So often, we focus on the mantel and the wall above, and we miss entirely what’s down below.
So here are my 5 Reasons to Decorate IN FRONT of your fireplace:
- One reason is so that your eye can be drawn down from the mantel and into the room. In order for the fabulous-ness that you are displaying up above and on your mantel to mean something, it needs to connect with the rest of the room. And the best way to do that is to balance it out by bringing interest off the wall and down to the floor.
- Styling in front of the fireplace brings a 3-D effect to your mantel display. To stop decorating at the mantel and above leads to a flat look (I’ve said it before – ‘Layer, layer, LAYER!’).
- Styling also achieves a ‘lived-in’ look. Don’t you love to see a photo of a cozy chair beside a fireplace with a throw tossed over an arm and a book or cup of coffee nearby? Well… YES!
- Decorating in front of your fireplace disguises attributes that you aren’t crazy about. I’m not in love with the material our hearth is made of. I’d love to re-do this spot, but until I can, I will style appropriately in front of the fireplace! In this case, I have the market basket under the bench, and the throw draping down to the hearth!
- It’s simply more pleasing to the eye. OK… that sounds subjective! But it’s true! I would say the more you have going on up on the mantel, the more imperative it is to have something down below. Can you imagine how top heavy this vignette would be if I had stopped with the mantel?
Here are some other fireplace vignettes:
I invite you to pin this image for future reference:
How about you? Do you like to decorate in front of the fireplace?
Happy Fall, Y’all!