6 things interior designers always do when styling a mantlepiece for Christmas
It's all about mixing scale, material and texture to create a festive focal point
The mantlepiece is a natural focal point to decorate for Christmas – not to mention a space we spend a lot of time looking at when hunkering down on our sofas. So it's a wonderful opportunity to inject some Christmas magic and infuse a little whimsy into your living room, making a super cosy and festive focal point.
With endless Christmas decorating ideas to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start. Our top tip, whether decorating your Christmas tree, mantlepiece or front door, is to remember that it's your home, your rules. So if mismatched, quirky baubles are your thing, don't hold back.
6 easy ways to style your mantlepiece for Christmas
Festive decorating with twinkly lights and tinsel will instantly make your home feel cosy. This year, the bow Christmas decoration trend is everywhere, as are stockings and baubles in a black and white checkerboard pattern. Here are six steps to styling the mantelpiece like an interior designer.
1. Choose a theme
Before you get started, it's a good idea to have a rough idea of the style and colour scheme you want to choose. This will make it easier to decide on which decorations to purchase and help you to create something that looks put-together.
For example, you might want a woodland theme with rustic charm, toadstools and hessian bows, or something more maximalist with jewel tones and oversized baubles. Or maybe you'd like to mix it up this year and go for something cool-toned with frosted decorations and metallic accents.
"I love traditional style baubles with the rich reds and greens, but I also love Scandinavian-inspired ornaments such as the ceramic light-up Christmas trees," says interior designer Sophie Clemson from The Living House.
Decorate the space as a whole rather than just the mantlepiece and tie it in with your Christmas tree theme for a cohesive look. The important thing is to have fun with it and use unique pieces that give the space personality.
Sophie Clemson is an interior designer at The Living House, an affordable online interior design company that helps busy families transform their homes easily, online and within their budget. Sophie has worked in interior design for eight years and aside from designing, she loves to find a good bargain or Facebook marketplace find.
2. Decorate with foliage
Start with the bigger items and work your way down to the smaller details. A base of greenery is a great place to start, which you can drape over the mantlepiece and secure with hooks, as shown below.
"A garland always looks beautiful across a mantlepiece, whether it's filled with decorative Christmas pieces or a minimal Scandinavian feel, it can instantly bring Christmas to your fireplace," says Sophie.
You can either go for a fresh pine – chopping off any low, bushy branches from your Christmas tree – or if you don't want to deal with mess and eventual crispiness, opt for a faux garland that you can use year after year. One option is to save real foliage for your outdoor Christmas decorating ideas, such as a fresh garland hung around windows and doorframes, as they'll stay fresher for longer out in the cool air.
The are lots of artificial garlands available – we're eyeing up this artificial Cranberry Bauble LED Garland, which looks realistic and high quality. You can then layer in real foliage to add texture and scent, such as eucalyptus, mistletoe, pink peppercorns, and rosehip.
These Command hooks can hold up to 225g, and their small size makes them useful for hanging up Christmas lights.
This pack of six mantlepiece hooks from Amazon comes in a range of finishes and has an adhesive back. Hooks like these are useful for giving garlands extra support or for hanging bows and stockings securely.
Stop decorations from falling with these adjustable garland hangers that can be tucked behind your festive foliage. They each have two hooks and come in a pack of six.
3. Add lighting or candles (safely)
No festive mantlepiece is complete without some twinkly lights. Make things easy for yourself and choose a pre-lit artificial garland or wrap some delicate, warm-toned fairy lights around your foliage. Battery-powered fairy lights are a good option and mean you don't have to worry about where your plug sockets are or how to conceal unsightly wires.
"If you like a merry mantle with an oversized garland, then elegance needn’t always be restrained. However, ensure it is hung away from flames and that decorations aren't in harm’s way," says interior designer Ann Marie Cousins.
Of course, for safety, we would always suggest using the best flameless candles. A couple of large glass lanterns filled with LED pillar candles look lovely to the left of your fireplace and give a laid-back, rustic vibe.
"There are so many lovely ceramic Christmas tree ornaments that look great grouped in different sizes," adds Sophie Clemson. "Create your own mini Christmas tree forest and place these on your mantlepiece." Light-up ceramic houses can also work beautifully as part of your Christmas centrepiece when laying the table for Christmas dinner.
These light-up folk ceramic houses each have a unique design and are a lovely way to bring a warm, magical glow to mantlepieces and windowsills. They also make a lovely gift.
Bring festive charm and a traditional touch with these 10 LED Festoon battery-operated string lights. The signature fairground-style lighting welcomes a sense of fun. The warm white lights are ideal to keep for after Christmas.
These battery-operated star lights from Habitat are a lovely way to add a magical theme to your mantlepiece display, and they're not so Christmassy that they can't be hung all year round.
4. Layer on decorations
Now that you have your base of greenery, lights, and a rough idea of a theme, you can start adding smaller decorations, from baubles to dried orange slices and vintage bells. Paper pinwheels and honeycombs add instant colour and can be reused for New Year's Eve parties, too.
It's always worth looking in charity shops for inexpensive, unique Christmas decorations, from bead garlands to nativity scene figurines. Interior designer Sophie Clemson suggests getting a couple of special baubles each year to grow your Christmas collection, and even better if it has a memory behind it, whether that's from a trip or a day out.
We recommend using chicken wire beneath your festive foliage, as it makes it easy to attach decorations. You can also decorate with family photos and those sentimental decorations you've had for decades.
Hop on the big bow trend and make a garland out of velvet bows by glueing them together with a glue gun.
5. Hang stockings
"Go traditional and hang your Christmas stockings on the mantlepiece," Sophie says. "There are so many beautiful stockings to choose from."
Quilted stockings hanging over the fireplace evoke the excitement and magic of Christmas that we felt as children, as well as adding lovely patterns and texture to your mantlepiece. Personalised options are a lovely touch, too.
"Whether they’re family heirlooms or quirky vintage finds, ornaments with sentimental value always add warmth and personality," comments Ellen Flowers from The Perennial Style. "Pairing these ornaments with Christmas stockings hung on the mantle creates an extra layer of nostalgia, turning the space into a holiday gathering point."
6. Incorporate seasons greetings
Because the mantlepiece takes centre stage in the living area, it's the perfect place to showcase season's greetings so that all your guests can see the festive message and feel instantly welcomed.
From light-up decorations that express Christmas sentiments to individual letters to spell out seasonal messages (like the Noel letters above), there's an option for all decorating schemes. The idea is to simply spell out festive cheer to add a personal finishing touch to styling your mantlepiece.
FAQs
How do you decorate a mantel with a TV above it?
Despite reservations from many interior designers, mounting a TV above a mantlepiece remains hugely popular; so many will have to balance their desire to decorate it for Christmas.
First up is the practical matter of blocking the view. "Try to avoid anything that's going to be too distracting or too tall that it becomes annoying when you're trying to chill on the sofa and watch your latest Netflix series," says Sophie.
"If your TV is above the mantlepiece, I would use a garland and have decorations hanging from the garland with beautiful ribbon so that everything is at a lower level, such as baubles or paper origami stars – of course, depending on whether you have a working fireplace."
Of course, if you have a working fireplace, you also need to consider the matter of safety. Anything that dangles is considered to be one of the things you should never put on a mantlepiece for obvious reasons, as they pose a fire hazard. But the same could be said for items that are left too close to a TV screen if it gets too hot. To avoid any potential hazards, it's advisable to keep mantlepiece decorations small and low if you have a TV above it.
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