How To Decorate Your Mantlepiece For Christmas
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How To Decorate Your Mantlepiece For Christmas

Take a mantlepiece masterclass with floristry experts Kitten Grayson

‘Tis the season to dress your mantlepiece up to the nines. Feature fireplaces are one of the most in-demand features for style-savvy homes and call out for beautiful framing, especially at Christmastime. Read on for floral installation studio Kitten Grayson‘s expert tips on dressing your Christmas mantlepiece, from which foliage to select to what to hang on the walls.

How To Create The Perfect Christmas Mantlepiece

Kitten Grayson foliage decorated fireplace with gold mirror hanging above

1. Gather Your Kit

Grab some chicken wire, a heavy brick or weight and then wrap the weight in chicken wire – this will ensure your installation will stay sturdy on your mantelpiece.

2. Reuse & Recycle

Look to reuse materials that you put in your installation every year. The beauty of dried flowers and foliage is that, if they’re well-kept, you can enjoy them year after year. You can also compost anything you want to get rid of.

3. Gather From The Ground

A tip when foraging is to look out for bracken, beautifully-shaped fallen branches, old man’s beard, honesty and teasels – the dried foliages will look beautiful and wild in any installation.

4. Light some lanterns

Create an atmosphere with candles – go wild! Placing lanterns around the base of the installation is a really safe way of doing this while casting beautiful shadows in the room.

5. Mix Up Your Materials

Adding different materials and textures will give your installation a new look. For a luxurious finish, weave in bows, ribbons and taffeta in golds and bronzed tones. We also love paper tinsel!

Kitten Grayson black fireplace grate with candles and cow parsley

6. Weave In Fresh Bulbs

Adding spring bulbs into the arrangement will keep the magic of your mantlepiece alive into the New Year. Snowdrops and paperwhites are a perfect addition, and you can replant both of them in pots the following year.

Jamb Georgian fireplace with mirror hanging above

7. Switch Up Your Shapes

You can change up the shape of your installation year on year using the same materials, but adding a few more each time to create different looks and textures. Adding in dried hydrangea works really well – the colour is so festive!

Christmas Mantlepiece Inspiration

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Farrow & Ball

Farrow & Ball’s Patrick O’Donnell suggests painting the wall behind a fireplace in a rich, contrasting shade to create a backdrop for winter accessories.

Farrow & Ball Chinese Blue, from £49.50 for 2.5l.

farrow-ball.com

Molly Mahon Christmas mantlepiece

Molly Mahon

If you fancy showcasing some festive family crafts this season, a vibrant Christmas mantlepiece is the perfect place to do so. Block Printer Molly Mahon goes to town with ‘more is more’ decorating every Christmas at her home in the Sussex countryside. Designed to fill the house with homemade splendour and uplifting Christmas cheer, Molly block-prints reems of paper with her children to make decorations and cards, plus paper chains, bunting and oversized paper bows. Traditional cards join the mantelpiece creation nestled amongst paper stars and vases full of wintery florals and sprigs cut from the garden.

mollymahon.com

© Will Heap

Kitten Grayson

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Jamb

Milton fireplace

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Kitten Grayson

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Jamb

Montford fireplace

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Kitten Grayson

Cow parsley decorated fireplace

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Renaissance London

Original English stone fireplace, £4,800

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Templeton

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