fbpx

Christmas Mantel Decorations

A stylish holiday mantel needs more than stockings to look its best. We've gathered our readers' favorite fireplaces to inspire your Christmas dècor.

Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero once wrote, “The home is the empire! There is no place more delightful than one’s own fireplace.” Festooned with greenery, crowned with fruit and flowers, or topped with beloved collectibles, and hung with stockings, the fireplace mantel is certainly a source of yuletide delight for many. We’ve gathered FLOWER magazine’s most popular mantels dressed for Christmastime to inspire your holiday decorating.

blue-and-white living room decor, Christmas tree, mantle garland, potted amaryllis flowers

In the grand blue and white living room of designer and blogger Tina Yaraghi’s Long Island, New York home, the mantel is topped with six pots of white amaryllis, big pine cones, and a garland of greenery that extends to the floor. See more of Tina’s enchanting holiday decor (including dining room and loggia mantels). 

A blue room and fireplace mantel are decorated with greenery and oranges.

In the study, painted Benjamin Moore’s “Apollo Blue,” Williamsburg designer in residence Heather Chadduck and floral designer Jimmie Henslee collaborated on a mantelpiece garland bedecked with oranges, satsumas, and kumquats. See more of Heather and Jimmie’s holiday decor in Williamsburg. 

garland accented with pomegranates, apples, and persimmon branches, designed by Lagniappe in Greenville

Photo by Laurey W. Glenn

Pomegranates, apples, pears, and persimmon branches accent a lush garland draped over the mantel in Keith Meacham’s Nashville home. A pair of gold amphora vases hold red and white striped amaryllis, red tulips and greenery. 

Family room with fireplace, large swag of greenery over fireplace.

Photo by Laurey W. Glenn

Interior designer Jane Schwab decks the halls of her classic Charlotte, North Carolina home to create celebration-worthy spaces that are as inviting as they are elegant. In the family room, more than 30 feet of fresh garland forms a striking note above the fireplace. Antlers mounted on antique English plaques, tabletop topiaries, and a lavish rabbit throw evoke an enchanted forest allure. See more of Jane’s joyful holiday decor. 

The mantel, full of greenery, candles, and natural materials, has a rustic charm.

Photo by Clive Nichols

The mantel in Butter Wakefield’s West London home is full of greenery, candles, and natural materials, giving it a rustic charm. Bird ornaments fill and perch above a bird nest and along the surface. A large arrangement of evergreen cuttings from conifers, magnolia, eucalyptus, and even grasses stands at the center. See more of Butter’s colorful Christmas decor. 

lush garland and two large vases of greenery, with ribbon accents, decorate a holiday mantel

Photo by Laurey W. Glenn

Floral designer Canaan Marshall says, “I looked to a classic Christmas palette… I’m rather an old soul at heart, and tradition always speaks to me, especially during the holidays.” For this lush mantel garland he used magnolia foliage, cedar, green holly, elaeagnus branches, wax flowers, seeded eucalyptus, two glass vases, and wired gold-and-white ribbon. See more of Canaan’s Christmas arrangements. 

Two antique carved wood chairs upholstered in leather flank a fireplace decorated with greenery arrangement as if it were growing naturally on the mantel and wall.

Photo by Laurey W. Glenn

Sybil Sylvester of Wildflower Designs in Birmingham decorated this fireplace with mixed garland enhanced with lichen, olive, and acacia branches, smilax vine, and other greenery as if it were growing naturally on the mantel and wall. See more of Sybil’s holiday arrangements and decoration at Alice and Bob Schleusner’s home. 

Greenery on a white mantel.

In designer Barry Dixon’s Virginia home, the mantel of a guest room he calls “the Venetian bedroom” is topped with two arrangements of greenery, each punctuated with a tall, green tulipiere. See more from Barry’s Elway Hall decorated for Christmas. 

Paula Sutton’s light-filled, cozy living room at Hill House features pale green walls, a gilt-framed painting of tulips above a roaring fireplace, and a rolled-arm, tufted white sofa. On the large square coffee table, a blue-and-white dish holds blooming hyacinth bulbs. Covered with a faded vintage quilt with wide red and white stripes, the coffee table also holds books, a chess board, and a glass dome filled with pinecones. The mantel is decorated for the holiday season with greenery, grapes, apples, and dried orange slices. In the corner is a petite but full Christmas tree decorated with red bows and dried orange slices.

Reprinted with permission from Hill House Living by Paula Sutton. Copyright ©2021. Photographs by Simon Brown. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

The mantel in blogger and author Paula Sutton’s charming home in the English countryside is decorated with white twinkle lights, ivy, grape vines and grapes, apples, pinecones, orange slices, books, and a pair of brass candlesticks with tall tapers. See Paula’s tips for growing potted hyacinths from her book, Hill House Living.

living room decorated for christmas

Simple garland of conifer and magnolia branches drapes across the mantel and to the floor in designer Shelley Johnstone’s living room. See more of Shelley’s Lake Forest, Illinois home decorated for the holidays.

Great hall fireplace decorated with boughs of greenery and flanked by a pair of potted conifers.

A great hall fireplace showcases a masculine holiday decorating approach with robust greens, pine cones, and antlers that evoke a hunting lodge. A pair of potted conifers flank the firebox. See more of designer Barry Dixon’s Virginia home decorated for the holidays.

In the New Orleans home of Alix Rico and her husband, Paul, the family room’s limestone fireplace is an authentic representation of the classic château-style fixture common in Provençal architecture. Antique walnut boiserie panels were retrofitted as closet doors. Kumquats, pomegranates, and decorative cabbage enhance the garden-fresh flavor of the room, which is situated between the kitchen and the back porch.

Photo by Sara Essex Bradley

The family room’s limestone fireplace in interior decorator Alix Rico’s New Orleans home is an authentic representation of the classic château-style fixture common in Provençal architecture. A garland of lighted greenery with containers of white flowers and white and gold candlesticks adds holiday cheer. See more of Alix’s Provençal holiday home.

Living room with mantel decorated for Christmas

Photo by Hector Sanchez | Styling by Amanda Smith Fowler

In the parlor, cedar boughs, pine cones, and magnolia leaves frame the mantel of Bart McCorquodale’s home, with more magnolia and tulips in the flanking pedestals. Floral designer Kappi Naftel created the coffee table arrangement of seasonal greenery and hellebores. See more of Bart’s home decorated for Christmas.

living room Christmas decor in the home of event planners Rick Davis and Christopher Vazquez

Photo by Jenn Verrier

In the historic St. Mary’s County, Maryland home of event planners Rick Davis and Christopher Vazquez, an antique mirror and salvaged iron fence hang on the living room’s Pennsylvania fieldstone fireplace surround that is festooned with a frasier fir garland with pine cones. Shelves are lined with amaryllis, cyclamen, and a large tree fern. See more from this merry vintage Christmas home. 

A pair of magnolia Christmas trees flank a mantel decorated with a garland and white stockings for the holidays in a Raleigh, NC, home decorated by Vicky Serany

Photo by Catherine Nguyen

Because magnolia blooms fade in a few hours when cut, floral designer Erin Weston used meticulous faux blossoms. in the fireplace garland, along with mini magnolia bouquets and sprigs of ‘Raywood Weeping’ Arizona cypress. “I wanted to bring more fragrance to the room, so I tucked fresh gardenias into the garland as well,” says Erin. See more from Christy and Scott Goudy’s home decorated for Christmas.

vintage Christmas decorations

Photo by Jenn Verrier

While technically not a mantelpiece, the antique beam in Rick Davis and Christopher Vazquez’s foyer certainly looks the part. It holds an assembly of ornaments, tiny Christmas trees, pots of red-flowering cyclamen, tole candleholders, branches of pine and holly, pine cones, feathers and other found objects. See more from their farmhouse decorated for a nostalgic Christmas. 

French Country Christmas, Courtney Allison

Photo by Courtney Allison

Design author Courtney Allison’s office mantel is dressed with eucalyptus and flowers that mingle perfectly with a crisp white Christmas tree covered in vintage-style blush baubles and a pearl garland. See more of Courtney’s Christmas decor from her book, French Country Cottage.

Mila Hirsch Christmas decor

Photo by Laurey W. Glenn

With an artist’s exacting eye, Mila Hirsch decorated the interiors of her Birmingham, Alabama house herself. Here, the family’s beloved Papillon, Ziggy, cozies up by the fire in the living room. The fireplace is flanked by ceiling-to-floor magnolia swags. See more of Mila’s holiday style.

Sumptuous green living room in the New Orleans home of Ware Porter. Features: roaring fire, octagonal mirror above mantel, a tone-one-tone striped champagne-colored velvet sofa, large botanical-print armchair, decorated Christmas tree, mantel swags, wreath on mirror, and large arrangement of greenery and berries on the mantel

Ware commissioned floral artist Kim Starr Wise to dress the living room mantel in traditional greens, including a hand-tied garland made of cypress and rosehips, a wreath of evergreens and pine cones, and a towering arrangement of rosehips and bay leaves.

New Orleans interior designer, Ware Porter commissioned floral artist Kim Starr Wise to dress his living room mantel in traditional greens, including a hand-tied garland made of cypress and rosehips, a wreath of evergreens and pine cones, and a towering arrangement of rosehips and bay leaves. See more of Ware’s home decorated for the holidays.

Laura Dowling mantel decorated for Christmas

Photo by Erik Kvalsvik

On the mantel in floral designer Laura Dowling’s parlor, a lime and berry wreath and a garland made of magnolia leaves, moss, and decorative paper command center stage, while bright red arrangements draw in the light cast by silver trays. See more historic homes decorated for Christmas in quintessential French floral style.

Photo of a dining room furnished with long wooden dining table, a pair of long wood benches on either side, and rattan-backed chairs at either end. A wreath, a long green garland, and small Christmas tree-shaped decorations decorate a white plaster mantel with an arabesque opening for the fire. The table is decorated with garlands, mercury glass votives, and vases of white flowers. The furniture and holiday decor is sold at Summer Classics Home stores.

Photo courtesy of Summer Classics

A long conifer garland with pine cones, and woven, cane Christmas trees top this white plaster mantel. An evergreen wreath and white stockings with rows of fringe hang from the mantel above the arabesque firebox. See more holiday inspiration from Summer Classics Home.

Mantel and table decorated for Christmas in Cara Brown's home

Photo by Tria Giovan

In designer Cara Brown’s living room, the mantel’s garland is studded with amaryllis blooms, gold-dipped pinecones, French tulips, and branches of faux red berries.  “The berries are the only faux thing I use,” floral designer Jennifer Figge says. “Unlike real ones, they don’t fall off and make a mess.” See more from Cara’s historic New Jersey farmhouse decorated for Christmas.

Dining room mantel with greenery and needlepoint stockings at Brooke's Bank

Photo by Mary Craven Dawkins

A mantel is draped with simple evergreen boughs and hung with needlepoint stockings at Brooke’s Bank, Mary Spotswood’s historic home in Essex County, Virginia. See more Christmas at Brooke’s Bank. 

TRENDING NOW