THE MANTLE-PRIME REAL ESTATE

Location, location, location, say the Realtors! Focal point say the designers! Combine the two and you have...The Mantle. Prime Real Estate. The perfect place to house your creative talents. Or just a resting place for a few of your favorite things. The mantle is no longer just a place for placing a pair of candle sticks and thinking you are done decorating that room for the next twenty years. It is the new stage, to be changed seasonally or just when a whim hits you. Here are a few ideas to get you started thinking of your next exciting venue. Set the stage, dim the lights…..

Whether you like a comfortably stuffed look or you prefer a clean simple look, this mantle can make anyone happy. Using a few (key here is to edit and not use every item in your collection at one time) of the white pitchers I collect creates a warm feeling when you walk into this room. I love the shape of each, never tiring of their look.

Switch out the botanical and add a satin bow and you have transitioned effortlessly into another season.

If you have a love for the classics, gather a pair or two of silver candle holders, white tapers, silver bowl, a boxwood wreath with matching boxwood balls and you have a beautiful and elegant mantle.

Here is a mantle that stages my love of dishes and blue and white stoneware. Add a little floral and you are done (for now, but not finished).

Some of our collections and loves sometimes get out of hand. I have way too many (but yet not enough) books and they are scattered all around my house. They are so nice to look at when gathered together. Comfortably stuffed. Add a little book page garland, a cup of tea, and a favorite reading spot and I’m not leaving the room anytime soon.

I rescued this paperback from a lonely beach bag. I normally wouldn’t take apart a book, but this one was doomed from the start. The cover was the first to go, then the pages started to blow away and then well, there was some sunscreen. So, I tucked the book away waiting for the perfect project, the book page garland.

Using an awl, I poked a hold in the middle of the page through a stack of pages.

Then I crumpled a page.

And a few more (about 75 pages total).

Then strung them on a length of twine. I measures the space between two hooks on the mantle  (42") and added 7" for a total of 49" length of twine for the garland.

Once strung and tied to the mantle, I tied a black satin ribbon on the ends.

For the wreath, I tied a few tea cups on a wreath and then hung it with a black velvet ribbon.

Very Cozy.

The mantle becomes a vacant lot shortly after the first of the year. So, to prevent this from happening to you, create a little winter woodland that can warm up the room along with a toasty fire long after the holidays have been forgotten. 

To make the woodland garland, this is what you will need-

I sprayed painted silver bells with Kilz Primer, three light coats.

Cut a strip of floral wire about 6”.

Wrapped the wire around the very top of the pine cone.

Then twisted the wire about 2”

Then formed a loop and trimmed off excess wire.

I measured the space between the hooks on my mantle 42" and added 7" for a total of 49" finished length for the twine

Form a loop at one end of the twine, then alternately string one bell and one pine cone until all 7 pine cones and 8 bells were incorporated.

 Fifth Avenue, Rodeo Drive and Michigan Avenue are all known as prime real estate because they attract visitors year round. What these locations have in common is they all offer new and fresh visual excitement that tugs at emotions from your past. Your mantle is one of these prestigious streets. Visitors to your home will always stop to see what is new on your mantle. You have the tenants, they are in your cupboards, closets, bookcases and tucked in boxes waiting for their moments to be displayed.