styling a summer mantlepiece

Lets face it, as much as we’d like to, most of us can’t spend the entire summer at the beach. But why not bring the beach spirit into our homes? The easiest way is to create a tablescape that’s easy to look at from any direction in a room. Our living room mantelpiece, for example, is constantly changing its mood, and not just during the holidays. Our friends and family know immediately where our heads are at when they enter the living room and look at the mantelpiece.

As you can see, at the moment, we’re embracing summertime. Just assemble pieces that relate to any theme, using color and shapes that complement each other and speak to how you’re feeling at the moment. Resist the temptation to add too many objects at any given time.

We like to try to include something from the garden, even if it’s just branches or colorful leaves in clear glass vessels. These blue hydrangeas capture early summer in the garden. They’re actually starting to fade into a wonderful combination of blue and lavender. Since orange and blue are complementary colors, we added these bright orange Fenton glass pieces we discovered recently at Brimfield Antique Show. They’re a nice contrast to the muted starfish and seashells we collected on a visit to my sister, Betsy’s home in Scituate, Massachusetts. If you’d like to share your summer mantlepiece or tablescape with us, please send us a photo, and we’ll share. Stay cool!