Easy Summer Mantel

Summer is practically here and that means our backyard jungles come alive.  Bringing a little bit of that backyard jungle greenery idea inside I went ‘crazy plant lady’ and made an easy summer mantel.  A huge thank you to Krista at The Happy Housewife for organizing this summer mantel blog hop as part of the Seasonal Simplicity series.

Create an easy summer mantel using inexpensive clay pots and house plants. Add a touch of summer with fresh and pretty paint on the clay pots.

I’m so excited that the Seasonal Simplicity series is back again and this time it’s to celebrate Summer!  Today I’ve joined up with a talented group of bloggers to share our simple and beautiful summer mantel (or summer vignette) ideas with you!  Enjoy the inspiration…

The Happy Housie // Home Made Lovely // House by Hoff // The DIY Mommy

Zevy Joy // Town and Country Living // A Pretty Life // Rooms for Rent // So Much Better With Age

Finding Silver Pennies // Vinyet Etc. // This is Our Bliss // Rambling Renovators

Paint Me Pink // Just a Girl and Her Blog // Jamie Costiglio // Newly Woodwards

 Holy smokes so much beautiful and doable inspiration!  Back to my simple and easy mantel full of potted plants.

To overcome decorating paralysis I opted for a collection of like items in mass which always seems to be easy on the eyes.  Starting with inexpensive clay pots and a little pink paint I painted the lower portion of each pot for a fresh summer color scheme.  Then used scrap wood blocks to create variations in height.  Lastly I plopped in basic house plants and you have a super easy yet effective mantel display.

I’m loving the contrast of the pieces of wood against the painted mantel, pots and greenery.  Thank goodness I save every off cut from building things because those little 4×4 pieces sure come in handy!

To make this mantel look is very easy.  Below are the basic instructions.

Supplies:

• 4″ clay pots
• gloss latex paint
• paint brush
• 4×4 scrap wood pieces cut at various lengths (1 1/2″ – 5″)
• house plants

Use a gloss latex paint for your pots.  I opted for exterior soft gloss in the event these pots end up outdoors some day, it’s also a good idea to use exterior paint because these pots will be exposed to water.  Paint the lower portion just below the lip and let dry.

Once dry flip over and add your house plants.  I used inexpensive $4 plants from The Home Depot.

Cut up a few 4×4 wood posts into various lengths and use under the pots both to create height and as a bit of a coaster to absorb any excess moisture.

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