Summer Mantel Decor Ideas: One Mantel, Three Ways

Today I’m sharing some summer mantel decor ideas with the mantel in our new build home styled three different ways for summer. 

People warn you that building a new home can be stressful because of all the decisions that have to be made. And while I agree that overall that can be true, I found that many of the decisions were not all the difficult for me as I had a good idea of what I wanted to do.  That being said, I actually found that one of the more difficult decisions that I had to make was about how to finish our fireplace. My mind ran through the gamut of ideas on it and I wavered back and forth between a traditional fireplace like we had in our lake house, to a more modern fireplace with a cement style finish, to (what we ended up with which is) a natural stone fireplace with a large, chunky natural wood mantel.

I *think* that I’m happy with my choice but am still adjusting to how to style and decorate such a large stone fireplace.  I know I love the chunky wooden mantel shelf – it was actually built and installed by our kitchen cabinet company, Namor Custom Cabinetry. I can’t wait to share the new kitchen with you as soon as our blasted fridge arrives. It’s only been over six months since we ordered it!

But back to the fireplace and mantel… we bit the bullet and purchased a Samsung Frame TV for this house as we needed a new TV and the only option for hanging it was above the fireplace.  As such, I wanted to be able to use it as a place to display art while the TV itself is not in use.  Having this TV means that I can easily switch up my art, making it really fun to play around with the mantel decor and styling as the “focal point” art of the mantel can be so simply swapped out!

Frame TV

This weekend it was fun to play around with different ways for styling it for summer, and today I’m sharing the same mantel three different ways. I played around with three looks: farmhouse style summer mantel decor, modern beach style summer mantel decor, and a “palm springs” inspired summer mantel decor scheme.

I’m curious about which one will be your favourite. Make sure to tell me in the comments section!

It’s the second instalment of the Seasonal Simplicity Series this week as well, and some of my blogging friends are also sharing their beautiful summer mantel decor ideas with you. Be sure to check out their posts in more detail at the bottom of this page!

For each of these mantel schemes I simply changed up the art on our Frame TV and ‘shopped the house’ to find a good mix of things that would work together to create each style. No new items were purchased in the styling of these mantels!

Let’s start off with the Farmhouse Style Summer Mantel Decor…

The art on the frame TV for this is a Claude Monet, Summer (1874).

I kept the rest of the accessories for this farmhouse style summer mantel decor light and airy and used all neutral and wood/natural toned accessories. The driftwood is one of my favourite things, and I used it on all of the three mantel designs. I moved around some plants, accessories, books, and lanterns from other spots in the house but still needed one large anchor piece. Then I remembered that I had those corbels stored in the garage from a past project (that I never quite got to, and doesn’t it make a cute little finishing piece?

The little vase below was a dollar store DIY that I shared in this post. 

 

Next up: Modern Beach Style Summer Mantel Decor…

The photograph on the frame TV for this mantel version is called ALb100 (2011) by Rafael Neff.

The driftwood is front and centre again, as well as the small wicker lantern. I also added another twisty piece of driftwood that was displayed on our coffee table. To tie in with the blues in the art, I brought my big blue vase over from our dining room area, and brought in a new lantern that I picked up for outdoors. The vases were just displayed in different spots in the living room and I added some summery faux greens to them.  I grabbed the black binoculars which were displayed on my office shelves, as I always think of binoculars as being beachy for some reason? I like how the black bits tie in with the frame of the TV, although I have been shopping around for different frames options for it. The little rock in the middle is a actual a sandstone carving that my youngest son made for me.

And finally, a modern boho “Palm Springs” inspired summer mantel decor scheme…

The photograph on the frame TV is by Dean West: Still Life #1 (Desert Oasis) Requiem (2018).

Shockingly, this might be my favourite! I don’t normally lean towards such realistic photos, and thought I would only use the art mode, but the soft colours in this picture are so pretty and work so beautifully with all the greenery. It definitely feels natural, relaxed, light and airy, and summery.  I kept the driftwood, soapstone carving, and wicker lantern and added in a variety of vases from around the house, all with pops of tropical looking greenery.

Fun, right? I really enjoyed playing around with the different schemes, and looking through all of the selections of art available to me on the subscription that I have to the Samsung Art store. I will definitely be back to share a review of our new Frame TV in the coming weeks, as there were several things about it that I didn’t know and wish I had known… though overall we are happy with the purchase.

And now, for some more summer mantel decor ideas….

As I mentioned, today I’m joining some of my talented blogging friends for the Summer Seasonal Simplicity Series!  We are all sharing our summer mantel decor ideas with you. Be sure to check them all out by visiting the links under the images below.

The Happy Housie // A Pretty Life // Modern Glam // Cassie Bustamante

Rambling Renovators // In My Own Style // Finding Silver Pennies // Dans le Lakehouse

Craftberry Bush // Maison de Pax // She Gave it a Go // Hallstrom Home

Deeply Southern Home // My Sweet Savannah // Willow Street Interiors

 

I’ve also shared some other summer mantel decor ideas in the past that might inspire you!