After the Christmas decorations go away for the year, I typically have a few days where I can take a deep breath and enjoy the lack of clutter in my house. Everything is neutral and "normal" again. Only thing is, I sort of like the red, green, and gold accents that fill my house during Christmas.

This year, I decided to challenge myself a little more by switching up my normal decorating. The mantel seems like a great place to start. It is small and manageable. Making some changes to the mantel also makes a big difference to our overall living room, since we keep our decorations pretty neutral.

So each month, I'm going to restyle the mantel. I may use some materials over again, but I'm hoping for a different look and feel each month.  This is our "standard" mantel that I find myself going back to. I thought it would be a good start to this series.


What's on my mantel in January (from left to right):
- Candle and candle holder--from Michaels store
- Picture of the little guy
- Yarn "O" that I made this fall. Click here for instructions. 
- Fishy--I bought it at Pier 1 a few years ago
- Vase from Pier 1
- Picture of me, my husband, and our dog on the beach
- Matching candle and candle holder

In the background, you see the tree picture holder that I bought a few years ago at Pier 1. Can you tell I went on a shopping spree at Pier 1 a few years ago?

Here's another full view of the mantel and fireplace.



What do you think? Any suggestions for upcoming mantels?

Here are some other mantels I've decorated in the last few months:

Christmas mantel
Race-car birthday mantel 
Fall mantel