Cool Mantel Decorating Ideas

Decorating a fireplace mantel can be challenging, but if executed properly, can make for a beautiful focal point in a room. Get nine inspiring mantel decorating ideas from spring to winter.

Spring Has Sprung

A collection of classic white dishes and pitchers, combined with pops of light-green foliage and birds' eggs, creates a fresh spring-inspired composition. Natural elements, like birds' nests and rattan chargers, give textural contrast to the display. The piece de resistance: the oversized chalkboard, which provides an excellent opportunity to introduce a sweet springtime sentiment.

An Easter Egg-stravaganza

Blogger Kerri-Lynn Roche uses vintage bunny figurines, a boxwood wreath, painted eggs and potted grass to create a soft and subtle Easter look on her mantel. A large mirror and glass candleholders add shimmer and are a great contrast to all the natural elements

Summer-Inspired Mantel

Sticking with a monochromatic palette and classical finishes, such as glass and metal, blogger Kimberley Power creates an ocean-inspired feeling above her fireplace. Beachy accents and a nautical knot ball further illuminate a sense of the sea.

Independence Day Decor

Celebrate the Fourth of July by weaving a bit of red, white and blue through your mantel decor. The focal point of this mantel display is the large, wooden flag. Weathered boards, painted white and blue, are used to create the stripes. Several small pencil starfish, secured with hot glue, act as stars. On the mantel itself, rope-wrapped candles, a jar full of sand and shells and a driftwood sailboat help bring in a beachy vibe.

Simply Spook-tacular Mantel

The mantel is the perfect stage for displaying a spooky collection during Halloween. Here, black spray-painted broom-ends make mysterious topiaries, and cheesecloth "cobwebs" draped across tarnished silver pieces instantly add an eerie feel. In the center, a tarantula under glass and a mirror, temporarily embellished with white craft paint, makes the perfect freaky finishing touch.

A Thanksgiving Spread

A row of colorful heirloom pumpkins can create a simple and elegant autumn-inspired display. Accented with pinecones and a few small hangtags stamped with fall messages, your mantel will ooze with Thanksgiving charm