How To Create A Cozy Mantel Inspired By The Secret Garden -

Have you ever just stared at your mantel and just couldn’t figure out what to do with it? Since the Christmas decorations came down I’ve been trying to figure out how I wanted to decorate our living room mantel. I wanted something fresh and different. Especially since a couple of the pieces that I had been using were now broken. In the meantime, I just put a few things up. But I really didn’t like it. I searched Pinterest for mantel decor ideas like crazy! Then I stumbled upon this romantic The Secret Garden book framed art at Marshalls.

I was instantly in love! The Secret Garden is one of my favorite childhood books. In the cart it went and next was deciding how I was going to decorate around it. Our mantel is kinda high and the bricks are fairly dark. So I wanted to make sure that what went with it didn’t disappear against the bricks. I wanted to be thoughtful and purposeful and make sure everything went together.

I’ve taken the past two weeks, curating items from around my house, going through my vintage book collection and buying flowers at Michael’s until I finally got my mantel finished. I’m so excited to show off some of my vintage books. I don’t have a large collection, but I love it any time I can use them in decor.

I’m in love with how this book inspired mantel turned out! It might be my favorite mantel that I’ve ever done. Here’s how I styled it and maybe it will help you style your next mantel.

How To Style A Mantel

No matter what your mantel decor idea is start with your focal point, your inspiration. In my case it was The Secret Garden framed art. Not only is the artwork gorgeous, but the frame is too. Bonus! It doesn’t disappear against our dark brick fireplace.

Next, shop your home. You probably have things around your home that you can use to fill out your mantel. I chose books from my vintage book collection. I tried to pick ones that had covers similar to the colors in the artwork, but they’re not perfect matches to the artwork and that’s perfectly fine. Books always look great! If you want them to be perfect matches, just get matching paper and cover them.

Think about how you want the items to flow. Do you want it to be higher in the center and trickle down to the left and right? Do you want the height to go from left to right? There’s so many ways to do it. Just play around until you get it the way you like it. It took me constantly switching how my books were displayed before I felt like I had it right.

I wanted to make sure I had something that really made the artwork pop. So I grabbed my book vase and went with tall flowers in the back for height and then filled in with shorter ones. I wanted it to look almost over filled. You have to have flowers for a secret garden.

Next it needed some warmth and glow. I grabbed my gold bow candle holders and used sage green taper candles, a creamy white lantern, and stole a mini candle that was at my piano. Who doesn’t love curling up with a good book and candles? Try to think of decor that compliments your focal point.

I love adding some natural elements if I can and the turtle shell my son found when he was a kid was perfect! And since this mantel is inspired by The Secret Garden, you definitely need some natural elements.

And for a little sparkle I used the vintage glass door knob that was a gift from a dear friend several years ago. I love antiques! It made me think of opening a secret garden gate.

I love how this mantel turned out! It’s dreamy, moody, and romantic and it makes me want to curl up with a cozy blanket, light my candles and read a good book. My cats love it too. So what do you think? I’ve included links to products below that are close as possible to what I used to create this dreamy book inspired mantel. I’d love to see pictures of any decor that you’ve done inspired by books.