Dress Up Your Mantel for Fall and Thanksgiving
With pumpkins, candles, garlands and whimsical accents, these mantels are all about celebrating the season
Give your fireplace — or sideboard or dining room table — a little extra love this year with decorations that celebrate the harvest, Thanksgiving and more. To get your creativity flowing, take a look at these 10 styling ideas, from an arrangement of pumpkins and fall leaves to a collection of branches and feathers.
1. Minimalist. A spray of green and gold fall leaves and a couple of candles is all that’s needed to make this cozy fireplace in North Carolina feel dressed for the season. To set up your mantel so it’s easy to update for a year-round display, keep it simple and uncluttered, and invest in one standout vase. Over the year, you can fill the vessel with fresh seasonal elements like cut branches in fall, evergreen conifer boughs in winter, delicate spring blooms and colorful summer flowers.
2. Fresh and contemporary. Keeping mantel decor simple and inspired by nature gives a fresh feeling to this airy California living room. A wreath made of leucadendron foliage, lichen-covered twigs, persimmons and tiny pumpkins anchors the arrangement. Creamy yellow and green-striped pumpkins march along in a row on the mantel.
Introducing deeper colors, like the leucadendron’s burgundy leaves, and bright accents from pumpkins and persimmons makes an otherwise white and neutral room feel festive for the season.
Introducing deeper colors, like the leucadendron’s burgundy leaves, and bright accents from pumpkins and persimmons makes an otherwise white and neutral room feel festive for the season.
3. Rich and earthy. Textures star in this handsome mantel arrangement composed of soft feathers, old leather-bound books, shiny mercury glass vases, textured burlap and branches of bronze magnolia leaves. Re-create the look by combining ingredients of your own, concentrating on putting soft, fuzzy or woven elements (like feathers, fabric or baskets) in close proximity to accessories with smooth, hard or glossy surfaces (like glass bottles, metal candlesticks or shiny picture frames).
4. Rustic cottage. An arrangement of vases and jugs provides another example of a mantel display that works year-round. The addition of just a few orange vases to the all-white collection gives a welcome jolt of seasonal color.
5. Farmhouse style. A flat woven basket set on edge anchors this rustic fall-themed arrangement of pheasant feathers, miniature pumpkins and gourds, a pair of brass candlesticks and sprays of berries. Even though all decorations are kept simple, coordinating the table decorations with those on the mantel ties the whole room together for a fall-themed dinner.
6. Spelled out. Keeping things simple with a white-and-gold color palette creates a mantel display that easily transitions from fall to winter. Here, white pumpkins, a feather tucked in the wreath and, of course, the Halloween-themed lettering makes the arrangement perfect for October. Swap “Boo” for a holiday-themed phrase like “Cheers” and trade white pumpkins for berries and winter greenery and you have a decorative mantel through the holidays.
See how to re-create this mantel
See how to re-create this mantel
7. Leaf garland. A sweet and inexpensive way to add a little fall flair to your mantel is to put together a garland with found leaves. Gather a handful of your favorites in a variety of dazzling colors, and clip them onto a string or length of ribbon.
It’s tough to get fall leaves to hold their color. You can try laminating them if you have a laminator, but this will generally just help in extending the color rather than making it permanent (but it does keep leaves from curling as they dry). Otherwise, embrace the fleeting beauty of fall leaves and plan on swapping old ones with new finds as the weeks go by.
It’s tough to get fall leaves to hold their color. You can try laminating them if you have a laminator, but this will generally just help in extending the color rather than making it permanent (but it does keep leaves from curling as they dry). Otherwise, embrace the fleeting beauty of fall leaves and plan on swapping old ones with new finds as the weeks go by.
8. Transitional. Investing in one fairly neutral wreath that is neither too all-out fall or too wintry is a great way to bridge both seasons. Twig wreaths or grapevine wreaths are ideal for this. They add rich texture to a room, and it’s easy to add on or swap out fresh seasonal elements like fall leaves, pinecones, sprigs of berries or branches of conifers. Here, a large twig wreath filled with an inner ring of preserved moss looks festive in a living room in Charlotte for the entire holiday period.
Find wreaths in the Houzz Shop
Find wreaths in the Houzz Shop
9. Outside. If your hearth sits on your patio, perhaps you’d like to add a few seasonal elements like a row of pumpkins, gourds or hurricane lamps with candles. Whatever you choose, make sure the materials are weather resistant and can stand a bit of heat from the fire. Keep mums and other plants on the patio, rather than the mantel, to avoid their roots being heated.
10. Gourds and feathers. A mixed arrangement of gourds, urns, a painted black pumpkin, artificial branches and a vase full of striped feathers dresses up this mantel for the season. The muted colors of warm beige, brown, gray and silver work well with the rest of the living room, creating a display that feels natural with the overall design.
Did you spot the fuzzy little owl at far left, peeking out from behind the gourd?
Your Turn: How do you dress your mantel for fall? Upload your photos in the Comments.
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Decorating With Nature in Fall and Winter
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Your Turn: How do you dress your mantel for fall? Upload your photos in the Comments.
More
Decorating With Nature in Fall and Winter
Browse more holiday decorating stories
Shop for holiday decor on Houzz