A Sweet Summer Mantel
My mantel has been pretty neglected since Valentine’s Day, so I spent the day yesterday pulling out some of my favorite vintage summer pretties to create a sweet summer mantel in our formal living room.
If you follow along on our social media channels, you may remember that big beach watercolor print front and center of the mantel. It was labeled “Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge–Florida.” I love all things Florida, especially pieces depicting historic Florida locations. Turns out, refuge houses were a system of safe havens for shipwrecked sailors that could, once-upon-a-time, be found along the Atlantic coastline. It’s the only one remaining in Florida, which makes it especially significant.
As much as I loved the piece, I really hated the frame. So I gave it a dark blue paint job with some Melange Paint in the Vagabond Blue shade (it’s the same color I used to reinvent the vintage cabinet this past spring). I loved how the blue pulled out the blue from the American flag in the picture and gave it an extra summery feel.
From there, I rounded out the top of mantel with a vintage water ski lesson sign I’ve had for a few years. I think this one came from my mom’s old collection, but for the life of me, I can’t remember why I have it. I found an old set of crab trap buoys to hang from the big frame that I’ve had up in my loft apart from all of my summer decorations, so I was really excited to add that into the mix. The vintage pelican planter was a recent thrift store find, and even though I’ll probably never use it as an actual planter, it still makes a fun nautical nod to summer.
It’s also a pretty safe bet I’ll add old books to just about any scene, so I grabbed a few from my Florida collection to keep the Florida theme going along with a fun conch shell and a coquina rock collected from past beach trips.
On the hearth, I really wanted to play up those traditional summer backyard vibes. I picked up the vintage croquet set as well as the bocce ball set from one of my favorite junking haunts several years ago. I think every year when I have to ask Rob’s help getting the bocce ball set down from the loft that it might finally be the year that he divorces me. It’s just so heavy!
The red and blue cooler has also been a past summer mantel participant. I paired it with a newer vintage wool blanket that I felt really played up that particular shade of blue. The scene makes me want to plan summer backyard barbecue before the hustle and bustle of another busy school year begins in just about a month.
Check out the gallery below for a few other snapshots of this mantel. I’m so happy with how it turned out!
