Embellishing your fireplace with festive Christmas mantel decor is a fun and creative holiday tradition. Style your mantel with anything from garlands to wreaths, candles, stockings, photos, snow globes, rustic pinecones, or DIY decorations. Coordinate your mantel decor with your tree decorations for a cohesive look.
Whether you're looking to create a traditional, modern, minimalist, maximalist, sustainable, colorful, kitschy, classic, rustic, vintage, or contemporary holiday display, these festive and wide-ranging Christmas mantel decor ideas will help inspire you.
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Arrange DIY Cardboard Trees
Decorate a neutral mantel with DIY cardboard Christmas tree ornaments to create a mini forest. Craftberry Bush added in brass candlesticks, small white ornaments, and simple greens to add dimension and volume.
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Let Stockings Be the Star
Create a happy, fun Christmas vibe by hanging brightly colored stockings decorated in pompoms and candy cane stripes. Kara Whitten from A Beautiful Mess decked the mantel with a forest of brightly colored bottle brush trees.
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Hang a Holiday Wreath
Soften your Christmas color scheme by swapping in pink instead of red. Blogger Monika Hibbs decked her mantel in a green wreath and matching garland embellished with pale pink satin ribbons in honor of a recently born daughter's first Christmas.
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Layer Christmas Lights
For a secular spin on the holiday, create a wintry display with a focus on layered indoor Christmas lights. Emily Henderson Design combined an oversized star light with a mix of candlesticks and votive candles, adding simple greens and faux fur-trimmed stockings for a cozy feel in this mountain house living room.
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Swap In a Holiday Painting
Hang a holiday-themed painting above the fireplace to set the tone for a Christmas mantel display like this one from Inspired by Charm. The mantel surface is filled in with a family of vintage woodland ornaments and tree-shaped figurines in a mix of metals and woods.
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Try an Asymmetrical Garland
Create a cozy, natural Christmas mantel design using an asymmetrical garland. Modern Glam finished the mantel display with an assortment of candlesticks, and some Christmas-themed framed art stacked against the vintage mirror over the fireplace.
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Include a Mini Tree
Decorate your fireplace mantel with greens and a Christmas lights. Maison de Cinq used simple white Christmas lights on the garland and a mini tree placed next to the hearth that provides extra light and charm without stealing the show from the main tree elsewhere in the room.
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Keep It Simple and Serene
Fireplace mantels come in many shapes and sizes. Sugar and Charm painted the front of this bump-out fireplace in a minty green and hung a wreath, then decorated the small shelves that flank either side with a trio of white tree-shaped candles to decorate the split mantel.
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Add French Country Flair
Add a French country-inspired feel by hanging a simple wreath over an antique mirror above the mantel. Maison de Cinq filled out the Christmas display with a pair of decorative urns, and neutral-toned stockings hung in a neat row.
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Supersize the Garland
Complement a contemporary formal living room with a maximalist mantel display. Mel Bean Interiors decorated the white fireplace with a supersized garland that spills down both sides of the fireplace mantel.
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Hang Christmas Lyrics
Hang Christmas lyrics on a chalkboard above the mantel to create a timeless display. Blogger Ashley Luengo from Modern Glam carried the black, white, and rose gold theme of this maximalist Christmas display from the mantel to the pair of trees.
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Decorate With Gingerbread
Mini gingerbread houses will give your Christmas mantel a cozy feel. Monika Hibbs decorated this neutral holiday mantel with fresh greens, gingerbread house ornaments, and an abundance of taper candlesticks of varying heights and styles in similar brass tones.
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Add a Holiday Mantel Sign
Decorate a contemporary mantel with a bright word-based sign. Emily Henderson Design chose bright red letters spelling out the word JOY to complement black-and-white check stockings and a gold tree.
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Try a Monochrome Mantel
Create an understated holiday look with all-white decor. My 100 Year Old Home decorated this Christmas bedroom fireplace mantel with a row of white house-shaped votives, adding touches of red and green throughout the room.
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Try a Mantel Alternative
If there is no mantel to decorate, improvise. On the floor-to-ceiling fireplace in this spacious Spanish-style living room from Emily Henderson Design, a simple lighted wreath encircles a faux trophy head above the fireplace. Stockings hang from a built-in bookshelf just off to one side.
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Make a Mantel Marquee
Build a DIY marquee light to give your Christmas mantel a bright and kitschy holiday spin. A Beautiful Mess kept the rest of the mantel decoration simple with pompom and gold ball garlands and mini Christmas tree and pinecone table ornaments.
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Pair Black and White
Complement a minimalist black-and-white Christmas mantel with pairs of matching stockings, overstuffed throw pillows, simple greens, candles, and house-shaped votives, like this space from Most Lovely Things.
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Mix Colors and Metallics
Modernize a traditional holiday living room mantel with metallic finishes. Inspired by Charm embellished an evergreen garland with a string of gold beads and added a gold-toned banner that reads “Merry & Bright” that complement the metallic ball ornaments on the tree.
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Pair White and Gold
Stick to shades of white and gold for an elegant look. Craftberry Bush decorated this Christmas mantel with a green garland and wreath and white stockings strung with gold bells for an elegant take on natural holiday decor.
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Style a Multicolored Mantel
Decorate your mantel with primary colors for a modern feel. Emily Henderson Design chose a bold print in primary colors on the Frame TV over her family room fireplace that echoes the multicolored decorations on the tree.
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Drape a Mantel Garland
For a soft take on Christmas mantel decor, start with a draped garland. Maison de Cinq finished the mantel with tapered candles and a simple ribbon-tied wreath on a vintage gilded mirror for a French-inspired look.
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Style With Gilded Objects
For an understated, sophisticated take on holiday decor, style your mantel with a few gilded objects, like this space from Marlaina Teich Designs.
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Display an Illuminated Sign
Pair a DIY sign above the mantel with gold mini trees and animal figurines for a casual take on holiday decor, like this space from A Beautiful Mess.
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Work Around Existing Decor
If you have a large painting over the mantel, decorate the surface with simple greens, like this farmhouse living room from My 100 Year Old Home.
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Channel Scandi Style
Wood bead garlands will give your mantel and tree a serene, Scandi-style Christmas feel, like this living room from Lindye Galloway Studio.
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Hang a Giant Wreath
Not every fireplace has a traditional mantel. In this living room from Emily Henderson Design, an oversized wreath decorates the blank space above the firebox. Built-in bench seating is treated like a mantel and decorated with a tall vase full of red holiday berries, tree ornaments, and toys to delight the little ones.
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Layer Your Mantel Decor
Layer your mantel for a homey feel. Inspired by Charm created a red-themed rustic Christmas mantel on this brick and wood fireplace by layering a green garland with gold beads, oversized and frosted pinecones, red-and-white ornaments, Christmas lights, and knit stockings trimmed with white faux fur.
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Choose a Theme
Use your mantel to display your favorite holiday characters. Craftberry Bush created a Nutcracker-themed mantel in shades of red, blue, and gold for this classic Christmas mantel display with timeless appeal.
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Decorate With Faux Berries
Energize a white fireplace mantel with bunches of faux red berries for a simple take on holiday decor, like this farmhouse living room from My 100 Year Old Home. Pair it with black-and-white stockings and a frosted wreath.
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Personalize Your Mantel
Reinvent holiday traditions by following your own vision of what Christmas means to you. For Laura Gummerman at A Beautiful Mess, that meant this irreverent DIY marquee of a vintage Corvette Stingray carrying a pink tree on its roof.
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Mix Real and Faux Greens
Spruce up faux greenery with fresh to give your Christmas mantel a lush feel without breaking your annual holiday decorating budget, like this space from Craftberry Bush.
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Pile on the Pillar Candles
Pull together a quick, timeless farmhouse-style mantel with flickering LED pillar candles, natural greens, and pinecones. This space from Thistlewood Farms gets the job done with a minimum of fuss or expense.
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Decorate With Lamps
Trade candles for a pair of Christmas lamps for a cozy feel, like this rustic space from Inspired by Charm. Fill in with string lights on the mantel garland and add shine with metallic ball ornaments.
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Try a Neutral Palette
There's no reason that a neutral-toned Christmas mantel can't be as festive as a brightly colored one. Thistlewood Farms decorated this farmhouse mantel with natural materials, large curled wire ribbons, touches of gold, and faux greenery.
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Hang a Trophy Head
Use DIY scavenged branches to build your own eco-friendly tree and complement with rustic elements over the fireplace. Australian travel photographer Kara Rosenlund added a focal point with a natural trophy head (feel free to swap in a faux trophy head made from textiles, wood, plaster, or other materials).
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Try a Minimalist Mantel
Decorate with black accents to create a minimalist take on Christmas decor. Most Lovely Things decorated the mantel of this painted stone fireplace with a line of black house-shaped votives, black taper candles, and a small vase of red leaves.
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Hang Christmas-Themed Art
Swap out the art above your mantel with affordable holiday decor such as framed song lyrics, like this cozy family room mantel from Inspired by Charm.
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Coordinate Multiple Mantels
If you're blessed with two mantels that are visible from across an open space or adjoining rooms, they don't need to match perfectly. But be sure visually link them using similar greens or variations on the same color scheme, like the twin mantels in this spacious home from interior designer Susan Spath of Kern & Co.
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Work Around the TV
Decorate around the TV with low-profile decorations that won't block the screen when in use. Emily Henderson Design kept this holiday mantel decoration simple with a low-profile green garland decorated with a string of gold bells.
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Add a Waterfall Garland
Bring the drama in a contemporary living room with an oversized garland. Mel Bean Interiors used a generous waterfall garland on the fireplace of this contemporary living room that spills down both sides and puddles at the base.
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Stack Framed Mantel Art
Layer framed art or family photos leaning on the mantel for a casual look. Blogger Ursula Carmona of Home Made by Carmona finished off this Christmas mantel with simple greens and a brass bell garland.
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Line Up Bottle Brush Trees
Turn your mantel into a Christmas wonderland with inexpensive bottle brush trees. Inspired by Charm used blue and green bottle brush trees, vintage brass deer ornaments, DIY wood stockings, and simple greens surrounding a large mirror to brighten up this light and airy Christmas mantel.
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Hang a Gilded Mirror
A gilded mirror on the wall above the fireplace is the perfect foil for a Christmas display. Blogger Ursula Carmona of Home Made by Carmona made this budget-friendly display with an assortment of candles in glass and gold vessels, simple ribbon, and reusable faux garlands decorated with greens and white flowers.
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Try a Maximalist Mantel
Decorate a shallow mantel with oversized garlands to create a maximalist feel. Craftberry Bush covered the Christmas mantel in a lush garland that flows seamlessly into the twin trees flanking either side of the fireplace.
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Display Traditional Decor
Traditional Christmas ornaments like Santa figurines and a palette of red, green, and gold will give your mantel a timeless look. Blogger Ursula Carmona of Home Made by Carmona hung red and gold stockings from a DIY hangar box filled with mini presents and greens.
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Decorate with Glass Cloches
Use glass cloches to display ornaments and fairy lights. Blogger Ursula Carmona of Home Made by Carmona added a faux fur stocking, mini pinecones, and wrapped small gifts to decorate the rest of the mantel.
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Blow Up a Family Photo
Make your mantel display personal with a family photo. Blogger Annie Diamond from Most Lovely Things set her Frame TV with a blown-up family photo from a previous year's Christmas card.
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Try an All-White Mantel
Hang a white faux berry wreath above the mantel for a streamlined modern take on Christmas decor, like this space from interior designer Amy Leferink at Interior Impressions.
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Tie Your Mantel With a Bow
Source Christmas mantel decor from the great outdoors, like Mary Maloney of Hopkinton, MA.-based Bee's Knees Interior Design.
"We are blessed to live in an environment where we can cut much of what we need right in our backyard," Maloney says. "Winterberry is lovely for a pop of red. Add in pinecones for texture. Evergreen clippings are long lasting and add such a lovely smell to your indoor environment. And embellish your displays with a ribbon accent."
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Decorate a Mantel With Gold
Gold mantel decor will complement both modern and traditional spaces. A Beautiful Mess decorated this white living room with gold accents including a pair of gold Christmas trees decorated with gold ball ornaments and a mantel decorated sparingly with a double-draped a gold ball ornament garland and a mini gold tree.
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Add Colorful Lights
Modernize your Christmas mantel with colored lights. Blogger Ursula Carmona of Home Made by Carmona for the holidays in shades of green and gold, adding a pair of DIY tree-shaped LED lights on either end of the mantel to tie it all together.
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Accent With Red
Bold red accents will make a dramatic statement with minimal effort. Thistlewood Farms added Christmas cheer to this blue-and-white living room with contrasting bright red and white stockings and advent calendar votive candles with red numbers that line the mantel covered in fresh greens.
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Try a Wild Mantel Display
Decorate your Christmas mantel with a lively mix of greens, branches, berries, and other natural elements in shades of red and green. Create height to give the mantel decor a stylized but slightly wild feel that is chic without looking like it's trying too hard, like this holiday display from designer Annie Sloan.
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Accent With Orange Slices
Accent your Christmas mantel with a dried orange slice garland that will energize any style interior from farmhouse to modern to traditional. Marie Flanigan Interiors layered an orange slice garland onto a green garland in this formal living room, then hung green velvet stockings from the mantel for an elegant feel.
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Create a Whimsical Mantel
Create a maximalist Christmas mantel display with everything from garlands to berries and whimsical Santa hats and gnomes, like this playful display from Homestead City Dwelling.
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Try Multicolored Candles
Don't feel you have to stick to red and green when decorating your Christmas mantel. Designer Annie Sloan modernized this traditional English fireplace mantel with a mix of multicolored taper candles and candlesticks for a stylish blend of old and new.
What do you put on a mantel to decorate it for Christmas?
You can decorate your mantel for Christmas with everything from stockings to garlands to wreaths to real or LED candles to a collection of holiday-themed figurines or Christmas-themed art. Decorate your mantel with real or faux greenery, flowers, pinecones, and branches for a natural look. Add gold, silver, or other metallic touches for a festive feel.
How do you decorate a mantel for Christmas when there's a TV above it?
Decorate a mantel with a TV above it for Christmas using decorations that won’t block the screen. A garland that runs the length of the mantel and drapes down one or both sides will make your mantel look holiday-ready without interfering with your ability to watch Christmas movies.
Depending on how much space there is between the mantel and the bottom of the TV, you may also display small ornaments or a collection of holiday figurines.
What can you use as a mantel for Christmas decor if you don't have a mantel?
If you don’t have a fireplace mantel to use for holiday decor, you can treat any linear surface as a mantel replacement. Think floating shelves, a console table, or the top of a bookcase or midcentury modern buffet. If you live in an apartment or smaller space, turn a windowsill or radiator cover into a makeshift mantel to create a focal point for festive Christmas decor.