As the primary source of heat, historically, the fireplace has always been the focal point of our main living rooms. Even if your fireplace doesn’t feature a fire or a log burner, it is still the point towards which eyelines converge and is often the symmetrical middle of your longest wall. Here are some ways to highlight your fireplace this Christmas.
Garlands and candles
A mantlepiece provides the perfect surface for Christmas decorations. The twinkling lights from pairs of matching Christmas candelabras, amplified by their reflection in an over-mantle mirror, make a great frame for your mantlepiece. A garland run horizontally along the mantle or swagged below is an effortless way to bring natural greenery into the room. You can weave coloured baubles into your garland to match your décor and create a more cohesive feel.
Make your hearth a feature
Dress your hearth with taller items like poinsettias, hurricane lamps or transparent glass vases filled with lovely baubles. Fill a decorative bowl with pinecones, cinnamon sticks and dried oranges for a festive potpourri. Freshly cut holly boughs look lovely too and help create a quintessential Christmas fragrance.
Decorate above and around the fireplace
Whether you have mirrors or pictures above your fireplace, draping fairy lights around them will give you more vertical interest, and any additional length can be threaded into your garland. If you have Christmas stockings to hang and you’re planning an open fire, as a safety precaution, it’s always best to keep them off to one side. Attach stockings to a piece of thick, decorative Christmas ribbon hung vertically parallel with the fireplace.
Now, all you need are some chestnuts roasting and you’re ready for Christmas.
