Simple Fall Mantel Decor

Over the past week I have been sharing a few fall decorating ideas with you. Today, I am going to continue and show you how I decorated the mantel in my living room.

Before I show you though, I wanted you to know that I used to go CRAAA…azy when it was time to decorate for fall.  I remember I would drag out bins and boxes filled with fall decor to decorate my house.  I used to work in retail display and would treat the house as I would a shop or store. I would start at the front door, move into the foyer, then to the living room and kitchen. I even did up each of my daughter’s rooms.

Fast forward to today,  that past method is over. I still adore fall. It is my favorite season, but I realize I no longer need bins of stuff to make my home comfy-cozy for fall. Adding a little bit of texture and a few touches of warm colors around the house can have a big impact.

If you are new to my blog, you may not realize that this fireplace wall in my living room was one of the first makeovers I did to the house when we first moved in.  It was a brick wall previously. We built a frame around the fireplace and faced it with the stone you see in the photo and paneling off to each side of the fireplace. The white mantel was the top removable crown section of a dining room hutch that we no longer had use for.

You can read about it here. Fireplace Mantel Makeover.

My fall mantel this year consists of lots of chunky white candles. I love white candles, they are so versatile and I use them all over the house year round.

My stash was getting low so I did have to go out in search of some new ones.  I wanted to find very large, unscented ones. Both in width and height. I found them at the Pottery Barn Outlet in Gaffney, SC that many of you told me I should go to when I was looking for a slipcovered sofa.

I also love the challenge of coming up with new ways to use stuff I already have.  The basket in the center of the mantel, I grabbed from my party closet. It is a sectioned utensil and napkin basket that I use when we entertain outside in the summer. The handle is hidden by the flowers. The flowers are the same ones that I used in a hanging wall basket in my kitchen last year.

One reason I don’t mind fake florals… you get to use them again and again in different ways. To fill this basket, I simply stuffed the mums in the front sections and the straw in the back.

The wood log slices that a few of the candles are sitting on are from my Christmas decor. Last year when I saw logs at my local nursery, I asked the owner if he would cut up a few slices and sell them to me.  He said, sure, I paid $10 for all of them.

I still have the outdoor chairs in the living room as I wait for 2 leather recliner swivel rockers to be delivered.  I made the coffee table. You can read all about it in this post:

Repurposed Mirror Coffee Table

I will show you more of what I did to the room and the deck that overlooks the lake later in the week as I am still waiting for the nurseries around me to get their shipments of fall flowers and pumpkins that I plan to use outside.

Till then… :-)

Sources: White Candles

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