Our Holiday Mantle: Styled 3 Ways

Hello all!  Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!  I hope you all had a beautiful holiday with those you love most.  If you're like me, you are all enjoying some time off, visiting with family, over-eating, and spending lots of time on the sofa watching movies (or, eh, online shopping).

My personal family tradition is to decorate my house for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  We're all home and it just feels like a good day to pull out the decorations and enjoy being together. :)  The High Street Market studio, on the other hand, is a different story.  I held out as long as possible with the Christmas decorations in the studio-- I try not to overshadow Thanksgiving, but it's very difficult in this business (and Christmas seems to creep it's way into the year earlier and earlier-- I think I spotted Christmas decor before Halloween this year-- what the heck is happening???).  If you follow the store on Instagram (find us @highstreetmarket) you'll know that about a week ago, I gave in and decorated the entire High Street Market studio for the Christmas Season.  We posted some behind the scenes videos on InstaStories, but the gist of it is this: 200 feet of cedar garland, red berries, magnolia branches, and plaid stockings.  Lots of jolly goodness.  We are officially in the holiday spirit over there.

Given that fact that I brought home half the nursery in evergreen, and our team was eager to get the studio in the holiday spirit, we came up with three different holiday looks that will hopefully inspire YOU to deck the halls of your own home.  And, whether your decorating mantra is "more is more" or you prefer a more minimalist approach (or, you just want to change things up from last year!) I think there's something here for everybody.  I'm calling these looks "The New Trad", "The Modern Rustic", and "The Minimalist".  :)

First, there's "The New Trad"...

"The New Trad" loves a classic Christmas, but you aren't stuffy and you want to avoid being predictable.  I love this fresh spin on a classic look.  We paired an antique Federalist mirror with fresh greenery, hits of brass, and plenty of red plaid (a classic).  To start, double up on the garland, going back and forth (in this case, more actually is more-- we used about 25 feet).  Wrap the garland with twinkle lights and finish with pine cones, tucked here and there.  We had a vintage pair of brass reindeer that looked pretty badass flanking the mirror (we couldn't pass that up), but you can get the look with any shiny accent.  Try using a pair of small brass planters with red Poinsettia, or even tall glass hurricanes with candles.  Finish with a traditional set of fireplace accessories and your favorite red plaid stockings (these are from our store and we are obsessed).

(here's the whole process, step by step!)  :)

Next is "The Minimalist"...

"The Minimalist" loves simplicity and hates clutter.  That can be tricky when you're decorating for the holidays, but we think we achieved the perfect balance.  I have to tell you that this look is GORGEOUS in person (the camera really doesn't do it justice).  A natural evergreen wreath is minimally decorated with a 3" white bow.  I think the oversized scale of the ribbon is chic, but you could easily drop the bow and go au naturale, if you prefer.  We used white glass hurricanes as lanterns on the mantle.  To add interest, we incorporated pine cones and silver ball ornaments.  Instead of garland, we used a simple ribbon with hanging glass ornaments.  The whole look is very light and clean, while still feeling dressy and done.

Finally, "The Modern Rustic"...

"The Modern Rustic" is easy going and a little homespun.  You keep things simple but you're a little edgy/urban.  I actually really like this look for a city apartment or industrial space (it works, right?).  To decorate the mantle, we stayed away from traditional greenery and went with a combination of large leaves and small leaves-- in this case, beautiful magnolia and eucalyptus.  I love the mix of scale and texture.  Instead of wrapping the twinkle lights, we casually swagged them.  Nothing needs to be perfect, the messier the better in some cases.  We added interest with white shed antlers paired with a vintage wall-mounted rack.  Keep the color scheme minimal.  We added a small Pointsettia in a modern planter and I think that is enough.  A jute basket filled with cozy knit blankets finishes off the look.

So, what's your favorite style?  I started this exercise loving "The New Trad" but finished without a true favorite.  I hope this helps inspire you to decorate your home for the holidays!  Even if you don't have a fireplace mantle, find a console table or chest of drawers and decorate that!  Simple and fun.

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sources:

"The New Trad"

stockings, fireplace accessories

"The Minimalist"

glass hurricanes, ornaments, square dipped basket

"The Modern Rustic"

white antlers, striped jute basket, knit blankets, modern planter

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