southern fried gal

Last night I hosted my first design workshop in my home. The focus of the workshop was spring mantels. My goal was for us to share ideas for updating mantel decor using the three color and style trends we are following at Willow House this spring.

You may recall from a previous post how I am drawn most to the Chic Organic color palette right now which borrows casual style and a seaside palette. Ironically this is the look I most struggled with on my brick fireplace.

This is what I came up with for this look. It is so hard for me to photograph my mantle and have it accurately reflect the look. Any tips for improving on this are GREATLY appreciated! To the left I have our Large Lady Jane Bottleneck Vase which brings in the soft blue of the palette. A single hydrangea adds interest and the pop of green.

To balance the blue on the right side, I covered a book in a fun blue printed fabric. The soda glass container holds more hydrangea blooms. Our Devonshire Lidded Trifle adds the perfect touch of organic interest filled with river rocks and a white candle. To finish off the look and add height, a bundle of sticks are tucked behind the book.

I think I had the most fun with the bright and bold trend. It was an easy look to pull together. I was surprised by how easily this color palette could have a spring feel. This also makes me think ahead to summer with bright red geraniums!

You may recognize part of the look on the left. I used the glass cylinder from the Large Galveston Hurricane in my paperwhite display. For this application I slid the cylinder back into it’s iron holder. To bring the pop of red to this side I dropped a faux fern into our Cinnabar Vase (40863) and sat it on top of an upside down Cinnabar Tidbit.

To the right I added more red with a Cinnabar Accent Plate and Cinnabar Footed Server. Our Tall Glass Dome brings attention to a sweet winter-to-spring framed poem. The green Ingleside Luminary, mossy rocks, and a few bird nests help complete the look.

Another BIG surprise for me was how much I enjoyed playing around in the Rustic Modern color palette. It was by far my least favorite when I started the evening but now I’m not so sure.

Our Ingleside Luminaries are the perfect trio for this look. The set includes one in robin’s egg blue, one in rust, and one in green. The Large Galveston Footed Hurricane works well with this color scheme with it’s brown iron stand. A robin’s egg blue vase filled with budded branches balances out the height of the large hurricane to the right.

Finally, I mimicked the Mantel Makeover look using the products I had on hand. I usually don’t style my mantle so simply but I actually like this look for a change, too! Instead of hydrangeas in the Framework Urn I used mossy rocks – a must have for filler in my opinion!