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https://www.tidbitsandtwine.com/how-to-decorate-a-mantel/

Wondering what to put on your mantel? Or how to decorate it in a way that looks “right”? Here are three simple steps that will teach you how to decorate a mantel like a pro!

Often, a fireplace mantel is a focal point of a room and yet we struggle to figure out how to decorate this beautiful feature.  Should it hold family photos?  Or maybe a flat-screen TV?  We try candlesticks, mirrors, pictures, and plants but nothing feels right.

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This is a problem i have. I have urns some are vintage and quite unique but i have problems deciding what to do with them sometimes so that they look real.

Chop some urnyuns.

Calypso Jones wrote:https://www.tidbitsandtwine.com/how-to-decorate-a-mantel/

Wondering what to put on your mantel? Or how to decorate it in a way that looks “right”? Here are three simple steps that will teach you how to decorate a mantel like a pro!

Often, a fireplace mantel is a focal point of a room and yet we struggle to figure out how to decorate this beautiful feature.  Should it hold family photos?  Or maybe a flat-screen TV?  We try candlesticks, mirrors, pictures, and plants but nothing feels right.

Sorry, C, but blek[ to all of them, except maybe the last. They all look so cluttered - like folks set down whatever happened to be in their hands - and walked away. Lose the books on the last one, and change the peach to ?, and that one might work.

Like I said, sorry. I truly don't 'get' a number of these so-called "pro's." My guess is someone prominent said, "I like that," and, wahlah!, a star was born.

Just for ideas.. I don't care for overly cluttered mantels either. Do you have hobby lobby in your area?

Calypso Jones wrote:Just for ideas.. I don't care for overly cluttered mantels either.  Do you have hobby lobby in your area?

Maybe some wreaths and candles.

My personal favorite

The flat-screen tevee is a hard one.

Practical as it seems, there doesn't seem to be a way to install a flat-screen in home decor. The traditional console television had DEPTH. It ate space but it was there, a wood cabinet, part of the furnishings.

The final-generation plastic-cased 1990s color tevee wasn't an improvement, but it still was in 3D. Many families set it on a sideboard, and put other household stuff inside, with the television on top.

But, those flat screens, hanging on a wall? Looks like Early American Prison. Anyway, on the wall, they're that much further away, and seem smaller than they are.

I'd see about putting the flat-screen on some sort of stand on something. If not, have it lower, and in periphery of other furniture - so it's not like a strange modernist picture frame.

I'm glad I don't watch tevee.

As for the fireplace...decorate it with a FIRE. In many homes, that's rare - yeah, I understand, firewood costs and it's a pain.

Casey Jones wrote:The flat-screen tevee is a hard one.

Practical as it seems, there doesn't seem to be a way to install a flat-screen in home decor.  The traditional console television had DEPTH.  It ate space but it was there, a wood cabinet, part of the furnishings.

The final-generation plastic-cased 1990s color tevee wasn't an improvement, but it still was in 3D.  Many families set it on a sideboard, and put other household stuff inside, with the television on top.

But, those flat screens, hanging on a wall?  Looks like Early American Prison.  Anyway, on the wall, they're that much further away, and seem smaller than they are.

I'd see about putting the flat-screen on some sort of stand on something.  If not, have it lower, and in periphery of other furniture - so it's not like a strange modernist picture frame.

I'm glad I don't watch tevee.

As for the fireplace...decorate it with a FIRE.  In many homes, that's rare - yeah, I understand, firewood costs and it's a pain.

You bring up some good points Casey . We're finally getting rid of a cherry wood entertainment center that I converted to handle a flat screen . We never wanted to get rid of it because it was a high quality traditional cherry wood piece that cost a good buck in the old days and you can't even find furniture made with cherry anymore . But the things taking up space and holds things that we don't use anymore (Playstation, VCR DVD recorder ,Receiver and exchanger ) . The wife wants a bigger flat screen so I'm going to build a mantle with a fire place and put a electric fire box in it and the tv will go on the wall above it . The false fireplace will only stick out 18" by 6ft while the cherry wood is 24" by 6ft and is about a foot taller than the one Ill build . If I can get one from an old home it'll save me time but those are far and few between .

Keep the entertainment center.

Throw out the obsolete stuff - VCR and the like - and fill it with stuff you need to store. Extra dishes, or emergency gear. I don't stream movies - I have them on DVDs or on external drives. They're far more compact than videotape cartridges but they do take up space.

You could even put a computer in there, inside, with a remote keyboard, and work to rig your screen to double as a large monitor for streaming online programming. Or if you want to go search something, or type out an email with the wife, or whatever.

Space is always useful; and practical, attractive furniture gives more than it takes in terms of space.