Cozy Fireplace Mantle

For the fireplace mantle, I was inspired by a photo I saw in Rate My Space of a mantle completely covered in simple black frames with white matting of all sizes with black and and white photos. They looked beautiful along with creating a way to display severeal more photos than the usual wall hanging method allows.

These frames of course are not the ones I bought at Hobby Lobby, but they are of the same theme. I had a bit more silver and diamond and pearl I believe, with a few small ones that had a pop of heart red or light pink and cream. Very feminine.

Especially with the tall bookcases I have in my space, this gave me a place to show off my favorite memories and and people. Instead of going with the ultra modern theme, I actually went to Hooby Lobby and and for a much more reasonable price bought several jeweled and antiqued frames of all sizes which go so much better with the more feminine mirrors and fabrics of my place. I even got a little minature pearl and diamond encrusted clock for the mantle that blends in secretly with all the other frames.

Above I hung a simple beveled mirror and I have one of my glass lamps with a rectangular cream colored shade set on the corner of the mantle for some lighting. In the future I may swap the mirror for something more substantial looking, either with a stronger venetian style or a dark wood frame to add some dimension to it. The one right now is a bit too simple. Having it paired with another and hung vertically in the dining room though turned out great. Now I just need a buffet bar of some sorts below those two mirrors and a couple of twin sconces to frame out that wall. All in good time...