Mantel Decor With Pictures: Two Fun Ways

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Looking for a fresh way to display your favorite photos? Here is a simple mantel styling idea that showcases pictures without committing to a full gallery wall. I am showing too versions of this mantel to give you the full idea of the possibilities.

I have wanted a gallery wall forever, but the big commentmint of drillling all those holes in our old brick walls has held me back. So I came up with a fun alternative to a wall of pictures!

For Valentines day I decorated my ‘mantel’ with images filled with sweet memories and reminders of love and friendship. And then I changed the mantel up for my summer decor. Which turned out equally nice.

For the first look, I created a layered photo display that feels both casual and curated. Using all the small photo frames I could find in my (thrift store) stash, I hung each one with twine to give the arrangement a relaxed, handmade feel. The frames vary slightly in size and shape, which, I think, adds charm and visual interest—perfect for a mantel that’s meant to feel cozy and personal.

To add a unique twist, I arranged the frames in a heart-shaped pattern, hanging and layering them above the shelf I call mantel. This layout creates a soft focal point and offers a sweet, sentimental vibe—making it a beautiful option for Valentine’s Day or any time you want to highlight the people and moments you love most.

To avoid having to nail into our rock hard walls I placed a whitewashed panel of wood on the shelf. It is simply leaning on the wall and can be easily removed. This way I could hammer in nails to may hearts desire without difficulty or the risk of permanent damaged walls.

How to Create the Layered Mantel With Pictures

Okay here are the steps I took to make this mantel decor with pictures.

 1. Empty out your mantel wall and take some measurements. You will be hammering in a lot of nails so you do want to get it right-ish the first time.

2. I cut a template of a heart out of some cheap tissue paper so I could get a feel for the dimensions I was going for.

3. Place the paper heart on your wall above your fireplace to see if it is right and mark where it goes.

4. Try out all your big and small frames on your template to see if you have enough of them and to figure out how to position them.

5. Optional: Paint all your frames in your color of choice. Mine was white of course.

6. While the frames are drying, have some to eat. This is an important step and easily forgotten when decorating and crafting. 

7. Tape your paper template back up to help you get your outline. Start with the biggest frames first, than with the outer ones that determine the outline. Fill in with smaller ones.

8. As you can see I hung them all with twine, slightly overlapping.

 9. Be fine with some of them hanging crooked. The road to happiness is not a straight line….

Loving my Valentines mantel so much…..

I keep staring at it. So many memories in one place. 

I think this one is going to be with us for quite some time. 

So what’ye think? Can you tell the heart shape in there?

And then I changed up my mantel a few weeks later….

 Summer Mantel Decor with Pictures

After Valentines Day had come and gone, I started to feel the itch to change up this mantel. And with summer approaching I decided to turn it into a summer mantel with a coastal feel.

This was such an easy update. I simply replaced some of the images with colorful photos of seascapes and beach images. Some hanging starfisch, beachy accents and a shell or too, were all that was needed to transform my Valentines mantel into a summer mantel with a beachy vibe.

Which version do you like better?

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