We've dedicated an entire week to expressing our adoration for the Fall season. Click here to see Day one of our Fall Lovers Series- the Anti-Wreath.
My favorite place to accessorize is my mantle (or is it mantel? Everywhere I look people spell it differently! For the record, I'm going with mantle today). I'm not kidding when I say I tweak it almost daily. So, while, for now, I am happy with my fall mantle, it probably won't stay this way for long. Ha!
See those bronze-colored vases on the right? I got those bad boys on clearance for $2.50 and $1.50 respectively, at Michaels. I wish you could have seen my happy dance when I heard what the final marked-down price was.
I battle my incessant need for symmetry every time I style my mantle, but I think I finally came up with something that is somewhat symmetrical but not exactly the same on either side of the mirror.
I threw some fall-looking foliage that I've literally had for 5 years, at least, in the round vase and added a few dried gourds to complete the right side. I toyed around with a whole bunch of things (I need to remember to take a picture of all the stuff I dragged into the living room to play around with- it's like a decor bomb went off. Wouldn't that be cool, though? A decor bomb…hmmm.) Where the heck was I? Oh yes, the mantle.
I think my favorite part of the mantle is this little stack of old books and a the simple orange pumpkin (also from Michael's years ago). I love the pop of orange against my blue/gray walls.
The old lantern was my grandmother's and has seen it's fair share of rooms in my home. I love that thing. Overall, I think I'm happy with the mantle. For now.
Here are a few other fabulous mantle pics to inspire you:
Source: bhg.com via Jessica on Pinterest
You had to know that I would include an all-white mantle, didn't you? Don't you love the bits of autumn color in there? Beautiful!
Source: athoughtfulplaceblog.com via Jessica on Pinterest
I thought twice about including this picture, since Monica declared her disgust with wreaths of all kind. But I like this leafy one. Deal with it, Mo.
Source: marthastewart.com via Jessica on Pinterest
You certainly can't go wrong with pumpkins.
Source: thenester.com via Jessica on Pinterest
I love these two non-traditional Fall mantles. The Nester used a few big gourds that matched her color scheme, and while not over-the-top fall-ish, it still hints at the autumn feeling. And this one:
Source: homestoriesatoz.com via Jessica on Pinterest …is absolutely gorgeous. I'm going to remember this one for next year's mantle. show it to my husband so he can remind me of it since I have the worst memory known to man
But wait…what if you don't have a mantle?.Never fear! Just pick a shelf, table, countertop (whatever!) and decorate away! I used this shelf in my kitchen to add another touch of Fall into my home.
I {heart} this so much. I used leftover frames from our Nate Show makeover, and added the letters F-A-L-L which I printed on heavy cardstock in different fonts. I actually already had the metal lowercase L (my hubs and I couldn't resist the $2 grab bag at Michael's last Black Friday and ended up with whole bunch of random metal letters), and used scrapbook paper to make the last L. I threw in a couple burnt orange items and voila! Pretty fall kitchen shelf.
So, now you have no excuses. Go ahead and Fall-ify your mantle!
*Bonus Challenge: Count how many times I wrote mantle in this post. That should keep you busy while you're bored at work. You're welcome.
Linking up to: Home Stories of A to Z
