How to Decorate Your Fireplace Mantel for Christmas

Nov 22nd 2022

Ornate fireplace mantel opulently decorated with gold and silver ornaments and soft white mini lights

If you live in a house or apartment with a fireplace, you possess some prime Christmas decorating real estate. A quick look at social media or the latest holiday-themed television commercial confirms that your fireplace mantel plays second only to your Christmas tree in the hierarchy of Christmas decorating.

A mantel is a long, narrow, relatively limited space - and that in itself can present some challenges.

Whether you’ve tackled decorating a fireplace mantel successfully in the past, failed miserably or you’re a mantel decorating novice, let us fill you in on some Christmas mantel decorating tips and tricks.

Plan Your Design

Follow the lead of professional decorators: Don’t dive into decorating without a plan. Decide on a theme, style or color scheme and identify anything that might serve as your “signature piece” or main focal point.

If your Christmas tree is situated near the fireplace, decide if and how you want to coordinate your mantel decor.

Getting Started

Clear off and dust the mantel, so you can start with a clean slate. Is anything hanging above the fireplace? Is it staying or will you put it away during the holidays?

Christmas wreaths can replace a sign, artwork or mirror over the fireplace – or you can hang the wreath right on top of it.

Gather Your Decorations

Now’s the time to “shop” through your current decorations for the pieces you want to include on the mantel. Get out everything you think you might need.

An incomplete list can include:

Garland
Lights
Tabletop Decorations (various kinds and heights)
Candles (traditional or flameless)
Candlesticks
Lanterns
Ornaments
Floral Picks and Sprays
Pinecones and other natural materials
Ribbons/Bows

Missing something? Christmas Central has everything you need to supplement your Christmas mantel decor. If you want to start from scratch, check out our beautifully coordinated Christmas Collections.

6 Steps to Decorate Your Mantel

decorated fireplace mantel with wreath and Christmas tree

1. Start big. Typically, the largest decoration on the mantel is the garland, so it should be the first thing you put down. Some people like to wire their garland to removable hooks placed along the mantel top to help keep it from “flopping” later in the season.

There are a few different ways to hang garland.

Lay it along the length of the mantel, with the tips hanging down on either end.
Hang it under the mantel, tucked tightly beneath the ledge.
Drape it across the fireplace in loose swaths from two or more anchor points.

If you don’t have a mantel, don’t worry! A frame of garland around the perimeter of your fireplace is just as beautiful.

2. Go vertical. Next, place your large and tall fireplace mantel decor. These may include candlesticks, a tabletop Christmas tree or two, or something wide, like a decorative sleigh or train. Weave decorations in and out of the greenery, with some placed behind it and some in front. This helps add depth and keeps the garland from overwhelming your arrangement.

3. Sizing down. Mix in medium-sized and small mantel decor, keeping height levels varied. Try clustering like items of different sizes for added visual impact.

soft sculpted moose figure and feather trees

4. Add texture. Depending on your Christmas mantel decor style and theme, use items like pinecones, bows and feather trees for texture. Floral picks and sprays also add interest and come in a multitude of styles. Tuck in anything from twigs to red berries to golden branches tipped with tiny gold stars to fill up empty spaces. Add softness with plumy greens, feather or fur-trimmed decor and stuffed figures.

5. Mix in some glam. Just like your favorite holiday outfit, your Christmas fireplace mantel deserves a little bling! Scatter crystal candlesticks, glass ornaments or metallic tabletop and mantel decor throughout your mantel arrangement to really make it gleam! A mirror over the fireplace multiplies the shine.

santa figure, Christmas stockings and decorations around the fireplace hearth

6. Don’t neglect the hearth. A large deer figure, colorful nutcracker, woodsy Santa, trio of hurricane lamps, grouping of flameless candles in the firebox – even a wooden Christmas sign – encourage your eyes to travel and appreciate the entire fireplace, not just what’s on the mantel.

Some Tips to Remember

Decorations of the same height lined in a row along the mantel will look boring. Instead, include a few very tall mantel decorations to add dimension and visually “scoop” your fireplace wreath or Christmas art into the arrangement. Or hang a sign and set the wreath directly on the mantel.
When decorating a fireplace mantel, aim for balance, not symmetry. Place a pair of tall silver candlesticks on one end of the mantel with a single hurricane lamp on the other end, for instance.
If yours is a working fireplace, do not use stockings and decorations that dangle or hang in front of the firebox, or transfer them to a safe spot while the fireplace is in use.
Christmas decorations are part of the fun and magic of the season. With a little forethought and creativity, you can include your fireplace mantel in your home’s holiday transformation.

Check our Decorating Resource Center for more information about garland, wreaths, ornaments and other mantel decor ideas.

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