Christmas is over, the New Year has arrived, but what do you do with your mantel? This week we put together some beautiful winter mantel decorations to share with you. We wanted to create a look that stuck with our farmhouse feel, and winter colors while hinting at spring.
For this look, we tried to use elements you might find in a greenhouse waiting to be put to use when spring arrives on your doorstep. We mixed antiques, with architectural salvage and new pieces to create a unique and beautiful layered winter mantel decorations look.
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Winter Mantel Decor: Where To Start
Pick your winter mantel decor, decide on a look you want to create and gather the pieces you’ll need to complete it. Yes, it’s totally ok to steal pieces from around your home to get the perfect look. We like to use a mixture of new and old, live and faux elements in our home decor, so of course all of these find their way into our winter mantel decor.
Cozy Winter Decor
The great thing about winter decor is you can repurpose a lot of your Christmas items in a new way (as long as they don’t say Christmas on them). Some great items to include in your winter mantel decor:
- Garland
- Silver elements
- Sparkly pieces
- Tin houses
- Crocks
- Candles
- Dried flowers
- Winter prints & signs
- Nests
- Garden decor
- Tulips
- Antiques
Check out some of our favorite Cozy winter decor pieces here.
How To Decorate A Mantel For Winter
The best way to decorate your mantel for a new season is to start with a blank slate. Remove everything from your mantel, and give it a good cleaning. Next decided on the colors you want to use in your winter mantel decor, pick something that will complement the rest of the room. Start in the center of your mantel and work out. Use decor that flows well together across your mantel, and remember to always mirror either end of the mantel.
What Not To Do When Creating Winter Mantel Decor
When creating winter mantel decor, there are a couple of things you shouldn’t do:
- Don’t just pile random stuff together on your mantel that doesn’t match the rest of your Christmas decor that compliments each other.
- Don’t completely hide items when layering them for your Christmas fireplace.
- Don’t pile so much stuff on your mantel that it looks cluttered.
Tips For Decorating A Winter Mantel
Here are some tips for creating your winter mantel decor:
- Plan: Consider the size, style, shape, structure, and color of your mantel before you begin decorating. Figure out what style you want to decorate your winter mantel.
- Balance: when decorating a winter mantel keep in mind that either side of your mantel should have decor that is the same height. Try to mirror the other side of your mantel.
- Focal Point: Use a large piece of art in the middle of your winter mantel and build around it.
- Color: Use colors that you will find in the winter decor around your home in your winter mantel.
- Layers: Use layers to create a gorgeous winter mantel. Place items over each other to create depth.
- Sizes: Use different sized and shaped objects, start with taller objects in the back and then smaller ones in the front.
- Classic look: To create a formal display by selecting a large focal piece for the center of your fireplace and then place matching pieces to either end of the mantel.
- Less is more: You don’t want so much stuff on your winter mantel that it looks crowded or cluttered.
- Odds work best: Instead of placing matching pieces together, place similar items together in groups of 3-5.
- Relaxed look: To create a relaxed look lean a mirror or framed artwork against the wall.
Our Winter Mantel Decor
For this look we built around our garland, Mr. Cottage found it at Hobby Lobby just before Christmas on sale and bought it as a surprise for us. From there we added a wooden crate in the center of our mantel, over that we layered metal, glass and tin elements with bundles of dried lavender. On top of the crate, we place an antique lithograph of Walter Hunt’s Shepherd’s Call, a silver candlestick, whitewashed Terra Cotta pot with another bundle of lavender and a tin barn. Above all of this we hung a sign we made just for this look -fun fact the silver of the sign is actually liquid silver we had leftover from an earlier project.
To either side of our winter decor mantel centerpiece, we hung these small silver frames filled with dried flowers from our garden. It gives the mantel that dreaming of spring feel while having a bit of a french country flair. Beneath the frames, we placed 6 terra cotta pots that we white-washed and stacked with nests and bits of moss.
On the outside of the pots, we place milk glass bud vases, filled with dried flowers, and then antique silver candlesticks followed by more bud vases, another candlestick and a large bronze candle holder. On the hearth, we place beautiful matching antique crocks and garden decor wrapped in ivy. Over the fireplace, we hung a heart-shaped metal basket filled with moss and pink tulips to finish off our winter mantel decor look for a bright pop of color.
Shop this look
Need some more inspiration? Check out these winter looks from Liz Marie Blog.
Beautiful Winter Mantel Decor
This winter mantel decor look is one of my favorites that we’ve done. I love the antique feel it has, and the use of neutral colors! Plus it’s a great transitional look, that can be easily adjusted to look more like spring as the season progresses.
What do you think about this look?
Before you go, check these out!
- Neutral Vintage Spring Mantel
- Spring Farmhouse Mantel
- How To Decorate Farmhouse Style
- Valentine’s Day Tablescape
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Beautiful!!! This makes it easy to transition into Spring as well.