Christmas mantelpiece ideas for a festive fireplace
A Christmas mantelpiece is undoubtedly one of the most alluring of all festive decorations. For one, a mantelpiece is a period feature we so often desire in our homes for many reasons; the promise of a fire, the ability to display trinkets on them and their general charm. One decorated for Christmas, therefore, can provide a brilliant focal point for the room and something cheerful around which to consume an array of festive food and cocktails, set against the backdrop of twinkling fairy lights and aromatic pine. If you are feeling crafty, the below ideas might inspire you to make a merry mantelpiece of your own, and luckily enough, we have a brilliantly helpful tutorial on how to make a Christmas mantelpiece garland, courtesy of florist Graeme Corbett.
Christmas mantelpiece ideas from the House & Garden archive
Mark Anthony Fox1/25In the Devon home of Instagram sensation Callie Coles and her husband Toby, a mantle decorated with wild foliage and red berries makes for a dramatic and striking display.
Michael Sinclair2/25In his Sussex house, more is more for Martin Brudnizki when Christmas comes around. Candles, lamps and two busts nestle amongst the foliage adorning the mantlepiece, which Martin has simply decorated with bows and a few tonal baubles to allow the fireplace's golden surround to shine.
Nathalie Krag3/25At the Caponi family home in Florence, Christmas is a large affair and there are decorations all over the house. The mantlepiece over the original fireplace is festooned with gold baubles threaded with lights.
Martin Morrell4/25At Jeremy Landmead's Lake District house, garlands of seasonal greenery decorate the chimneypieces in a pared-back design.
Martin Morrell5/25There are no baubles or fairy lights here, but rather nature at its best.
Paul Massey6/25For Christmas flowers at Paul Hawkin's Chelsea home he has opted for a few show-stopping arrangements on the chimneypiece, the bannister and the coffee table, surrounded by pots of hellebores to set the scene.
Owen Gale7/25Fresh greenery and quilted stockings add festivity to the mantelpiece at Amanda Brook's cosy farmhouse in the Cotswolds, where a myriad candles at different heights add a twinkle.
Owen Gale8/25‘This year I'm going for more of a woodland theme,' says Amanda Brooks, decorating her Cotswold cottage for the season. 'I don't think Christmas should ever be too tasteful. Where's the fun in that?’ Flocked reindeer and candle holders made by Jess Wheeler sit on top of the fireplace. Amanda has produced stockings from vintage kantha, all available though Cutter Brooks.
Owen Gale9/25Skye McAlpine's Venetian home features a grand fireplace in the drawing room, which is lined in fraying silk jacquard. Stockings made in tapestry by Skye's mother for Skye and her sons hang at the fireplace.
Owen Gale10/25
Mark Fox11/25For their Christmas decorating scheme, Duncan Campbell & Luke Edward Hall called on Silka Rittson Thomas of TukTuk Flower Studio to add an abundance of greenery to their mantelpiece. The foliage has a wreath at either end and Duncan & Luke added some baubles to the fronds for added colour.
Mark Fox12/25In the dining room, more greenery is draped over the mantelpiece, this time in such a way to allow three glittery mushrooms to peek out from underneath.
Owen Gale13/25Amanda Brooks decorates in a kitsch manor for Christmas, with an abundance of foraged greenery and colourful lights. Her mantelpiece is reserved for foliage and tall candlesticks, with stocking hanging below.
Dean Hearne14/25In her Suffolk house, Pascale Smets opts for a minimal take on a Christmas mantelpiece, adding simple terracotta plant pots filled with candles.
15/25Christmas at her restored farmhouse in Cumbria provides Annabel Lewis, owner of specialist haberdasher's V V Rouleaux, with the perfect canvas on which to display her talent for artistic embellishment and dazzling decoration. In the hallway the red-berry and faux-fruit garlands, both from VV Rouleaux, add cheerful colour. See the rest of her Christmas scheme here.here
Michael Sinclair16/25Pedro da Costa Felgueiras, an expert in historical pigments, uses sparse holly branches to decorate the mantelpiece of his East London house.
Paul Massey17/25Interior designer Carlos Garcia loves to use foliage for his Christmas decorations. "The tradition of bringing foliage into the house is intended to ward off evil spirits, so deck your halls, mantelpieces and staircases or place greenery above tapestries and paintings. Use branches of varied conifers, holly and long strands of ivy to create a wonderfully festive environment, and add fern leaves and dead tree branches to create a realistic woodland still life. They are sustainable, and you can either add them to your compost heap or burn them in the fires after using them, which releases a beautiful scent."
Michael Sinclair18/25At this former rectory in the West Country, foraged Christmas decorations and salvaged materials enhance the sense of a house that has been made suitable for modern family life, while retaining its Victorian character. At Christmas, the family gathers pine cones and branches of old man’s beard to decorate this room at the front of the house, which has walls painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Setting Plaster’.
Simon Upton19/25Pale seasonal flowers in blue and white china vessels bring a pretty touch to the breakfast room of Mona Perlhagen's house, with its Swedish ‘Haga’ chandelier. The flowers are an alternative way to incorporate winter foliage into a mantelpiece, without covering it in a garland.
Simon Upton20/25Swedish Father Christmas figures perch among greenery decorating a bespoke Jamb chimneypiece in the drawing room.
21/25Kitten Grayson's dramatic fireplace arrangements are immediately recognisable. Kitten and Harriette recommend starting with three of four components, and building them up to create an intense look. This garland was made with a base of different types of pine, birch catkin twigs, dried hydrangeas, ilex berries and pink peppercorns.
James Merrell22/25'I decided to avoid the traditional green garland here,' explains florist Silka Rittson Thomas of her pomegranate mantlepiece. 'We wired together the pomegranates and lit them with tea lights. It looks like an old Spanish still-life.'
Dean Hearne23/25At Neidpath castle in Scotland, a portrait is framed by bows and draping foliage over the mantelpiece. Candles are a traditional addition to mantelpiece decorations at Christmas.
Rachel Whiting24/25'I have always favoured traditional but pared-down schemes that look natural, light and fresh,' says Ben Pentreath. 'For me, the most important thing is to bring greenery into the house. I don't believe in buying lots of shiny, glittery imported stuff that's just going to end up in the bin.' On the chimneypiece of his Dorset home are holly and ivy that gathered from nearby woods.
25/25A simple, elegant swagged garland entirely made of berried eucalyptus.
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