’s Day, replace the greenery with branches and hang paper hearts on them.
Spring Mantel Ideas:
Light and airy mantel looks for spring…
Once spring arrives, I like to bring in a lighter feel and some more green items. Once again, I kept the tall white vase and window pane mirror in place while swapping out the winter accessories. For a brighter and airier look, I filled the vase with green stems and added boxwood orbs in front of the mirror. The overall look is light and fresh while making my family room feel like spring is here!
To make a small tweak, I leaned a floral art print in front of the mirror. The artwork added more visual interest to the mantel by giving it a layered look. (You can tell winter was over by the time I took this picture because there is no longer any firewood in my basket!)
Alternate items to use for the spring months:
- Replace the boxwood orbs with 3 shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day.
- Change the green stems to fresh or faux flowers – like tulips or cherry blossoms.
- As Easter approaches, swap the boxwood orbs for bunnies.
- For the Kentucky Derby, put red roses in the vase and in 3 julep cups.
Summer Mantel Ideas:
Colorful and coastal for summer…
For a coastal touch, I added starfish to my summer fireplace. Then as a nod to the 4th of July, I draped a patriotic banner across the mantel. The overall look was light and casual to make the whole room feel like summer was in full swing.
Classic Summer flowers…
Later in the summer, my hydrangea bushes were blooming like crazy. Obviously, I just had to display all the pretty flowers on my mantel!
Since the vase full of hydrangeas was such a focal point, I needed a little more balance on the right side of the mantel. So, I swapped out the smaller gold candlesticks for some white ones that were a little more substantial.
Other items to use for the summer months:
- In the vase, add lemon branches and then put three lemons in front of mirror.
- Replace the star fish with decorate shells or blue glass bottles.
- Three baseballs would look great with the patriotic banner too.
- Fill the vase with tall beach grasses.
Fall Mantel Ideas:
Neutral and natural for fall…
Fall seems to be everyone’s favorite season. With all the natural elements to choose from, there are so many decorating options. For my fall mantel, I added a bit of fall color by filling the vase with artificial fall stems. For some texture, I lined up three wicker orbs in front of the mirror.
This neutral fall look worked well with my gold candlesticks and all the fireplace wood on the hearth.
Pumpkins for fall…
Later in the fall, I replaced the wicker orbs with velvet pumpkins.
As I look at the mantel now, I think I should have used pumpkins that were a little bigger. From a distance, they don’t stand out as much as I would have liked. I guess that’s something to consider for this year.
Alternate items to use for the fall months:
- Fill the vase with tall dried wheat or real fall foliage.
- Let the summer hydrangeas dry out and display them for fall.
- Line up some apples across the mantel.
- For Halloween, replace the pumpkins with scary black birds.
- Stack vintage books under the candles.
Christmas Mantel Ideas:
Simple and festive with touches of holiday red…
During the busy holiday season, don’t complicate your fireplace mantel. A few red bows can go a long way…
After filling my vase with Christmas greenery, I tied a red bow around that and the candlesticks. Then I just leaned an inexpensive Christmas print and lined up the pine cones again. (Obviously, this mantel was the precursor to the winter mantel at the top of this blog post.)
A Winter wonderland themed Christmas…
This past Christmas, I added a few more embellishments. Instead of all the red, I loaded up on the garland and greenery, added a winter painting, neutral stockings and some fairy lights. Once again, the base pieces stayed the same but this look ended up being totally different from the year before.
More items to use on a Christmas mantel:
- Fill the vase with a bunch of red berry stems.
- Replace the pine cones with wooden trees, reindeer or large Christmas ornaments.
Additional tips to decorate your mantel for every season…
- For visual appeal, add items in groups of three.
- Consider the colors in your room when decorating your mantel.
- Shop your home as much as possible.
- For more ways to decorate for every season, read Easy Kitchen Window Sill Decorating.
Shop the mantel basics:
Shop seasonal mantel items:
Now it’s your turn to start decorating…
With just two anchor pieces and a handful of seasonal swaps, you can create a new look for your mantel every few months. This easy method doesn’t take a lot of time, effort or money. Give it a try and see how simple and fun mantel decorating can be!
Do you change your mantel every season?
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