TIMES.KY

Cayman Islands, Caribbeanand International News
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

How to Style a Mantel, According to Athena Calderone

How to Style a Mantel, According to Athena Calderone

When you think of the word self-care, images of a soothing bath or an at-home facial might come to mind for many, but when I want to relax, there’s one thing I always turn to: styling. Arranging and rearranging decorative objects into creative groupings, seeing what enchants the eye, and conjures emotion is one of my favorite pastimes. It truly engages all of the senses and soothes my soul.

From the coffee table to my open kitchen shelves, I’m constantly moving things around in accordance with my mood, the seasons, or a newfound object that’s inspired a change of direction in my home. With fall just around the corner, I’m feeling the urge to switch up my style once again towards a moody, cozy vibe to embrace the shift. First up, the fireplace. Watch Athena rearrange her mantel above, then keep reading for our tips on how to style a mantel, and shop the look!



Find Your Anchor Piece


This will be the focal point of your mantel, the hero piece that draws you in and invites you to linger. For Athena, this is the tall and sculptural vase to the left. The height, color, and shape immediately attract your attention, ushering your eyes slowly towards the right where your second grouping lives. You could also choose to lean an oversized artwork here as your anchor which is then accompanied by a collection of decorative objects such as a vintage vessel, candle holder, or sculpture. Typically, you want to anchor your mantel with something that has a unique or unusual design aspect, verticality, sculptural quality, and a subtle “wow” factor which will help inform the overall design direction.

Consider Composition


How you group things together can really drive home the narrative of your objects. Think of it as the artistic connection between the separate elements of your space. When looking at Athena’s living room mantel, you can see that the sculpture on the left could absolutely stand on its own. It’s tall, offering much-needed verticality, has a sculptural quality, and even a little bit of life with the plant—it feels very comfortable standing solo. But the other items on the right would actually feel too diminutive and lose their value if they were singled out. When approaching the styling of your mantel, really take a look at your objects and decide what needs friends, what needs to be grouped together, and what can stand on its own.

Always Group in Three’s


A good rule of thumb when curating a composition is to remember that most items need to be grouped in three’s unless it’s a standalone piece. If you want to add more than three, typically grouping objects in odd numbers works best visually. Also, consider verticality—stagger varying heights and dimensions to diversify the levels and engage the eye, allowing it to dance from one object to the next. If your composition is feeling too horizontal, stack books underneath a decorative object to raise it up and balance out the grouping. Athena elevated her short, round vessel by adding sculptural branches and positioning it atop an Axel Vervoordt book for that height she craved.



Avoid Straight Lines


Similar to the broken planes rule, try to avoid styling your pieces in a straight line, too. This can feel too linear and monotonous which is tedious to the eye. Push some pieces to the back and bring others into focus at the front so you create that depth and contrast. Nothing is flat or one dimensional in life, so why should your mantel be any different?

Play Around With Your Groupings


Even the most decorated and experienced designer or stylist will improvise and play around with their pieces before landing on their final arrangement. Even with careful planning, it’s not until you move, arrange, and rearrange your pieces that you can finally see how they co-exist. Curate different textures, colors, heights, and shapes in various groupings and then solo to see what works and what doesn’t visually. Together, in the overall composition, you’ll see how they come to life.

Add Greenery


As you know, we love a branch at EyeSwoon HQ so go outside, clippers in hand, and cut some greenery to add that living element to your mantel styling. Don’t be precious about symmetry here, either. Cut them all at varying heights and embrace imperfection. It will also help to add that sculptural quality and verticality your arrangement yearns for. Also, remember that branches can look equally as beautiful once the leaves have dried out, too.

Don’t Overfill It


Remember, less is always more. You’ll see on Athena’s mantel that there are only ever four to five pieces curated in various arrangements. The key is to source objects and décor that feel really special on their own or are elevated when paired together. If it’s starting to look too busy, remove a piece and stand back, then remove another and take a photo, see how it makes you feel at every stage of the process. You’ll know instinctually when the arrangement is “right.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

TIMES.KY
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×