I had always been fascinated with a fireplace, since childhood. Maybe reading too much English classics does that to you. Fire crackling on a dreary day, book in one hand and hot chocolate in another, cooped up in a chalet....I hope you get my point. I used to visualise myself in that scenario. Growing up, I always dreamt of having a fireplace at home. While I have experienced several working ones while vacationing in the Himalayas and then in European towns later on, it's not feasible in normal homes, unless you build one yourself, with a chimney.

Long story short, I decided to build a faux mantle once we bought our apartment, 8 years back. It was a big hassle back then, with the husband and my parents discouraging me, but it has been our best decor investment. 

Over the years, there have been a lot of permutations and combinations in decorating it. I would love to dig up some old photos to show how different it was back then, with a patterned brick wall behind it, but I got the bricks painted white back in 2022, when we did our marathon home renovation. I like it this way more, because it provides a clean backdrop and the rest items can stand out.

Our mantle serves as a decor backdrop for every celebration..I love setting up the Christmas Tree beside it, and hang stockings on the mantle. Last year, I fell for the viral bow garland trend. It might look over cluttered for many, but it felt very festive to me.

I love to decorate it all over during birthday parties. Be it balloons or ornaments or banners, it surely does the job. Our faux mantle is the first talking point of every guest who walks into our home.

It was one of my creative goals of 2025 to give it a facelift. While I am far from it, I have managed to make it to my liking on my budget.

If money wasn't a factor, I would love to get a real LED fireplace to fit here. The dimensions we require goes for 50 k INR plus  and I am not in a place to spend that much right now. So I settled for a big picture of fire. I am unsure how I am going to look at it during Delhi summers. So far, it's been cozy!

I also learnt that proportions are everything. I have been looking for a huge branch that would sit perfectly on the mantle piece. Till then, my plants are doing the job.

Earlier we had a big mirror, but then I swapped it with our family picture. Again, I tried playing with proportions.

I love plants and I guess that's very apparent. I adore how much warmth they infuse to a place. And of course lamps. Tonnes and tonnes of them. My husband gets irritated by the number of bulbs he has to swap on a regular basis. Anyways, plants, lamps and rugs bring a place together according to me. 

Home decor is purely a personal choice. You need to feel content in the place you live. It can be a pristine minimalistic area or a cluttered maximalist home, choose whatever makes you happy.

Decorating my home is one of my greatest passions. Are you a decor person? Are you a minimalist or a maximalist?