Girl's Got Mantel Issues

That's mantel, not mental.

So, one of the things I loved about my house from the second I saw it was the beautiful chocolate painted fireplace. I also thought that the way the former owners (whose names do not pass our lips in this house – we don’t like them. That’s probably another post, though) did the mantel actually looked really good.

Yes, I’m creepy and took photos of the house during the inspection. Whatever. Judge me.

But now that I look back, I’m not as in love with it. (Though I obviously blatantly copied the metal art in the nook.)

It’s been pretty bare for the past seven months simply because I’m sort of at a loss for what I want to do with it. I have googled “cute fireplace mantels” more times than I can count, but am having a tough time getting some inspiration.

So I bought a picture frame and put a photo of Greg and I from vacay in Ft. Lauderdale last year. We also have this golden “B” that his sweet Grammy gave us as one of our engagement gifts. The final item I ordered from Etsy last month and just arrived today. It’s a family sign that I had customized for our mantle. I ordered it from the amazing “Our Hobby To Your Home” shop. Super cute.

It’s actually more of a sage green, but doesn’t look like it in this picture. Now, I just need to pick up a plaque holder and figure out where exactly I want to place it. But I’m sort of at a loss for what else to place on the mantel.

I’m probably going to shuffle these items around and I know I need something with height, but as my husband pointed out, I’m pretty sure we’ve hit the maximum candle allotment for our living room so candle pillars are out. I’ve thought about doing a vase (or set of vases) with flowers or branches.

So, here’s the mantel now. Wah, wah, wah. I just put these items up there randomly so totally know I need to rework where these are. I’ll call this the “before” photo.

Any ideas? Please?