How to Decorate a Mantel Fixer Upper Style

Although I’m writing this post on the brink of the major holiday decorating season, where most of us will have pops of red, green & golds going on in our home I thought it would be fun to see & swoon over Jo’s mantel decor.  Because there is something for everyone to learn from the way she decorates and the basic rules she applies.  So here goes, How to Decorate a Mantel Fixer Upper Style.

I’m going to layout what I’ve already learned from her & it’s pretty simple.
Her basic supplies:
1.  A large framed piece or a “rustic” architecture piece or empty frames as your main statement piece
2.  Vintage hardback books
3.  Candles
4.  Fresh greenery, flowers or a wreath
5.  Vases for fresh greenery or flowers
6.  Something to flank both ends of the display.

Old World Charm

A great example of an empty frame, layered with a quote and candlesticks.  Simple & elegant!

I absolutely love the simplicity of this Metal and Wood Mantel (or faux mantel) from Jo!  It’s is so beautiful.  Has anyone else noticed how she turns the books backwards so that only the pages are seen.  Sometimes a lot of color or text (from book titles) can be distracting when styling or decorating a mantel.  By turning the books around, everything seems more calm and cohesive – don’t you think?

To be quite honest, I could say that every show is my favorite.  But the house from the photo up above, is the episode where I truly fell in love with the Fixer Upper Show.  This house was one of my all time favorites.  Trust me when I say, I am not a fan of “all white furniture” but the way she played on shiny metallics and a few rustic touches up against an all white room truly made me swoon.  This entire mantel and of course the built-ins are just fabulous.

Gormon Home 

Here’s the famous shiplap wall that I believe started the whole movement.  But here again we see how Joanna uses a large rustic piece (I believe I even see chicken wire?) to balance the room.  Matching items to frame the mantel, a few fresh flowers…and it’s done.  There truly is something to be said about a simply decorated mantel.  It allows the room to breathe.  Which is so important in a home.

One of my all time favorite mantels that Joanna designed & one of the few times she uses several framed pieces over a mantel.  But there’s a reason, and you know if you watched this episode.  They’re layered vintage maps that she found in the home from Waco, Texas.

Craftsman Cottage

I love the simplicity of all her mantels.  They’re typically timeless, but you can gain a lot of inspiration from the way she styles her mantels.  I love the play on blues & greens from the Magnolia wreath and the chippy blue candle sticks.  But she also focuses on the darker colors with the vintage stacks of books.

Oh how I love this entire wall!  As always they kept it real simple, but there again you have the basics of How to Decorate a Mantel Fixer Upper Style.  They have 1 framed piece, fresh flowers, and hardback books turned so that the pages are on display.  Love it all.

The Magnolia House

Of course I had to add her holiday mantel at the Magnolia House!  Love the bottle brush trees & her focus on 1 pop of color.  GREEN!  Green candle votives & fresh greens added in against the black make this mantel stand out.  So beautiful!

I hope you all have learned or found tips from this post on How to Decorate a Mantel Fixer Upper Style.  I know for me, when I watch the “reveals” there’s always so much to take in, that I get lost on all the pretty details or the basic way she styles everything.  I honestly feel that less is more after seeing in detail all her pretty mantels.  How about you?