Simple Summer Mantel Decor

I put together this simple summer mantel decor with some fun touches and neutral colors.

I'm really happy with how it came together.

I feel like I'm kind of all over the place with the new home decor posts lately...a kitchen post here, dining room there...today, the formal living room. We're kind of attacking this place in small pieces. This particular room that I'm showing you today is not done, but it's *good enough*. For now, anyway. We're hosting my husband's grandmother's birthday party here at the end of the month...so right now a lot of rooms are getting a *good enough* fix. The goal is to just get them up to par and looking decent for the party. The fun part? I'll still have plenty to keep me busy long after the party is over. 

This simple summer mantel is now one of my favorite spots in the house. It's definitely the done-est part of this formal living room. Check out how I made that monogram below (you'll never guess what cool product I used for it!).

I honestly hadn't planned on the old window being a part of this look. When I ordered my decal (they have TONS of designs for these here), I was going to just apply it to the wall in this spot. However, when it arrived, I realized it was the perfect size for my old window. This window comes in and out of action in our house a lot. I found it a few years ago at the Round Top Flea Market...its large "one-pane" design makes it so versatile. I pulled off the dollar store glittery reindeer that was on it from the holidays and added my monogram to it instead. I'm super happy I did this.

Let's chat about this monogram for a bit. A couple of weeks ago, I told my family that I was going to be working on a blog campaign for Fathead. My family of all-boys all had visions of sports stars plastered across our walls...this is the first campaign in a while that they've been kind of excited about. The Fathead tube came and they're all "is it Joe Flacco?"..."is it Jay Cutler?"..."is it Kobe?".

Why no, sweet boys. It's Martha. Martha Stewart. 

"What team does she play on?" 

My Martha-lovin' heart sank a bit.

She makes pretty stuff for the home, y'all. This is a decorative monogram. (Queue the stunned silence and cricket chirping.)

Don't worry, friends. This isn't the only Fathead I ordered. I'm showing two more in my son's room next week...and they're not monograms (womp, womp).

This formal living always makes me feel a bit fancy. We always said we'd never buy a house with a formal living room. My parents have always had one...and it gets used on holidays only (which is why we weren't sure about one for us). But, this one came with this home we're so head over heels in love with, so we're actually becoming formal living room people. We actually put the piano in here...so the room gets used every day when my boys practice. 

The above photo was how this fireplace looked before all of its fluff got added. This is the faux fireplace that I actually had built for our fireplace-free home two houses ago. It was in our master bedroom at our last house. It kind of just landed in this room when we moved in and I kind of liked it.

The project started with finding the spot we wanted the window to go on the wall. I had this fear that we'd somehow drill into the window surround to make it mountable and we'd break it...so we totally secured this first, then took it down to apply the monogram.

Once I knew we had a way to hang it, I applied the monogram I purchased through the Fathead site. The site was so easy to navigate...I headed to the Martha Stewart Wall Art collection, which is housed under the Art & Decor tab. After purchasing this, it arrived on my door within a few days and I was ready to apply it to my window.

I just followed the directions...trim the shape and lightly lay it on your area for application with some tape. Then peel the backing off and smooth it with the squeegee thing Fathead provides. 

Then just carefully pull back the transfer paper. Bada bing. Bada boom.
The Fathead looked super cute on my ol' windah.

I purchased this fun antique sugar mold last weekend at one of my favorite shops in Burnet, Texas. I love sugar molds and think they're so versatile. I added some silk hydrangea flowers that I grabbed from the dollar store. 

Simple and summery.

I really do like a balanced look...glad I grabbed the window for this one.
I think the monogram goes with it perfectly. 
This monogram comes in 19 different colors. WHA?!?
It's like Martha knows me or something. I *almost* bought an aqua one. 

 I like how adding the monogram to the glass gives it a bit of a shadow against the wall.

Here's just a little look as to where we're at in this room. Lots of greys and aquas. I may need to repaint the mantel white to get it to blend a bit more...or maybe the piano? I still have a lot to do in here, but so far, I really like how it's coming along. I kind of like how empty it is, too. And doesn't our monogram look great over there? This is one of the first rooms anyone sees when they enter the house, so I love the focal point the entire mantel gives the space. Oh, and we scored those chairs at Ross on clearance! BOOM.

What do you think? Would you decorate with a monogram like this?

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