Jeremiah Brent just decorated a fun, festive mantel using Crate & Barrel's Christmas collection

The designer has thrown his typically restrained style to the wind with this whimsical festive mantel display

A picture of a man leaning on a white table and smiling at the camera
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Any opportunity to peek inside Jeremiah Brent and Nate Berkus's home always fills us with excitement. The designer couple has become a perpetual source of home decor inspiration, especially for the more minimalist among us, but in a recent Instagram reel, Jeremiah seems to have thrown their typically restrained and refined style to the wind. 

In its place is a whimsical, joyous festive mantel display that's bursting with character, and it has us equally inspired to try a fun and playful approach to Christmas decorating this year. In the short video, Jeremiah shows us how he's decorated his daughter Poppy's fireplace mantel with a colorful Christmas display, and you can buy everything you need from Crate & Barrel. 'Trading our typical winter whites for a bit of whimsy,' the designer captioned the post. 'I love the playful, design freedom that comes with decorating Poppy’s mantel.' 

Getting the whole family involved with Christmas decorating is one of the biggest joys of the season, and Nate and Jeremiah's household is no exception. As this curated mantelpiece shows, there's even a lot we adults can learn from kids' unabashed creativity. Here's how to recreate Poppy and Jereiah's fun-filled fireplace look.  

While it certainly helps to have a beautiful fireplace to start your mantel decorating journey, it's really all in the details. Whether you have a large authentic fireplace or a fake one, it's the finishing touches that are most important, as Jeremiah's fireplace design so obviously shows.

To get started on any mantel decor, some sort of garland makes a great foundation. We love this faux pine option with pre-lit lights from Crate & Barrel, and it offers a traditional festive feel draped across Jeremiah's fireplace, but you could go bold and opt for a more contemporary and colorful option, like this frosted garland with pink detailing from Amazon. For added simplicity and ease of storage afterward, pre-lit garlands are a great choice, but for more of a statement light display you can always intertwine an extra set of string lights. 

To up the ante on Poppy's Christmas fireplace, Jeremiah adds a super cute felted garland to his daughter's display which reads 'peace and love'. This adds some visual interest beneath the mantel as well as some much-needed color. Beaded garlands, like this one from Balsam Hill, are also an excellent choice if you're looking for something that's still fun but a tad less kid-oriented. 

In true Jeremiah style, it wouldn't be a complete Christmas mantel without some neutral ceramic decor to really anchor the look. For Poppy's bedroom, this comes in the form of white snowflakes nestled among the pine garland which cast a warm glow thanks to their hidden LEDs. Throw in some elegant reindeer statuettes and some silvery-toned bottle brush Christmas trees and you have fireplace decor fit for a fun and festive space - kids room and beyond! 

Other Christmas mantel decor we love

Color & Trends Editor

Lilith Hudson is the Color & Trends Editor at Livingetc. Writing news, features, and explainers for our digital platform, she's the go-to person for all the latest micro-trends, interior hacks, and color inspiration you need in your home. Lilith discovered a love for lifestyle journalism during her BA in English and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham where she spent more time writing for her student magazine than she did studying. After graduating, she decided to take things a step further and now holds an MA in Magazine Journalism from City, University of London, with previous experience at the Saturday Times Magazine, Evening Standard, DJ Mag, and The Simple Things Magazine. At weekends you'll find her renovating a tiny one-up, one-down annex next to her Dad's holiday cottage in the Derbyshire dales where she applies all the latest design ideas she's picked up through the week.