How to Decorate Your Mantle for Fall and Halloween
Get overwhelmed when holiday decorating much? Me too. I literally have closets and storage full of decorations in our basement and in our crawl space, aaaand in our attic. Stress sweats be gone, this post is not about storage, or streamlining your bins of all things holiday. It’s how to set up your favorite few items on your mantle to make your space beautiful and simple. Current holiday we are setting up for…Fall-oween!
First off only use items you LOVE, and keep those items displayed clean and simple. I started here with a wooden tray. It’s clean, simple and can hold various items in a display. I had to plan to keep anything kept in this tray low in height due to the issue of blocking the TV, and my husband potentially moving it aside for the remote to reach the cable box. Next, on to the concept of items in odd number. When you are not sure how to set something up when decorating revert to an odd number. It helps with scale and eliminates predictability with symmetry and then some. I chose three items: a swoon-worthy smelling candle, a dish of ceramic pumpkins, and an adorable woven pumpkin that adds texture and fun to be anything but predictable. I wrapped a leaf garland around the tray and rolled out a sweet lacy mat under the pieces to create a visually pleasing centerpiece to the mantle. Done and done…don’t overthink simplicity!
I went to art and design school for years and the biggest takeaway was the concept of scale. Intermix tall and short items, keep things in odd numbers vs. even and symmetry can be boring. Moving down to the base of the fireplace I knew right away I I wanted asymmetry. On the left side I have three items and on the right two. It works. It breaks up the visual plain and keeps things more interesting. The scale comes in with the varied sized of decorative pumpkins and classy but fun lanterns.
I always start in my mind with filling up these spaces with predictable things. Three pumpkins on the left and two “containers” on the right. Then I refine my thoughts. Ok, are there interesting pumpkins I could use with fun textures and sizes? What can I put in the “containers”? It might be your first thought to fill the lantern containers with mini pumpkins, but what might be more interesting? Here I filled one with a fun skeleton hand and the other with mini fairy lights with all white pumpkins. Mix everything: textures, scale, lights, music, smells, all the senses help to create a memorable space, even if its a small mantle.
To this point, the bats are fun peel and stick decals. I have them placed to show movement. You will notice they go back to the point about scale. The bats are varied in size and are placed to show depth and movement. They keep things interesting! My kids also are obsessed with them which is why I went with a fun version of the ever popular paper bats.
Guess what is going to make your life super easy? Swap each of these out for the next holiday keeping the scale and number of items. Keep it simple when it comes to life and mantles. If you love this set up, definitely check out the items below as nearly everything is from Target, which keeps things even more simple!
xo, Allison
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