Easy Summer Mantel Update

Before I began blogging I never decorated my mantel.  It pretty much stayed the same the whole year except for the month of December.  And I LOVED decorating my mantel for Christmas so why not join the mantel decorating ranks and spruce mine up for summer?  I know it’s almost the middle of August so I guess I’d better change it up soon for fall.

So let’s a take at what it looked like before.  Nothing special.  I think I randomly put that items on my mantel and didn’t think twice about it.  I’ve always focused on my bookshelf vignettes.

I thought it needed a bit of layering.  Perhaps another frame leaning against the mirror.  I didn’t have any extra frames lying around but I came across this new frame in the discount section at Superstore.  It was $5.

I took out all the inner stuff and just painted the frame a dark grey.  This would be so easy to do with any frame you find at a garage sale or thrift store but I just found what I could during a regular errand run.

There’s a small change in almost every one of these photos.  I switched up the wooden lantern for a roped vase and moved around some large shells.

I added my summer wreath which added some more dimension.

It’s a pretty simple update and I’m sure I could still tweak it or add a bulkier frame but by just shopping around my house for items and adding that frame I think made it very summer-y.

I have a larger wooden lantern on the hearth.  I bought both wooden lanterns at Home Sense as well as the rope vase last summer.  The lanterns were a dark grey but I whitewashed them with some white chalk paint.

I’m happy with my easy summer mantel.

Now it’s time to change it for fall!

Have a great weekend!

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