7 Ways to Bring Holiday Cheer to Your Fireplace
A fireplace is always the focal point of whatever room it’s in but never more so than during the holiday season. The cozy warmth and soft light make it ideal for gathering around to sing carols, read old stories, or enjoy the company of dear family and friends. If you want to amp up the holiday spirit around your fireplace this year, follow a few of the tips below and celebrate the season in style.
1. Colors
Whatever color scheme you set up in your living room’s year-round decorations, make sure it’s easily adaptable for the holiday season. Forest greens and soft whites make a festive backdrop for Christmas colors, especially if you have some deep red ornaments to put up. The natural brick color of your fireplace and the light of the fire itself will complement this color scheme superbly.
2. Candles
You have the flames from within the fireplace already, but the shapes, scents, and colors of the candles can go a long way toward promoting your holiday aesthetic. Church candles in several different heights and vintage tea light holders or candlesticks create an elegance that offsets the fireplace nicely.
If you’re going to be home to keep an eye on the flames, you can use garlands of greenery to add color and texture to your fiery display. Just make sure you keep everything far enough apart that you don’t have to worry about catching your branches on fire — save that for inside the fireplace.
3. Stockings
Hanging stockings by the chimney is a Christmas classic, so even if your fire doesn’t require a chimney, you can use the mantle as a place to display your stockings. If you don’t want to throw off the vision with garish children’s stockings, you can put up socks in colors and textures that fit with the rest of your room, saving the to-be-filled stockings for Christmas Eve.
4. Garlands
Besides hanging stockings, you can put up garlands on the mantle to add to the coziness of the room. Knit accessories and an abundance of greenery can go a long way toward taking your living room from boring to elegant. Play around with motifs, ornaments, and other variations of garlands to see what works best for the space you have.
5. Signs
Do you display a “Live, Laugh, Love” or “Family” sign above your fireplace? You can keep that banner up, or even better, switch it out for a holiday-themed slogan. Any craft or home goods store will have something that would fit perfectly over the mantle, reminding everyone who sees it what the season is all about in your home.
6. Wooden Trinkets
If you plan to use a classy, vintage look for your Christmas decorations, wood is one of your best friends. A stack of logs beside your fireplace (no matter what fuel it accepts), wooden toys displayed on the mantle, and wooden frames around the pictures in the rest of the room can give it a unifying theme and an air of elegance.
7. Gifts
The holidays wouldn’t be the same without a few gifts, but you don’t have to put them all under the tree. Wrap a few empty boxes in thematic colors and place them around the fireplace for extra pops of texture and tones. You can even turn it into a scavenger hunt by using actual gifts, where the recipients will have to search out their presents instead of finding them all under the tree.
If you need to install a fireplace to complete your holiday aesthetic — and add some cozy warmth and light — look no further than Alpine Fireplaces. We are ready and willing to work with you on your perfect custom fireplace. Contact us today to see how Alpine Fireplaces can make your holidays happy indeed.
