Winter Mantle {Living Room}

Hi all! have I told you lately how much I love my new mantle and surround? After living here for over two years with just a firebox in the wall, I am having so much fun decorating it! I honestly don’t think I will ever get tired of it. This is my winter mantle, but I think it could just as easily be called my Valentine’s Day mantle. I showed you my thrifted mirror makeover for Trashtastic Tuesday this week, and you saw a few sneak peeks of my winter mantle, so today I am sharing the whole she-bang!

I loved my Christmas mantle – well…really all of my Christmas décor this year, but by the time New Years rolls around, I start twitching at it all. I start feeling overwhelmed by it all and it starts feeling so cluttered. I am so ready to have it all gone and start with a fresh clean slate. I did keep some elements that were on my Christmas Mantle around for winter, you can see my Christmas mantle here if you missed it. This winter mantle that I created is something that I can live with and enjoy until I get the urge to decorate for Spring. And the bonus is that it also has a little bit of the feel of Valentines Day to me, without being too over the top. I could probably add a cute Valentine’s Day Garland or something when the time comes.

The lantern keeps popping up as part of my mantle décor. Probably because it is large, and it just seems to fill the space well. For now, it just works, so why mess with it?

The old rusted piece of metal has also been on the mantle ever since I have had it. But this time, I propped it up horizontally instead of vertically. I am digging this layered look of the mirror, the metal and the two frames. The tall candle stick has also been on my mantle before. but I did change it up a little by using some Rub N’ Buff on some of the details. That Rub ‘N Buff is addictive. I could walk around my whole house and just buff that gold right onto everything! Somebody stop me!

The tall galvanized metal vase with the berry twigs is making a reappearance on my winter mantle. I also used it in my Christmas dining room, I had LED twig branches in it. I finally got around to aging the galvanized metal, and I will tell you how I did it in a future post, but I like it much better this way. And this spring, I plan to sit it outside for a few rains so that it can age naturally a little more.

I purchased both of the prints as a set from Groopdealz before Christmas, and the Hello Deer print was on the mantle for Christmas as well. I think it was something like $9.99 for both of these prints, and they are on nice quality paper too. I will definitely get my money’s worth of use out of them!

I am happy with how my mantle turned out for winter. And I am glad I get to share it with you today!

This large canvas basket holds a couple of winter throws, but look at what is propped in it right now! I found this vintage plaid suitcase at Goodwill before Christmas, and when I saw it, my eyes almost popped out of my head. Seriously though, I could not get it into my buggy fast enough. Do you ever have that same feeling when you see an awesome find at a thrift store? I start to panic that someone else is going to pick it up and whisk it away from me before I can get my hands on it. It is stressful people. And guess how much it was? TWO BUCKS!!! It definitely made my day! The vintage suitcase on the bottom was a gift from LC for my birthday a couple of years ago. A man after my own heart, I tell ya!

And this cane barrel chair is to the left of the fireplace. I bought this chair, along with it’s twin, at Goodwill for $5 each a couple of years ago. It needs reupholstered, so for now I have my fuzzy faux sheepskin from Ikea on it. I purchased the Kilim pillow off of Ebay several months ago, and still love it!

So that is my first bit of décor around my home for 2015. I have a pretty good start on the new year so far. I purged 6 black trash bags of toys from Mr. 7 Year Old’s bedroom recently, and that felt so good. I also found a great Mid Century Modern turntable that I am in the process of refinishing. If you follow me on Instagram you probably saw it. I hope to have it finished this weekend, and can’t wait to share it with you!

I am going to see Wanda Sykes tonight, and I am so excited, love her! Have any of you ever seen her do stand up live? If so, let me know! Have a great weekend!