Decorating a Mantel: A How To Guide

A mantel is the perfect place to showcase your decor and you can coordinate the whole room around the mantel. Learn some tips for decorating a mantel to take the guesswork out of it. 

I love decorating mantels and I usually change my mantel decor for every season/holiday. I have styled lots of mantels over the years but realized recently that I have never shared how to decorate a mantel with you. Since a lot of people have mantels but may not be quite sure how to style them, today I am going to share a how to guide for decorating a mantel.

Neutral Summer Patriotic Mantel

In our living room, our mantel has become a central focal point. Ours is technically a faux mantel, but this guide would also apply with a mantel over a fireplace as well. Since a mantel is such a focal point in a room, there is a little bit of pressure to get it just right. I am hoping this guide takes some of the pressure off and makes it an easier process for you in the future. 

How to decorate a mantel

The first thing to consider when decorating is what your theme is going to be. For me, this is usually dictated by the season and or holiday coming up next. I love seasonal decorating so I try to plan out my mantels around that. Decorating for seasons makes it easier to decide what will go on them and there are lots of ideas on Pinterest if you need some inspiration. If you are not a seasonal decorator, I will talk about some ideas for what to put on your mantel later in this post.

My approach to decorating my mantels usually starts with a backdrop coupled with a central focal point. For instance, on my recent coastal mantel below, the ribbon wreath on the DIY shiplap mantel backdrop is that focal point. The backdrop is great for filling up some empty wall space while at the same time drawing your eye to the focal point.

*There are links to products in this post that I use or are similar to products I use. If you buy something from one of these links, I may make a small commission (with no additional cost to you) from the purchase. I will not recommend anything that I would not buy myself.

What to use as a backdrop and central focal point?

I feel like the backdrop and the central focal piece go hand in hand. Sometimes they are one in the same. There are lots of things you can use as a backdrop. Here are some examples of some things I have used on mantels in the past:

• Vintage Window Frame – as seen on my Pumpkins Galore Fall Mantel
• Wood Board Planks – Late Summer Mantel
• A large piece of art – Purple Pallete Spring Mantel
• Tobacco Basket – Burgundy and Mustard Fall Mantel
• Large Mirror – Silver, Gold and Green Christmas Mantel

Some other examples of focal points, besides wreaths, would include:

• Woven Wall Hanging – as seen on my Simple Valentine’s Day Mantel
• Big Clock – Spooky Halloween Mantel
• Scroll Art – Spring Farmhouse Bird Mantel
• Chalkboard – Rustic Winter Mantel

How to decorate the mantel surface?

This is usually the hardest part when decorating a mantel. First of all, what do you use as accent pieces? How do you arrange them? I am going to answer all of those questions and more. Let’s tackle the question of how to arrange them first.

Come up with a template for decorating a mantel

If you struggle with decorating a mantel shelf, I think the most helpful piece of advice I can give you is to come up with a template. Something that will take the guesswork out of the equation. This does not mean that you have to do it the same way each and every time, but it is almost like following a recipe in cooking. The steps are similar but the ingredients are different so you come out with a different end product.

I have noticed a pattern over the years of mantels that I have decorated. They usually follow one of three templates. Of course there have been a few oddballs too but these three categories cover the majority of my mantels. I will show you in shapes to make it easier for you to see.

1. Triangular

This is a great template to use, because in decorating triangles are known to be pleasing to the eye. This spring mantel is an example of arranging the items in a triangular pattern. With this pattern, your central focal point piece that we discussed earlier is the top point of the triangle while the rest of the items cascade down to form the other two points. 

2. Semi-circular

I feel like this is my most common template that I use. In fact, my most recent coastal mantel was an example of this. In this example and the next we will only be looking at the shape of the items on the mantel shelf, not the central focal point. The height of the items on the outside are the tallest, then the items next to those are a little shorter followed by the shortest items in the middle.

3. Straight across

Lastly is the template that just uses items at the same or nearly the same height across the mantel. This is a more simple template and probably the easiest one to decorate but I don’t use it that often. However this is a great template to use if you really want your focal point to stand out like in this farmhouse St. Patrick’s Day mantel.

Harmony and Balance in decorating a mantel

Once you have your template in mind, another thing to think about is keeping the items harmonious on the mantel. You may have noticed with all the mantels I decorate, that I like to keep things balanced on each side. I always say I am a big fan of symmetry but that does not mean the mantel has to be exactly the same on each side. It is almost like one of those old fashioned scales, you don’t want one side weighed down with a bunch of stuff while the other is too light. It will look off balance otherwise. Get it?

In the mad about plaid Christmas mantel below, things are obviously going to be balanced since they ARE exactly the same on each side. However, this is a great way to make sure of that! 😉

But how about this spooky Halloween mantel, do things look balanced? There are certainly a lot of different elements going on with this mantle, including the fact that I have not one but two backdrop focal pieces. However there is still harmony over the whole mantle. If you look at each side of the skull, there are 4 pieces of decor items with some smaller items mixed in as well. They are not the same exact items on each side, but they still maintain a balanced look because the “weight” of the items all work together. 

 

Repeat Elements and Colors

The above mantel leads me to my next tip. The other reason everything works together in this mantel is because it uses repeating elements and colors. The theme of your mantel may help to dictate this. For instance, since this is a Halloween themed mantel, I have used orange, black and white/cream as my colors. These colors are repeated through out the whole mantel. I like to spread the colors out and like we talked about above make sure they are balanced. Since I had black and cream in the clock on one side, I had to have something black and cream on the other side at about the same level and the gauze on the mirror coupled with the owl in front of it helps with that.

Another thing that is repeated are the elements of glass. Notice the glass containers that are used on the mantel. They are not the same containers but they give a cohesive feel because they are the same element. Another example are the silver candle sticks. I would not want to leave only one up there with no other silver represented. To me, that would look unbalanced. Other repeating elements on this mantel are skulls, pumpkins, Spanish Moss and black birds. These repeating elements give the mantel a cohesive look.

Three important tips to remember when decorating a mantel

There are three pieces of advice that I will give you to make your mantel decor more interesting. I believe that these three tips take a mantel from boring to breathtaking! If you look at pictures of mantels, the most aesthetically pleasing ones have these three things in common.

1. Use Varying Height

   Make sure to use the vertical space on your mantel as well as the horizontal space. Placing your items at different heights will give so much more interest than putting everything at the same level. But when you do this, keep in mind the harmony we talked about earlier. If you place a really tall item on one side, you should try to match it (as close as possible) somewhere in height on the other side.

2. Layer your items

   Layering your items gives the mantel dimension. You will already have some layers from front to back when you factor in your backdrop and focal point. But how about vertical layers? You can stack decor pieces to give interest. This is another great way to give that needed height sometimes. If something is to short, you can easily stacks some books or a box underneath it. Also remember in your layering to place your bigger items to the back and the smaller items to the front. 

3. Use Big Pieces

   I have learned this from experience, when I first started decorating a mantel, I used a lot of little pieces. The mantel always looked a little lacking and not substantial enough. Bigger decor pieces are more impressive on a mantel. Little decor items tend to get lost and don’t give the same dramatic effect. They can also lead to a more cluttered look. Large backdrops are a great way to help in this so if you are going to buy some backdrops for your mantel, the bigger the better! Invest in some larger items, don’t skimp on a small clock or mirror, you will thank me later! 😉 

This countdown to Disney mantel highlights these three tips perfectly. Notice the different heights, all the layers both from front to back and vertically, and the bigger decor pieces on the mantel. Also pay attention to the repeating elements and colors that we discussed earlier.

What decor items to use on a mantel

I hope you have already gotten a lot of ideas from all of these mantel examples but as we discussed earlier, I mostly decorate for seasons. The season or holiday will give some idea on what to decorate with as evidenced with the Halloween mantel above. However, you still need more general items to fill up space and what if you just want an everyday mantel? Here are some great suggestions for items to use on any mantel. I will also link to items that are similar to ones that I use on my mantels.

• Candlesticks
• Baskets
• Faux Plants
• Faux Flowers
• Crates
• Vintage Books
• Vases
• Crocks
• Olive buckets
• Farmhouse Signs
• Cloches
• Jars
• Lanterns
• Pitchers

Add the finishing touch

I don’t always add a garland, but when I do I feel like it is the finishing touch to a mantel. Like on my vintage patriotic mantel, the garland was a needed item. It literally brought everything together and was a nice enhancement for the mantel. 

The garland does not always have to hang in front either, you could use a greenery garland on the mantel behind other items to add some color. This white village Christmas mantel is an example of that. Looks like I used both types of garland on this mantel in fact. 🙂

Whew! That was a long post! You should all be mantel experts by now, amiright!? No, but seriously, I hope you got some good information from this guide to decorating a mantel. It is not hard and after a little practice you will be a pro! Have a wonderful day!