If you have a brick fireplace in your home, you have a golden design opportunity to take your room to the next level. Here are some of the very coziest brick fireplace mantel ideas that will inspire you re-create yours.
A fireplace is basically the definition of “cozy,” and if you’re anything like me, cozy is what I always aim for when decorating in my home. Lucky for us, the fireplace and mantel are the easiest low hanging fruit when designing a room and a great way to showcase your personal style in your home.
I am going to take you through the steps I thought about when designing my brick fireplace with wood mantel as well as give you some tips and inspiration for customizing your own.
Once you read these simple tips for designing your fireplace mantel, you’re going to want to start making yours over today (and have it done by tomorrow!).
In this post we’ll cover the coziest brick fireplace mantel ideas that will take your space to the next level.
Brick Fireplace Mantel Ideas:
1. Paint your brick an accent color
The fireplace is a great spot to add some color and dimension to your room. I wanted to add some moodiness to my light greige room and so I chose this dark blue-gray color to achieve that. I took it straight up to the trim, which made it feel tall and grandiose.
If your room is light, go with a darker accent color. If your room is dark, you could go with a lighter shade of the color of your room.
Or, if you have a red brick fireplace- leave it natural! I personally love the look of red brick paired with a darker paint color.
2. Avoid placing your TV above the fireplace
This one’s not always possible and, also , really just a personal preference. Once you hang a TV over your fireplace, the two things compete for your attention. Instead of gathering around simply to enjoy the warmth of a fire, it becomes secondary to the television; you can’t enjoy your fireplace for what it is.
It’s also just too visually repetitive. A black rectangle over a what is usually another dark rectangular space where the fireplace is. I try and avoid this type of repetition of shapes of similar sizes whenever possible.
My advice is to make your fireplace its own focal point, where you can enjoy it for the sake of what it is. Keep it a sacred place where you can light a candle & cozy up with a book, or reserve it for fireside chats with friends-without the distraction of screens. I am all about protecting these type of moments, when many of us spend the vast majority of our day looking at screens. And protecting the screen-less moments starts with reserving screen-less spaces in our homes
3. Incorporate Furniture
While you’re making the fireplace its own focal point, bring in some furniture. Create a sitting area that encourages your family and guests to congregate there and spend some time. My fireplace happens to be directly opposite from where you walk in our front door, with just 10 or so feet in between, so a sitting space here would be strange. I chose to put a single chair here, and a sitting area off to the side.
In the wee hours of the morning, I’ll sometimes sit here with my coffee, open my windows and enjoy the light start to filter in. Other times, when we have company, I’ll putt the chair over to our sitting area for extra seating.
You will have to get creative and do what works in your own space. It took many months to find what worked for my room, since as I mentioned, our fireplace is located directly opposite of our front door and is the first thing you see when you walk in. It’d feel awfully exposed to have a sitting area there. If you have a space that’s awkward like mine, just test and try things out for a few weeks at a time until you find out what works.
4.Layer Mirrors and artwork
Now that you have some brick fireplace makeover ideas, on to the important part: decorating the fireplace mantel.
Here I like to see large pieces of art or mirrors. I went with a large mirror that I had found secondhand, and layered a smaller gold framed family photo, also found at Goodwill (I buy ALL my vintage gold frames at Goodwill). I like to keep it simple, with 2 or 3 pieces. If you go with 3, make sure they are various sizes, for example:
Here is a similar mirror I found on Amazon.
5. Bring in accent colors on the fireplace mantel
Any decor that goes on your mantel should be cohesive with the rest of your room decor. With that said, don’t be afraid to bring in some accent colors, especially if you have that color elsewhere in the room-or plan to bring it in. I brought in some gold with my framed mirror and photo. I also have a gold planter pot and gold on my walls and in other places in my room.
You could bring in black, cream or wood texture with your frames or decor. Or maybe your artwork has a color theme that is similar to say, colors in an area rug or throw pillows you have. Use this as an opportunity to bring in the colors you’d like to see in your room. And if you’re stumped, you can always use Pinterest to search for color palette inspiration.
6. Add in something tall
Especially since my ceilings are somewhat tall, I wanted to bring some more height on my fireplace mantel. I chose to add a gold lamp that I found at the thrift store. Other tall items you could add would be:
- Candlesticks
- A plant
- Stem or flower arrangement
- A meaningful knick-knack, adding height by stacking it on top of some books if need be
7. Avoid Over-Decorating
Less is more. Don’t bring in too many knick-knacks or decor for the sake of decor. Often times this ends up looking too cluttered or like you tried too hard. Although I’m definitely not a minimalist in my home decor, I do like to stick to the principle of having few, meaningful & purposeful pieces.
Leave some blank space on the mantel for visual cleanliness. I’ve clustered my decor toward the middle of the mantel and left space on the ends.
8. Bring in Seasonal Items
This part can be simple. Bring in just a few seasonal or holiday decor items. It can be as subtle as changing out your stem arrangement for something in season, such as colorful foliage during fall. Here, I’ve added 3 small velvet pumpkins for fall, and a pumpkin garland across the front.
Here’s a link to some similar velvet pumpkins.
Another great option are seasonal wreaths. If you have candlesticks, you could put small seasonal wreaths around the base, like these: Christmas Candlestick Wreathes. Or, you could hang a large wreath in front of your mirror.
And there you have it. This post was all about my brick fireplace mantel ideas that are guaranteed to make your space cozy and inviting. Now is the time to design and decorate your own fireplace nook and showcase your own unique personality by choosing your own decor.
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