I've been spending a lot of time in my living room lately, thanks to the wet winter weather. Now that all the seasonal stuff is packed away until next year, I've been considering how to re-tool my mantle. For several years I had a large mirror over the mantle that I accidentally broke last year stringing twinkle lights, 7 years bad luck, I know! I'm not sure if I want to test my luck with another mirror, although it did reflect a beautiful view of the trees opposite the fireplace, so it's a great way to make the space appear larger than it is.

I thought I would share some of the images that I found while considering my options. Although I like the spare look of a lot of these images, I have to admit I'm one to layer and go with the abundance. I would love to stumble upon a well priced painting or even a decent framed photo (hello, Max Wanger print) that could really make a statement, but then I would really have to keep the rest to a bare minimum. I'm thinking I need to start with a bare mantel and then let it sort itself out, but until then I'll have loads of inspiration to consider.

Images courtesy of Jonathan Adler, max wanger, sfgirlbybay, pinterest