Sophisticated Styling: A Narrow Mantle

Today I'm sharing a seldom seen area of my living situation. I've mentioned before that I live in a student building where I have my own studio-style apartment, complete with living room/bedroom area, large walk in closet, and my own bathroom. My kitchen accommodations, however, are shared with the five other girls living in my building. Beside the kitchen, there is also a small community TV area. 

I was inspired by the mantle (on the non-working fireplace) down there the other day and decided to give it a quick makeover using found items from my apartment. Before, it was covered in junk mail and strange odds and ends such as batteries and a spool of thread. 

It's amazing what a ten minutes of styling can do!

The tricky part about styling a narrow mantle is that you only have a few inches of depth to make it count. This eliminates the possibility of any big, sculptural pieces. Instead, I've chosen to layer leaning art for easy switch-out in an asymmetrical layout to break up the formality of the more traditional fireplace. All of the art pieces used are my original paintings. I've added one small, interestingly shaped vase to the vignette to add some 3 dimensionality and a curvilinear form, and threw a couple decorative match boxes to complete the vignette with a 'lived-in' atmosphere.

Is there an area in your house that could use a little extra styling love?
xox