My Mantel and Hearth 15 Different Ways

I did several mantel groupings in preparation for Haven 2014,

that I left in my phone until today.

My bad.

This is my mantel normally, since discarding a gallery wall and needing a place for my large brass rubbing.
A mirror here won't work because there's already a mirror wall in the dining area and a floor to ceiling mirror behind the sofa.

I know it's a dark room but a girl can only have so many mirrors before neighbors start to talk.

Lighting is horrible in my North facing living room,

 made even worse by a 50 foot water oak inside the patio casting year-round shade.

I tried to simulate a fire in the fireplace by putting a lamp inside.

After swapping my dining room and den I had no place for my tobacco basket,
so it temporarily lives in front of the brass fireplace screen. 

I love mixing and matching accessories, here with a French painted commode and black and gold tray.

  The lamp on the commode is way too bright, but you don't know until you try, right?.

At least, I don't.

I liked the lamp on the mantel itself and not illuminated.

I also l-o-v-e hydrangeas so I incorporated  some I dried last year.

 The same lamp that was on the commode, then on the mantel, is now inside the fireplace.

Still way too bright, but the closest I could come to a *fire* this time of year in Atlanta.

 In line with my OCD, is my "more is more" decorating acumen... 

all right... I just like warm, cluttered inviting spaces.

I'm really liking this small commode... 

not here, per se...but it's a great size and adds a certain French-iness.

 I have a pair of them, a gift from a dear friend.

When I get my office/third bedroom decluttered I plan to use one as a side table with a French twin bed I painted and upholstered here --

With the lighting in this room I tried everything...
both artificial light below...

and the available natural light.

When I leaned the tobacco basket against the fireplace,
I liked the casual look it brought to the formal living area.

 Add a French enamel pitcher of yellow forsythia and I have a completely different feel.

Another "had to have" item is the birdhouse on the hearth below.
This was the first I'd seen of these several years ago and I still love it.
Alas, it doesn't have a permanent place either.

Adding a papier mache harlequin and oil painting of Sacre Couer, bought wet in Paris and carried through several countries before getting it home, gives yet another look.

Can you see the Country French theme here?

And, still experimenting, I swap things around yet again.

And, finally, deciding I had gotten it too "busy" looking,
I stripped things back to a more simple appearance.

So, there you have it, my day of play, mixing, matching and moving things around on a fireplace that I immediately returned to its original theme.

But I did have fun.

And found several looks I really like.

So, do you arrange and rearrange your focal points?

Or do you live with the same one for years?

I'm definitely in the latter category.

I appreciate your visit and hope you will again soon.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by...