How to Decorate Your Fireplace and Mantle for Thanksgiving

Now that we live at 4500 feet above sea-level, Fall comes a bit earlier than it used to.  High on top of a mountain in Western North Carolina, our cabin is perched amongst a forest of pine, walnut, chestnut, birch and maple trees that start to liven up our long-range view from the upper deck,  just as Labor Day passes and summer begins to fade.

That’s my signal it’s time to bring in the house plants that have spent the summer in the antique wooden wagon we have on our front entrance porch.  Time to store away the Spring/Summer mantle and hearth decor and pull out the bins that contain our Fall decorations.  Time to make a visit to the garden center to buy a wagon-full of rusty-orange mums as part of our front porch seasonal changeover.  All-in-all, a glorious time of year!

ANDIRONS, LOG HOLDERS & BELLOWS, OH MY!

But before we get to the seasonal part of decorating your fireplace, let’s first examine all the various ways you can add fabulous details to your fireplace vignette designs.  Here’s some of the really great items that you can use to help make having a fire anytime you want a little more fabulous:

• Fireplace screen (chain/freestanding/doors)
• Set of Andirons
• Log Holder
• Hearth Rug
• Set of Fireplace Tools (shovel/broom/poker/tongs)
• Log Grate inside fireplace
• Ash Bucket/Shovel
• Heavy Duty Work Gloves
• Candelabra (off-season)
• Vintage Fireplace Popcorn Popper
• Fireplace Match Holder
• Bellows
• Basket/Container of Fat Wood
• Container of “Magic Color Pinecones”

These are the things that will stay throughout the Fall and Winter until you give the firebox (where the fire is built) a final cleaning at the end of the wood burning season in your locale.  As you can see in the image gallery, I have a number of the listed items, including a popcorn popper, bellows and  fat wood I store in a retired creel fishing basket.  I love the idea of having “vignettes” set up to add interest to the hole in the wall!

HOW TO DECORATE YOUR FIREPLACE AND MANTLE FOR THANKSGIVING

 

Here’s a selection of photos of some of my Fall fireplace decor ideas for both the mantle and hearth areas to give you inspiration when you begin to design your home’s Fall season decorations.  

I have been collecting seasonal decor for years now, and love to make plans to watch a good Hallmark movie while I go about creating my mantle and hearth designs.  I’m up to 7 bins in various sizes now, and am just about to graduate to an eighth with this year’s additions.  I can’t resist picking up a few new items each year to refresh my designs.  Hence, the eight storage containers. (outdoor & indoor)  Another bane in the life of H.H. (hunky husband).

Here’s a list of the decor items I have stashed away to use in my Fall seasonal creations: 

• various fall leaf garlands
• 6 grapevine garlands with greenery and fall gourds
• pinecones
• an assortment of mosses/moss & lichen covered branches
• 4 autumn wreathes
• pair of 18″ tall open-wire gourd candle holders
• various small “knick-knacks” like wooden farm house silouettes
• miniature grapevine cornucopias
• miniature indian corn bundles
• fall-color mums and sunflowers
• miniature faux pumpkins
• battery operated mini-acorn light strands  (I use them inside my lanterns)

When it comes to Fall fireplace decorations, you can go extravagant or minimal, it’s really up to your sense of style.  I favor traditional decor items in “kind-of-crowded” vignettes that give an air of “abundance”, rather than opulence.  It’s a design esthetic I developed through my years of creating buffet decor for the numerous parties I catered.  If it’s your style, it’s your style! 

I want to add a stern warning here to make sure you can enjoy fabulous roaring fires all season long.

Before, during or immediately after wood-burning-season, you MUST at the very least use a Chimney-Cleaning-Log to help control the creosote accumulation in your chimney.  You should have your chimney professionally cleaned every two years!  Take heed…

WHAT’S YOUR FALL DECOR STYLE?

Now that you’re starting to think about how to decorate your home for the Fall Season, click this link to see how I decorated our front porch for the changing of the leaves.  Fabulous Fall Front Porch Decor Ideas To Inspire You!

Then go check out how to create a Thanksgiving table display that will knock your guests’ socks off at How to Create a Thanksgiving Table Display Worthy of Instagram!

Now, what is your style?  I’m going to be nurturing the exploration and development of your personal sense of style through all the content on my site.  This blog is all about YOU!  Your style. Your needs.  I want to answer the burning questions you may have on any of the topics covered at IFAFL.    Let’s start the conversation.

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