Pumpkins on the porch give the outside of your house a classically cozy touch, but as you step inside, there’s one part of your home that welcomes in fall like no other—the mantel. There are no bounds to your creativity when styling this fireplace feature in a way that’ll match the season as we shift from summer to autumn.
A mantel is a magical place to decorate. Because it often frames a room or serves as a focal point, decorating it for fall feels more transformative than other areas of your space since it’s positioned in a way that draws your eye in. It’s also a great starting point if you’re unsure where to begin with your fall home decor.
To fully immerse yourself in the season, bring warmth, coziness and style to your home.
1. Glow Up Your Mantel
Just before we reach hibernation season, we get to spend a couple of months cozying up and hunkering down. Your decor can reflect this shift in mood, as Erin Harman has done so well in this living room.Some of the best ways to embrace the feelings of fall is through warm, glowing light and soft textures. This could be through tapers, scented candles, or table and floor lamps with warmer bulbs. To match their soft light in a material sense, break out all of your warmest, fluffiest throw blankets, rugs and pillows to set the tone.
2. Opt for a Dark-Toned Palette
For a truly show-stopping mantel, follow Tanisha Cannings’s lead and opt for a monochrome black aesthetic. If your fireplace, hearth, and mantel already have a dark tone, you can elaborate further on this eye-catching theme with the help of a dark, saturated garland.
To make it really pop, you’ll want a few complementary hues added to the mix as well. Think about artwork in beige or peach tones, and add wicker pumpkins and light wood candlesticks, as these will jump out from their black surroundings. If modern organic is your style, a look like this embodies it perfectly while remaining seasonal.
3. Go All Out With Leaves
Nothing is more reminiscent of fall than leaves, and a whole collection of them transformed into a garland makes for one show-stopping mantel, as designed by Kimberly. For the prettiest result, choose a garland, pumpkins and accent decor in shades that all go together. Extra style points if it already matches the room’s everyday color palette.If you prefer bright, airy spaces to darker ones, choose decorative items in warm browns, earthy neutrals and cream hues for a cozy but still breezy look. A gorgeous leafy mantel like this is also a perfect segue into setting the tone for Thanksgiving decor.
4. Add a Collection of Autumnal Gourds
When fall rolls around, you can’t escape the rainbow of pumpkins and gourds that crop up during the season—and who would want to? This pretty produce not only results in tasty dishes, but they’re also perfect for creating a beautiful seasonal mantel display, as Leah White has artfully arranged here.Choose pumpkins and squashes in varying sizes and hues, but balance them by creating a symmetrical collection and working with different proportions. Add dark-colored leaves and a few candles, and you’ll have a wonderfully earthy look. Whether you choose faux or real pumpkins is up to you.
5. Add Sprigs of Dried Botanicals
Dried flowers, wheat, and leaves are all worth considering when filling empty vases and styling along the length of your mantel, as Laura Chappetto of Element Design Network has done beautifully here. After all, it’s the harvest season, so compiling a collection of pretty dried goods will instantly make your living room feel autumnal.Outside of these touches, you can opt for framed or sculptural art that matches the hues or general color scheme of the plants and the vessels they’re in. To create layers and a little more dimension, use different sizes of containers and lift them on books to create levels that draw the eye around your fireplace area.
6. Introduce New Artwork
Fall can bring up a wide range of thoughts and emotions; a good way to express those is through artwork. Whether it’s a vast landscape that feels like home, a photo of an autumnal scene or something a little more abstract, swapping out the piece above your mantel can physically and emotionally represent a change between seasons.
Doing so is subtler than bringing in bright orange decor or leaf motifs, but it’s wonderfully design-forward. Larger pieces can be framed with a few candles and a plant like Lindye Galloway Studio has expertly done here. Or you can tuck smaller paintings, sketches and photos among garlands or lines of pumpkins.
7. Mirror the Surrounding Room
You can tie your living room together by reflecting the surrounding room in your mantel’s decor. It’s such a simple trick that elevates your space andensures cohesion. Learn from Bonnie Ryan’s sophisticated space and see if you can put matching details all around your room that has a mantel.You can do this by matching vases full of the same branches or leaves or through candlestick clusters in the same material or color. Even the shades of your pillowcases and rug can mirror those that are in the artwork and plants you’ve placed on your mantel.
8. Create a Timeless Look
The start of a new season doesn’t necessarily mean you have to say goodbye to your usual layout and fully replace your decor. As Alana Marie Interiors has done here, sometimes it’s simply about creating a room that feels refreshed, which can be done through your mantel.This is particularly true if your space already incorporates autumnal colors and textures, like burnt orange and velvet. If adding pumpkins and leaf garlands feels overboard, instead use a sculptural vase in an earthy tone and add a trailing plant or structural succulent. Artwork can also be indicative of the changing seasons.
9. Layer Up Decor
Fall is all about layers—whether you’re wearing them, adding extra blankets to the bed or incorporating them into your decor. You can do this on your mantel, too. Dan Mazzarini, principal and creative director at ARCHIVE by Dan Mazzarini says to think about bringing in art and pairing clusters of decorative objects on top of your mantel.The key to doing this successfully is all about symmetry. “You can either lean into the symmetry and mirror visual weight with different pieces or be intentionally asymmetrical,” he says. “Balance a single lamp with a set of three candlesticks, for instance.” While this can be done year-round, it feels perfectly in place for fall.
10. Match Your Mantel to Your Shelves
Rather than viewing your mantel as a separate fixture, consider it part of a whole. When you do this, you can create a setting as lovely as Jennifer did here, which is completely cohesive and made for welcoming in the fall. Keep consistency between the surrounding shelves, hearth and coffee table, whether through matching candlesticks, books or objects of the same color.
11. Infuse a Touch of Halloween
If you’re looking for a tasteful Halloween idea for your mantel, Amanda Coakley has found the perfect option. This small collection of adhesive bats she placed cascading across a mantel mirror is a lovely tribute to the scariest holiday without falling into the gory or cheesy categories.
Bring in other decorative objects like antique books, candlesticks and framed artwork to complete your autumnal vision. A faux black pumpkin is also a stylish addition that perfectly toes the line between fall and Halloween decor.
12. Spruce Up a Faux Fireplace Mantel
Whether or not there’s a fireplace beneath your mantel doesn’t matter when it comes to transforming it for fall. Alyssa Marie embodied a warm and vintage-inspired aesthetic for her mantel, giving a picture-perfect snapshot of the season—topped with leaves and mini pumpkins, of course.While modern-style homes can still decorate for the arrival of autumn, there’s something to be said for how well antique and vintage styles go with fall decorating. Part of it comes down to the materials and colors involved. Old wood, an antique mirror or candlestick with a nice patina and handcrafted frames or vintage glass bottles all make a seasonal statement when paired together for fall.
13. Embrace Intentional Minimalism
There’s a difference between a mantel that’s styled with minimalism in mind and one that’s just bare and untouched. This mantel from Jen Dulac Interior Design is the perfect example of the former. Each item really brings character and harmony to the top of this fireplace without overwhelming it. For fall-like touches, choose earthy clay and ceramic vases or pots, brass candlesticks and a bold mirror.You can also consider the rest of the room and how it will play off the mantel. A stylish container for firewood, illustrative books and a pitcher vase full of branches are nice touches you can have elsewhere that signal your home is embracing fall.
14. Choose Colorful Fall Plants
Summer and spring may have flowers, but nothing quite compares to fall’s bright foliage. From the changing leaves in shades of orange, yellow and red to the berries and flowers that blossom before the year ends, you’re spoiled for options when it comes to sharing the season’s best botanicals in vases on your mantel.
Take a page from Christine’s book. Find glasses and ceramic containers in a warm color palette and fill them with branches and flowers. Stack these on top of antique books and add a pumpkin or two for the perfect fall finish above your fireplace. It’s one surefire way to add an instant burst of color to your home.
15. Create Moody Ambience
With shorter days and misty weather, this season calls for cozier interiors and a change in mood. Warm up a mantel with faux or real taper candles, as Arceri Interiors has done here, and add a little plant life for texture and greenery.
Metallic details, like a golden mirror, can help reflect candlelight around a room and add an extra touch of warmth, while darker paint colors add a moody energy.