The easiest winter mantel is your Christmas fireplace mantel with the red, the bows and anything with Santa on it packed away. Leave the quiet parts: the greenery, the candles, the wood and the little warm lights. Then add a big mirror or one piece of art, a vase of bare branches and some cream and white, and it reads as winter instead of leftovers. It carries your living room through January and February, on a real mantel or on a shelf that stands in for one.
9 Winter Mantel Decor Ideas for After Christmas
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What should you take down, and what should you keep?
Think about what is outside your window in January: evergreens, bare branches, maybe snow. Anything that looks like that can stay. Anything that says “Christmas” goes in the box with the rest of the Christmas decoration.
| Pack it away | Keep it up |
|---|---|
| Red bows, ribbon and berries | Plain evergreen garland and wreaths |
| Ornaments, stockings, Santas and nutcrackers | White and cream candles, glass or brass holders |
| Anything that says Merry Christmas | Pinecones, wood, birch logs and bare branches |
| Bright gold glitter | Warm white fairy lights and mirrors |
The Spruce says the same thing in one line: remove anything that screams Christmas, and keep the neutral seasonal pieces. A Wonderful Thought takes it a step further and leaves up the garland and even a bare tree, because they look like the trees outside. If the greenery has berries wired into it, snip them out. That one change is often the whole difference.
When should the Christmas mantel come down?
Whenever you are ready. Some people take everything down on the first of January, and some wait until after Epiphany on January 6. One blogger at The Tattered Pew does a bit of both: most of the decorations go away on January 1, and a few trees and the stair garland stay up into January. The mantel is a good place to start the winter version early, because you are only taking things away.
9 winter mantel decor ideas for after Christmas
You do not need all nine. Pick two or three that suit your room and let them share the space. A mantel with a few good things on it looks calmer than one with everything.
1. Keep the greenery, lose the berries and bows
A plain garland is the base of almost every good winter mantel. Cedar, pine, Norfolk pine or eucalyptus all work, as long as the red berries, bows and ornaments are gone. Our Southern Home keeps greenery “without berries and glitz” on her winter mantel and mixes faux stems with real clippings from the yard, which hides the fake parts.
If your garland looks thin, do what Robyn’s French Nest does: lay a eucalyptus garland down first, put the Norfolk pine on top, then pull a few eucalyptus stems through so they show. It looks fuller and more natural than twisting the two together.
If you are buying one, this 2-pack of 6 ft real-touch cedar garlands (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure. gives you 12 feet in total, with a flexible wire core, so you can use one piece on the mantel and the other on a shelf or a staircase.
2. Make a mirror or one piece of art the anchor
Start with the biggest thing and build around it. Robyn’s French Nest places the largest frames and the mirror on the mantel first, then fills in around them. A mirror is a good choice in winter because it catches the window light on gray afternoons and doubles any candle you put in front of it.
You do not have to buy one. Bless’er House points out that a cheap thrift store mirror can look brand new with a little paint, and a framed landscape, an old print or a large wreath works just as well. Lora Bloomquist started her whole frosty winter mantel from a pair of framed mountain prints.
3. Group cream candles at different heights
Candles do the most work on a winter mantel, because they make the room warm without making it Christmas. Use white or cream, and set them in groups of three or five instead of lining them up. Happy Homemaker Tips suggests odd-numbered clusters with the taller pieces slightly off center.
Brass or glass holders in three heights are enough. This set of six brass candlestick holders (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure. comes in 5.9, 7.3 and 9.3 inch heights, two of each, so one box gives you the stagger.
For a wood mantel with dry garland on it, battery candles are the easier choice, and they look good. These ivory flameless taper candles (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure. come as a set of six at 9.6 inches with a remote and a 2, 4, 6 or 8 hour timer, so they turn on at the same time every evening. Robyn’s French Nest uses battery tapers with a remote and timer all through the house in winter for the same reason.
4. Put bare branches in a tall vase
This is the cheapest idea on the list. The Spruce suggests an extra-tall vase of bare winter branches, and says branches from your own yard are free and will not wilt. Strip off any leftover leaves and stand them in a tall vase on one end of the mantel, off to the side of the mirror or art.
A matte white vase suits almost everything. This 11 inch matte white ceramic vase (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure. is tall enough for branches without tipping.
5. Add birch logs, pinecones and wood
Natural wood is what makes a mantel feel like winter, and a basket of birch logs by the hearth finishes it. A small stack of white birch logs, a wooden bowl of pinecones, a rough wooden candlestick or a dough bowl all fit. A Hundred Affections describes the rustic winter look as wooden candlesticks, birch logs, greenery and pinecones. Stonegable says pinecones and plain bowls can stay up all winter, since nothing about them says Christmas. For a little warm color, Jennifer Rizzo hangs a dried orange slice garland on her wood mantel and splits a big bunch of dried bunny tail grass into a white ceramic vase.
6. Go winter white with silver and glass
If you want a cooler, snowier look, swap the gold for silver, pewter and glass. Mercury glass votives with tea lights inside are a favorite: Our Southern Home uses white or pewter candles and mercury glass holders on her winter mantel. A Hundred Affections says silvers, grays and icy whites are the way to get a frosty look. White ceramic and frosted stems add to it without bringing red back.
These silver mercury glass votive holders (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure. come as a set of twelve at about 2.7 inches tall, and the listing says they take tea lights or flameless LED tea lights.
7. Use vintage frames, old books and a clock face
Collected things make a mantel look like it belongs to a real home. Robyn’s French Nest builds hers from vintage frames, a mirror and an old clock face, then lays books on their sides to lift a salvage piece so the heights vary. Architectural Digest also likes vintage frames on a mantel. Use what you already have: a stack of two or three cloth-bound books, a small framed print, an old brass bell.
8. Swap stockings for knit and felt
The stockings are the one thing everyone has to take down, so give that spot something else. A wool felt ball garland, a folded knit runner or a chunky knit throw draped over one end keeps the soft, cozy part of Christmas without the stockings. Cream, oatmeal and gray look wintry and match the rest of the room.
9. Wrap in a thread of warm white lights
Do not let anyone shame you out of the twinkle lights. Christmas lights in plain warm white are just winter lights. The Spruce says to keep LED string lights and stick to non-blinking warm white, which reads as winter rather than Merry Christmas. Our Southern Home winds a strand of wire fairy lights around the art and through the greenery. Battery lights mean no cord hanging off the mantel.
This 4-pack of battery fairy lights (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure. gives you four 16 foot strands on 3 AA batteries each, and the listing says the timer setting runs 6 hours on and 18 hours off.
How do you arrange a winter mantel so it looks pulled together?
Most mantels that look wrong have the right things in the wrong places. Five habits fix it:
- Start with the anchor. Put the mirror or art in the center, then build outward.
- Split the mantel in thirds. Flowers Bouquet Ideas keeps the anchor in the middle third and puts a smaller group in each side third, one that echoes the other without copying it.
- Change heights in small steps. The same writer staggers heights by 2 to 4 inches, such as vases at 8, 10 and 12 inches. Books under a short piece lift it to match.
- Add a pair for balance. The Turquoise Home likes two lamps, two lanterns or two topiaries on either side of the anchor, and keeps the rest soft and simple.
- Leave empty space. An interior designer quoted by Architectural Digest says little pockets of breathing space keep a mantel from looking overdone.
If there is art or a mirror over the mantel, keep the things on the mantel lower. Stonegable’s advice is to let the piece above lead and have the mantel decor support it.
What if you do not have a fireplace?
Everything above works on a shelf. Flowers Bouquet Ideas says to treat an entry console, a bookshelf or a piano top like a mantel, with the same anchor, the same thirds and the same gentle height steps. On a console she keeps the art or mirror at about half to three quarters of the console’s width, and lifts it on stacked books if it looks short.
In a rental, the same writer suggests adhesive Command hooks for a light garland and museum putty to hold frames and vases. Our guide to a Christmas mantel when there is no fireplace covers the shelf height that reads as a mantel and what holds it to the wall, and the same shelf works for winter.
What colors work if you are done with red and green?
Pick two or three and stay with them. A calm palette is what makes a mantel look planned.
- Cream, white and warm gray. The safest choice, and it goes with everything.
- Natural wood and evergreen. Birch, oak, pinecones and cedar. This is the cozy cabin look.
- Soft blue, white and brown with the winter greens. Lora Bloomquist keeps the green pieces after Christmas and pairs them with blues, whites and browns. One Architectural Digest interior design expert likes creamy whites, deep greens, burnished golds and soft blues together.
- Silver, gray and icy white. The snowy look, with silver candlesticks and a white garland.
- Brass, not bright gold. Our Southern Home picked candlesticks that are not bright shiny gold, which she prefers after Christmas.
Can you use faux greenery on a winter mantel?
Yes. Good faux greenery is the practical choice for the mantel, since it lasts the whole winter and does not drop needles on the shelf. Happy Homemaker Tips says high-quality faux greens are excellent for low-maintenance styling and look more natural with a few fresh stems mixed in. Our Southern Home tucked real leyland cypress clippings into faux picks and says the two work so well together that the faux looks real.
How do you do a winter mantel on a budget?
Shop your own boxes first. Everything on the Our Southern Home mantel was already in her house, and the Christmas pieces that survive the cut (greenery, candles, wood, lights) cost nothing. Add a mirror from a thrift shop, branches from the yard and a wooden bowl of pinecones. Buy only what you cannot find, like a second garland or a set of battery candles.
How do you move a winter mantel toward Valentine’s Day?
Change one thing and leave the rest. My Homier Home says January and February carry a base layer of winter decor, and the last week of January is a good time to add Valentine’s pieces on top. Lora Bloomquist saves the red items from Christmas to pair with white and pink for Valentine’s Day, which is how a red you packed away can come back without looking like Christmas.
On the mantel, try a pair of blush pink candles or a few pale flowers in the vase next to the branches. The garland, the mirror and the wood stay put, and swapping two things takes five minutes. My Homier Home takes the Valentine’s pieces down the week after the holiday.
What to buy
The list below pulls the products from above in one place. Prices change, so check the listing before you order. Cost: $ is the least, $$$ the most.
- Cedar garland, 2-pack of 6 ft: real-touch faux cedar (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure., $$
- Candlestick holders, set of six: brass in three heights (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure., $$
- Flameless taper candles, set of six: ivory with remote and timer (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure., $
- Tall vase for branches: 11 inch matte white ceramic (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure., $
- Votive holders, set of twelve: silver mercury glass (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure., $$
- Battery fairy lights, 4-pack: warm white with timer (opens Amazon in a new tab)As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure., $
The rest of the room can follow the mantel. Winter home decor after the tree comes down covers the corner the tree left and the lamp heights for a gray January. For the bookcase across the room, see 9 winter shelf decor ideas for after Christmas.
