Before & After: Modern Fireplace Mantel

My mom’s birthday was earlier this month and I decided to gift her a mantel makeover! Their mantel before wasn’t necessarily bad… just a bit sparse and unintentional. (Also, let me toot my dad’s horn for a second… he’s been painting for just a year now and that’s his painting above the fireplace! He’s got such talent!)

Before:

So after a trip to Home Goods and doing one of my favorite things—shopping the house for free goodies—here’s what we ended up with.

After:

We purchased the plant, little white candle holder, and wood and glass candle holder and candle. Everything else my parents already had, they were just hidden throughout the house.

I stayed within the color scheme of black, white, and neutrals, with pops of teal and green. The teal is a nice contrast against the maroon wall, and having some white accessories really helped brighten things up.

The mantel felt like it needed some height to help connect the hanging art above to what was going on on the mantel. A great way to add height is by stacking books under an object, like I did with the plant. And although this mantel is quite shallow—only 6 inches deep—I still wanted to give it some depth through layering. By leaning a photo frame against the wall, I was then able to layer the candles in front of it and create that depth within the small space I had to work with. (Side note: the senior photo of my now mother-of-two sister is simply a place-holder until they get a family photo printed.)

I had such a good time helping bring some new color, height, depth, and life to my parent’s mantel. AND it was super affordable! At just around $30, this project was not only easy on the budget, but also pretty quick as we finished it in less than 2 hours (shopping included!).

If you’d be interested in a styling service like this, the Power Hour might be perfect for you! Check out my services page to learn more, or contact me for pricing!

P.S. See some more dark walls here (and how to incorporate them into your home!).