my spring mantel and some thoughts on decorating

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Now I don’t fancy myself a master decorator, but I do enjoy puttering (my mom’s word) around my house and creating views that just make me smile. So let’s talk about my spring mantel and some thoughts on decorating for a minute.

Joel’s response to the question “what do you think about the spring mantel?” … wait for it … “it looks busy.” womp womp Does that mean I’m going to change it? No. Everything is really considered temporary around here for now anyway. We’ve been back in this house just short of a year and a half and after 8 years of living in rentals and a complete renovation I had forgotten how much I can’t commit like to just try things in different spots around the house.

It takes the pressure out of decorating. I haven’t just bought this one $200 thing that fits just perfect in this one spot so now I need to live with it there for. ev. er. We have just collected things (junk really) that means something to us that makes me smile when I see it.

Is it perfect? Not even close. Will it get moved and rotated and rearranged at a different time when I get a hairbrained idea that this one picture could look good there, but not with that table that’s there, so that table should go here, which means I need to move … you get the idea. And often times it doesn’t work out. But enjoying the process is really all of the fun. I think that’s the secret.

It’s getting my hands on this little credenza that came from my grandmother. Taking the time to remember it in the little cottage on the lake where I would go visit her and my grandfather and she would teach me how to sew and show me how to make moss gardens or ornaments out of old egg cartons and beads. I always thought my grandmother had the most beautiful fingernails. They weren’t too long or too short and they were always perfectly filed, and never painted. Funny the memories we keep.

It’s finding the next perfect spot for the glass jars of shells and sea glass I’ve gathered over the years and practically feeling the sun on my face remembering all of the walks on the beach with Marley and Mico.

Which brings us to the spring mantel with the scrap wood whatever-it-is that I can’t seem to quit. If I remember correctly I found it while cleaning out the crawl space under our Key West house. (Don’t judge.) And that paint splatter, that was our very first test spray the day we repainted the exterior of that house. It really has no business being on our mantel, or any mantel really. But I love it. I smile every time I see it. And it perfectly illustrates that you don’t have to spend any money to surround yourself with things that you love to create a home you enjoy. (And there’s an outlet that needs blocking right in the middle of the wall just above the mantel, so form and function.)

And the two little plants are fake you guys! Funny thing is I bought them specifically to go in our master bedroom which is missing out on my new houseplant obsession because it doesn’t get enough light. Of course, they were in their designated spots for like 3 days until I decided the mantel needed a little bit more “life”. You know to make it look, what was the word … oh yeah … busy. **eye roll**

A few main strategies that might help if you’re working on your own mantel:

One main focal point

Some of you may have the most perfect reclaimed wood mantel ever to be found on earth. If so, I’m jealous, also that requires less “decorating” because your mantel is already the décor. But one large thing of your choice hung above (say that authentic tobacco basket with chippy green paint you have, Casey) could be the perfect accent. I started with this image of the boats and ended up propping the scrap wood behind it to cover an outlet we have that was glaringly annoying with just the lanterns and plants.

Vary the height

This one is best learned through practice. Just take a look at what you have and if everything is essentially the same height it probably looks a little ho hum. Try stacked books or a little box to set things on. My grandfather made that little jewelry box the plant (the one real one on the spring mantel) on the left is on and my grandmother painted the top. You can’t see that from it’s current spot on the mantel, but it makes me smile to see it there anyway.

Use repetition

Now what would look busy to me would be if there were a lot of different things going on at the same time. We’ve got a plants and lanterns thing going on here with pretty much a green and neutral color scheme. Could there be less things, sure. But plants! That’s all I have to say about that.

Total aside: Joel just said to me “where is the chest that was here?”, pointing to where my grandmother’s credenza is now. haha Living here is like mystery theater, he never knows what’s going to be where at any given time. You’re welcome.

Also, these two.

And is it creative or creepy that I found almost all of Marley and Mico’s old dog tags recently while cleaning out an old memorabilia bag (If you have an awesome way to store/display your memorabilia pretty please let me know, my memorabilia needs your help!) and thought is was a good idea to frame them hanging from little hooks? I honestly am not sure what to do with it now.

If you like peeking into other peoples’ houses to check out their decorating ideas you have to check out our friends’ colorful and fun Key West house tour.

If you want to see our BH&G winning front porch you should check out the post creating curb appeal or “you’re decorating with exactly how many street finds?”.

And for a real throw back to the Curacao house days click here to see the rustic, coastal summer mantel with beach accents. Spoiler alert, all of the photos are so close up because that was actually a shelf in our kitchen.