How to Style a Mantel and a Surprisingly Easy Floral Arrangement -

Put together a beautiful floral arrangement to add color and embellishment to your fireplace mantel styling. An easy way to customize your look and colors.

Hi there! We are well underway to having our new house all set up for entertaining and guests. I plan on sharing how to survive a move with pictures of our new house but today I wanted to introduce you to our main living space and how I styled our mantel.

Easy flower arranemeng for a fireplace mantel pinterest graphic. — Fireplace Mantel Simple Styling with a DIY Floral Arrangement

Simple Fireplace Styling with a DIY Floral Arrangement

When we moved in late September our living area was a beautiful blank slate with the gorgeous wall color. And after living in two smaller houses in Japan, felt like a palace!

Picture of an empty living room with fireplace and large front window. — Living Areas

The front picture window is where my baby grand piano sits now. The tv/fireplace side is our living area.

An empty small living room with fireplace wall in tan stone and brown built in bookcase. — Fireplace Wall

Right away I knew I wanted to paint the built-in shelving unit to match the trim and lighten up the corner. The built-in was such a wonderful solution for that long fireplace wall!

A before picture of our living room fireplacel wall. — Nice Built-in Bookcase!

Fireplace mantel makeover with a DIY floral arrangement art. A white mantel surround and wrought iron fireplace screen are layered below with tall brass candlesticks. A white built in bookcase is on the otherside of the hearth decorated with global eclectic decor. — Decorating the House the First Time!

UPDATE! Find our most recent home tour in this post.

Tips for styling a small mantel:

Use a group of 3-5 objects in different shapes and sizes.
When selecting the scale of the items, imagine filling 80% of the blank space between the mantel and ceiling leaving 6 inches of room at the top or more depending on your ceiling height.
Layer two of the items by placing one slightly in front of the other to connect the vignette.
Make a connection below the mantel with a trailing plant or embellishment.

A wide view of the living room first decorated with global eclectic decor on the fireplace bookshelf and mantel. — Styled Bookshelves and Mantel

Within 24 hours of having our boxes unpacked, I had this wall styled. It is one of my favorite things to do! You can see I added our fireplace mantel from Okinawa right on top of the stone. Not sure if it will stay or not but I like the pop of white.

A Fall floral arrangement with leaning art on a mantel against a stone fireplace wall. — George Grammer Art and One of My Printables

A white and chrome coffee table is decorated with books, brass birds, candles, and a plant in front of a white sofa with pink floral pillow. — Second-hand Coffee Table from Z Gallerie

My mom has been saving us furniture and art from my grandparents’ house for the last few years. It’s so much fun to finally be back home (after 18 years!!).

I’m getting two wing back chairs reupholstered in some fabulous fabric currently but we are using a traditional cream sofa and it looks beautiful in this space with a new coffee table and furniture we picked up in Japan. Here’s a little sneak peek!

The art on the mantel is from artist (and friend) George Grammer and is probably my favorite piece of art. Ever.

A close up of a mantel flower arrangement in a middle eastern coffee pot next to George Grammer art. — Simple but Pretty Mantel Decor

I also have many of my aunt’s paintings and we featured one of them in the living room to bring in pops of color. You could say it tells the color story for the space although I toned it down by using a lot of neutrals and solid colors elsewhere.

An eclectic seating corner with bright floral art and snake plant. — Floral Painting by My Late Aunt

I decided to bring floral and green to the mantel with a super-duper easy floral arrangement. Why? Because I basically lack any skills for anything more complicated with florals. Ha!

A global eclectic living room fireplace wall decorated with layers, art, and flower arrangement on the mantel. — Green and White Decorating Around the Fireplace Wall

To create it, I bought three stems from my local craft store, separated them with wire cutters, and arranged them in a middle eastern coffee pot of varying heights. I added the trailing pearl plant for more interest and to make a connection with the mantel.

Easy Fireplace Mantel Flower Arrangement

Choose 2-3 different stems using different colors, sizes, and shapes of floral.
Separate the stems at the bottom with wire cutters.
Use a vase with a small opening to help you control placement.
Place each stem at varying heights, experiment with the overall shape. You can keep it simple by using taller in the back or center and gradually getting shorter to the front. Create an uneven shape by having the tallest to shortest go side to side. Save a few longer stems evenly around the bulk to add whimsical interest.

Supplies needed for Fall floral arrangement showing succulents, thistle, and silk flowers on a white fur rug. — Floral Stems

A Fall floral arrangement in a brass coffee pot on a mantel with George Grammer art. — Easy Mantel Floral Arrangement

Join me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes, DIYs, decorating tips, room tours, and home inspiration. I’ll see you over there!

A wide view of an eclectic living room with grey walls, white sofa, tan chairs, white coffee table, lots of layered textiles and decor and fireplace wall. — Living area is all set up!

I can’t wait to show you more treasures we have acquired from my family including a huge portrait of my grandmother! You can see more of our living and dining spaces in my Thanksgiving decor and table setting posts. Here’s a pic I took on my iPhone!

A large brass crane is on a fireplace hearth with white surround and wrought iron screen and tan stones. A snake plant is on a stump side table and purple area rug. — Fireplace Decor

So there you have it! A long overdue intro to our new house. I hope you enjoyed the decorating tips and living room tour.

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