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Fancy Mantel (Fall Lovers Series-Day 2}

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hey there! I'm monica 

I pride myself on making amazing style and design accessible for everyone, regardless of location, budget, or ability! My design philosophy is rooted in authenticity + attainability - If I can do it, you can too! My work has been featured in countless publications, but I take the most pride in homeowners that have been personally inspired by my DIY ideas and have tried something in their own homes!

learn more about ME + MY BIZ

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.
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
The Lettered Cottage

The comments +

  1. This is super adorable. Just the kind of thing I like! The scale and patterns are great.

  2. Mary Ellen says:

    Very cute mantle! I love how you found book covers in fall colors to use! Great idea!

  3. Janet says:

    I adore you fall shelf! What a fun and creative way to spell out fall and use some extra frames. Love it!

  4. Anne says:

    Love the simplicity of the mantel – I used books on mine too, such a great decorating tool.

    And the fall shelf! What a FUN idea with the framed letters. That’s getting my creative juices flowing…

  5. Cheri says:

    Hi Jess, thanks for your shelf inspiration! I loved it and used your idea to do one of my own (I linked back to you of course)! Check it out: http://www.alterediris.com. I’ve yet to complete my mantle yet, hoping to do that this weekend! Thanks again for your inspiration and mantle finds! 🙂

  6. […] ever go wrong with pumpkins so I made sure to include them. Some of the pieces were used in my fall mantel last year, like this copper-colored vase and faux grasses. The mirror was a $4 find at Liberty Thrift […]

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