Decorating a Mantel that Lasts All Year

This post was most recently updated on January 1st, 2020

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when I would re decorate my mantel every season.  I love when our home reflects the different seasons and holidays throughout the year.  But, over the past year, it became a little overwhelming to keep up with that pace.  I started to like the idea of decorating a mantel that lasts all year. It became harder and harder to keep up with those seasonal transitions.  It seems, these days, all I have to do is blink, and two entire months have passed by!

 

Perhaps its because our kids are getting a little older.  These days, I spend more time in my car than my house. (Moms, can I get a “Uh. Huh!”?) Now that we’re a busier family, and all our kids are in full day school, I’m rarely at home for a long stretch of time.  And, when I am there, there’s always other tasks waiting for me.  When the laundry is piled higher than your front loader, its probably not the best time to decorate a mantel. (Or, maybe it is!)

 

Decorating a mantel that lasts all year seemed like a solution that I’d be happy with.  Because, as much as I love seasonally-decorated mantels, one thing’s for sure. Still having Summer decor on my mantel when Christmas rolled around, wasn’t working for me!  I know, right.  First-world problems. There are bigger things to worry about in life. I get it. But when you are decor-obsessed (and maybe juuuust a little OCD) like me, it just brings a little more joy when your home aligns with the right season.

Our fireplace is in our TV room.  It’s probably the room that we spend the most time in when it’s dark out.  So candles seemed to be a perfect year-round solution.  I figured if I could create a candle arrangement I loved, I could keep it on the mantel all year.

 

I invested in some shiny chrome/glass hurricane lanterns in different sizes and styles, and filled them with candles. I thought this worked well because could just add a few seasonally-relevant items now and again, like this sweet star-fish.

If you want to decorate a mantel, but you don’t have the time or energy to keep up with the seasons, here are a few options besides hurricanes and pillar candles:

• pots with greenery
• topiary trees
• vases (differing heights)
• candle sticks (differing heights)
• a plate display
• art canvases (different sizes, layered casually against one another)
• large framed art (leaning against the wall)
• any combination of the above!

So what’s on your mantel these days?  Is there something you can add to this list?

Until next time, hope you are having a happy Spring!

K.