Wichita decorators provide tips on dressing up the mantel

Hearth and home go hand in hand in the fall. Local decorators have some sage advice for decorating fireplace mantels for fall, when entertaining often moves back indoors and people want to make their spaces as warm and welcoming as possible.

Eva Kaufman owns A Cornacopia, a home accents shop on East Central, and deals mostly with artificial pieces. Susan McKnight, owner of Susan’s Floral in College Hill, focuses on decorating with natural elements, although she sells some artificial options in her store as well. Their tips also work for any flat, long surfaces such as buffets.

▪ Start with what you have. Kaufman said there’s no need to start with a blank slate. She recommends using swags, garlands and fresh picks to decorate a mantel for autumn. Green or cedar garlands are a great choice, she said. Add pods, pumpkins and gourds for that perfect fall look.

“A lot of times, people like that real earthy look,” Kaufman said. “If someone decorates in earth tones, this is the time to shop.”

It’s not all orange, rust and gold, though. Sometimes people will incorporate purple into fall looks.

McKnight said she likes mixing in apples of different hues and bunches of grapes when the decor skews toward purple.

Kaufman said people can add specific Halloween elements, then switch them out for turkeys, pheasants and pilgrims for Thanksgiving. The same thing can be done at Christmas, still leaving the green garlands in place as the base layer of a seasonal mantel.

▪ Vary the height of your pieces. Kaufman said it is just more visually pleasing to have variance in height. And don’t forget to decorate down the sides of mantels and buffets, allowing items to trail off the edges or drape in front of the mantel. Kaufman says she uses flat 3M hooks often for hanging swag greenery down the sides of mantels or buffets.

McKnight recommends using bud vases filled with greenery or floral elements to get some height. And while tall candles and candlesticks can be a great look, she also recommends clusters of low votives for illumination.

“You don’t want everything to have a flat profile,” McKnight said.

▪ Incorporate trends. Burlap and galvanized decor are in fashion right now. “The galvanized look is really popular for this selling season,” Kaufman said. By the end of August, she had already almost sold out of galvanized pumpkins.

▪ Don’t be skimpy. “You want a robust look,” McKnight said. Gather multiple bunches of wheat and layer in apples and Indian corn. She loves sunflowers this time of year and puts three to seven buds in each arrangement. She also uses grapes, dried artichokes, apples, oranges, nuts in their shells, pumpkins and gourds.

Kaufman enjoys decorating with fresh pumpkins and gourds on porches and patios but is wary of using them indoors because of the risk of rot. McKnight enjoys the look but recommends applying a coat of varnish to the tops and bottoms to prevent damage to your mantel or furniture from molding.

▪ Forage through your yard. McKnight said incorporating natural elements doesn’t always mean buying fresh flowers. Branches, leaves and even pine cones make a beautiful setting. With any leaves, McKnight recommends submerging them in water and then patting them dry to make sure no bugs are brought indoors.

McKnight likes decorating with coleus leaves for an evening party, but they don’t hold up very long. For a longer shelf life, choose eucalyptus, magnolia leaves, bittersweet vines and pin oak branches.

“Everybody thinks, ‘I don’t have enough to make it special.’ What I’m talking about is gathering,” McKnight said. “You can redo it and refreshen it as often as you want. … This is the time to celebrate.”

This story was originally published September 20, 2015 at 9:59 AM with the headline "Wichita decorators provide tips on dressing up the mantel."