Living Room Christmas Mantel Decor

I’m thrilled to welcome you back into my holiday home to show you my Living Room Christmas Mantel Decor. It’s decked out for the season and full of ideas to inspire!

It’s such a treat to be able to share this with you today. If you’re new here, a few weeks ago I shared that I completely changed the look of the cabinetry and fireplace mantel in my living room. It was one of those projects I was so excited to complete; I especially wanted it to be completed in time for the Christmas season. (If you missed this, I detailed the entire project HERE including sources and paint color.)

Living Room Christmas Mantel Decor

With the new cabintery installed and the conversion of my fireplace from wood burning to gas, the stage was set to add in a lot of holiday cheer! Let me show you what I created.

Ta-da! Pretty spectacular, right?

I couldn’t be more pleased with the end results. It was everything I had hoped for and then some. Now, to be honest, I was a little bit intimidated by styling such a massive display. While I was certainly excited to get it decorated, there was a slight feeling of panic within me from the thought that I might get it all wrong.

So, instead of letting panic set in, I employed one of my new favorite mantras: “Progress, not perfection.” – this got me started. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen – it’s just decor? And just like that, things started to come together. Oftentimes I think the fear of starting is worse than the actual doing.

Yes, there was some trial and error, but all in all, I’m obsessed with the look. Let me show you around and share a little insight into what I did in hopes that it will help your holiday decorating endeavors.

Let’s start with the mantel.

I started things off with a big garland. (I used three different greens. I don’t have a specific source for any of them.) I decided to hang the garland asymmetrically this year for something new. I’m really loving the look. It’s also really nicely balanced because on the right hand side of the fireplace I have a Christmas tree. You can get a sneak peek of the tree in a few of these pictures. (I’ll be sharing the full reveal of the tree next week. Stay tuned.)

I get a lot of questions about how to hang a garland without messing up your mantel. I may need to do a full post about this. For this syling project I used these Command hangers. I added one on each side of the mantel and used floral wire around the nail head to attach the garland. It was really pretty easy and required no holes in my new mantel.

Next, I added some of these oversized pinecones with white tips to the garland. I found them HERE. With the pinecones in place I added two garlands to my garland. Ha!

One of the garlands is a vintage crochet star garland I scored on eBay – what a special find! And the other is a gem and pearl garland from Balsam Hill.

I also tucked in a few stockings on the right hand side of the mantel. They are mostly just for decoration. I love the look of them all clustered together. The white knit stockings are Target and HomeGoods finds. The green stocking is new and can be found HERE.

In front of the fireplace, I used my favorite oversized gold Santa (no longer sold) and a vintage magazine rack filled with birch branches.

Sidenote: If you’re curious about my gas fireplace insert and wondering how I converted from wood burning to gas, I wrote a post all about the process HERE.

On the mantel, I displayed my absolute favorite holiday collection: my vintage plastic deer. This collection started when I received three of them from my Gram and Pop. Since then, I’ve been picking them up whenever I see them on my antiquing adventures. They are actually pretty hard to come by.

On either side of my deer family, I added some wood and glass trees.

To complete the look of the mantel, I hung the most beautiful canvas art print which was done by the fabulous Lindsay Letters. As soon as I saw this piece in her 2020 holiday collection, I knew it would be perfect for this space. I think I was right!

I’m always honored to hang a Lindsay Letters piece in my home. This one is no exception.

With all of that in place, I tackled the bookshelves on either side of the mantel. I won’t go through every detail, but instead, I’ll just point out a few things.

When I started styling the bookcases, I began with books. I have a lot of books so I thought this would be a good place to start. I rounded up all the books that fit into my color scheme. Anything that was white, green, blue, aqua, gold and/or black was fair game. Thankfully I had plenty of books from which to choose.

Once the books were in place, I filled in with some holiday decor. I didn’t go over the top here, but just wanted to add a few subtle touches of the season.

On the left bookcase, I added a trio of cloches that I tucked little house ornaments into. I don’t have a source for these unfortunately, but any mini house would give you a similar look. This might look familiar as I used them in a similar way last year as my dining room centerpiece.

To continue with my pinecone theme, I filled a big bowl with pinecones and added that to my shelves. Other details on this shelf include an old wooden box filled with greens and garlands, a vintage metal house, and a mini pine tree.

One final touch that I added on this set of book cases is these two brass mice. Did you spot then? I think they are ring holders, but I love using them as Christmas decor. It reminds me of the well-known phrase from The Night Before Christmas: “Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”

On the right hand side bookcase I created a similar look. I added more books, a different bowl with some smaller pinecones, a few more trees, and another antique wooden box embellished with pine and a beaded snowflake ornament.

One of my favorite additions to this side of the cabinet is the male bust. I’ve always wanted one of these and finally found one while antiquing this past spring.

The final addition to this shelf, tucked into the lower right corner, is my Sonos speaker. If you know me, I typically have music playing and these are my favorite speakers. I love them so much that I have five of them scattered around my house. I highly recommend them. (And speaking of music, I have four fabulous Christmas music playlists. You can find them all HERE.)

Oh, and here you can also get a little sneak peek of my living room tree!

With Christmas music playing, the mantel decorated, and the tree trimmed, I’d say this tour of my living room Christmas mantel decor is complete!

I do have more to share from this room including my tree and a look at how I styled the rest of the space, so stay tuned for that. I’ll be sharing both in the coming weeks.

In the meantime see more of my 2020 Christmas decor here:

• Butler’s Pantry Christmas Decor
• Red and White Christmas Tree
• Family Room Fireplace Decor
• My Christmas Ribbon Cabinet

I hope you enjoyed this little tour and gathered a few ideas and inspiration for you own home. As always, thank you for joining me and happy decorating!