Fireplaces, thanks to their dreamy mantels, are one of the most sought-after home features — especially around the holiday season. That area essentially becomes the heart or focal point of your Christmas decor, as it’s where stockings are hung and family gathers. However, if you’re just decorating the actual mantel and not the space around it, then you’re really missing out on a dramatic decor moment. 

Carrie Miller from @acarriedaffairdesigns wanted a Christmas aesthetic that’s “classy with elegance, but nostalgic.” And to Miller, that means going back to basics with garlands, tinsel, and pops of red. In the living room, Miller gave the mantel the Christmas treatment, but also carried the decor to the ceiling, which really transformed the entire room.

“This is hands-down my favorite Christmas look I’ve ever done,” Miller wrote in an Instagram caption. “I thought last year would be impossible to top, but I did it! And we don’t even have the tree yet.”

Miller’s fireplace is set along a wall of bookshelves, so there’s a perfect alcove to hang garland above the mantel. But you can easily re-create this setup with a bump-out fireplace, or if your fireplace is set into a flat wall.

“I started with adding garland to the top of the bookshelves, and then of course, added some red garland,” Miller said in the video. Miller draped a swag of faux greenery above the mantel and then layered a red ornament garland and a handmade red paper chain garland in front of it. Then, Miller carried the paper chain into the center of the room, where a wreath was hung like a pendant light.

“And then I wanted to do something even more crazy and put a wreath in the center of our living room because we don’t have lighting,” Miller continued. “I added different sizes of red ornaments and used ribbon like streamers and topped it with some poinsettias and red holly stems.”

Of course, Miller’s actual mantel gets the Christmas treatment, too, with some faux pine stems, large red ornaments, and red velvet bows tied to the candlesticks. But it’s really all about what’s happening up above. 

Think outside the box when decorating your mantel this Christmas, and you might end up with the most whimsical, nostalgic, and perfectly over-the-top decor ever!