14

David Collins

Interior designer David Easton once said, “A room without a fireplace is a room without a focus.”  Growing up in the Deep South, where fireplaces were not the norm in my neighborhood, I’m not so sure I agree 100%, but I do believe that when mantels are present in a room they provide a much needed anchor and focal point.

Darryl Carter

In preparing this post, I discovered that mantels have a long and varied history beginning in the 16th century. Back then, mantels were an essential element to any home because they provided heat and light to the house. As lifestyles evolved, mantels became less about energy sources and more about impressing the neighbors and reflected a family’s wealth or lack thereof.

Barbara Franceski

The French preferred their mantels low and wide, while the British built tall and stately mantels for their homes. Americans adopted the British aesthetic initially, but over time influences from various design periods like Baroque, Greek Revival, Neo-Palladian, Federal, Art Deco and Modern appeared in American interiors thanks to architects and interior designers.

Nate Berkus

Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with my mantel. I love the warmth and sexiness of a fire burning on a cold, snowy evening, but the next day I wake up dreading the soot-filled clean-up. I’m also a minimalist and prefer a less cluttered mantel, so you won’t find many decorative objects over my fireplace. In fact, the only time my mantel actually looks really pretty is during the holidays when I drape a magnolia garland on it with a few Diptyque candles for ambiance.

Christina Rottman

Over the years I’ve collected many inspiration tear sheets and digital photos of decorated mantels that I love, so I pulled them out over the weekend to share with y’all. Pay close attention to the scale of each room and how the proportion of each mantel provides balance and creates the focus that Mr. Easton insisted was a necessity.

Meg Braff

Mona Hajj

Antonia Hutt

Christine Gillespie

Kelly Wearstler

Here’s a great example of me not noticing the mantel at first because of the richness of Kelly’s interiors, but there is a mantel between the two doors and much to my liking it is very spare!

Eric Pike

J. Randall Powers

Markham Roberts

Thom Filicia

Michael Smith

Thad Hayes

David Hicks

Sheila Bridges

Barry Dixon

SHARE THIS