Friday, June 20, 2008

My Imperfectly Beautiful Mantle!

I don't think my mantle is really anything special but I will share it anyways. Now if I had like a endless supply of money, it would have beautiful molding instead of the painted dry wall, but I don't so this it will have to do.



My house isn't very big, only like 1400 square feet, so if I have a lot of decorations it starts to feel a little cramped. I wouldn't mind having a little something more though, but what? I'm out of ideas, and it's gotta be cheap! I will gladly take any suggestions.




Also I really don't know which looks better, the wreath.......



or the picture............


Also does it look better with or without the little willow tree figurines? Help me out here all you decorating diva's, I could really use your help! If you'd like to see a lot of beautiful mantles and get some wonderful decorating go and visit Kari and Kijsa, two incredibly talented sisters!

23 comments:

Marie said...

I think your mantel is great! I'm very unqualified to give you suggestions...especially since my mantel has a lot more little things all over it, cluttering it up!

Thanks for your compliments on my mantel! I loved peeking at so many great pictures and getting some really awesome ideas.

Shannon said...

I LOVE that wreath over your mantel. I think that looks great. I have that black clock that you have. It is so cute!

kari and kijsa said...

We think your mantel is wonderful!!! We love both ideas- what a great way to change it up!! The wreath is beautiful and unique and has such great lines!!

blessings,
kari & kijsa

Tiffany said...

I think you should just change it out every once in a while. That little change will make your living room seem more interesting without spending any more money. The mantle looks great!

Chris said...

Very pretty! The wreath is wonderful! Like others suggested, just change it up and use it all!

Thanks for sharing! Chris

Karen said...

I like it with the picture and the figurines:)

mommyholly said...

I love your mantel!! It is super classic and it looks great! xo!

Rachel Berry said...

That wreath is FABULOUS!! Love it. Wish I had a mantle to decorate.

Anonymous said...

I love your mantel... both ways. I know Im not much help...Sometimes smaller places have more charm. Your home looks very inviting to me. I love your space! Susie H~

Rachel Berry said...

Oh & yes I do my own blog. The signature I made in photoshop and loaded it into my blog.

If you need help let me know.

:)Rachel

sassy seamstress said...

ok, so do you want to know what i think? you could always do one of those iron wall grates. you could probably find one for around $15 at Garden Ridge. Do you have one of those? Personally, i like it without the willow tree. also, i think the picture is a little too small. (but then again, if you look at my mantle on my blog ...under the re-redecorating post...you'll notice my art work is a little on the large size :)) i think the picture might dwarf your mantle, but i can't really tell unless you take a picture from a distance. anyway, those are my thoughts. i always like when people give me honest decorating opinions and new ideas...so there's mine. i love your color scheme!!! and i like the clean simple lines of your mantel...no molding is needed...looks great!

Erika said...

I like the wreath better than the pic. Where did you get that wreath? Very cute! I want one for above our t.v. but can't find one I like. I love Willow Tree figureines so I'm all about leaving that up there. I think it's very cute Nicole!

On a side note, I'll bring that food over to your house for So Kang around 2 I think. It's just a frozen thing you buy and cook in the crock pot. So it will be warm when I bring it and then if you'll just warm it up in the microwave before you take it that would be great! I also have some rolls and a salad to go with it. Hope that's okay...

Nicol said...

I love the wreath!!

Sherri said...

I like the wreath with the Willow Tree!!

KatBouska said...

I think the wreath is cool looking...but the picture has a simply and classy look as well. You can't go wrong!

Becky said...

I think your mantel looks great! Love the wreath!

frillsfluffandtrucks said...

Ooooh, love the wreath. I used to have a twig wreath over my fireplace at my last home, but my wreath wasn't as nice as yours.

I like the Willow Tree (I collect them too) but I think they'd look better clustered together instead of spaced so evenly.

Cute mantel--you're making me itch to redo mine.

~ Sarah

Megan @ Megity's Handmade said...

Well Ms. Nicole, you are a blogging machine! Looks like I can count on you to update often for my blogging fix. :) Onto your mantel, I like the wreath because it's bigger. I think the picture, although very nice, is too small. I think it would like nice on the wall in between your living room and kitchen. It seems that something is already there though. Back to the mantel...I think that it would look great if the wreath was layered over something. Rod iron or mirror or maybe a smaller wreath or something fun on top of it. Just an idea to play with. The Willow Tree figurines are okay too because they fade into the wall from a distance making it not to cluttery. Okay, there's my two cents. Aren't I long winded?

Diane said...

I LOVE your mantel. I don't like tons of clutter. The wreath really warms up the space and it's the perfect size to really fill up the space without having to have tons of knick knacks. I vote for keeping the wreath and the willow figurines is really up to you. I'd probably do w/out, but they look fine too...but the wreath- keep the wreath. Looks like your mantel came straight of a magazine page- looks terrific!

Scooterblu's Whimsy~Rhonda said...

Just getting around to visit all of the mantels! Yours is great! I love the wreath, so unique! ~Rhonda

Me on Metatrophin said...

Boy, you are getting popular!! I love it both ways-- change them out here and there and it will keep you happy! Your house is lovely and you appear to be very very neat!

Amy Jo said...

That wreath is great! It makes such a statment and really fills up the space on the wall. I also have a couple willow figurines and I'm never sure where to put them. I like them, but don't want them to take presidence in my decorating, know what I mean? I like the idea someone else gave you about layering the wreath over something else. I'd be interested to see how that looked...

Unknown said...

Your mantle looks great!