Looking for mantel decorating ideas with a clock? You're not alone. Decorating your home can be a challenge, especially if you're full of ideas but don't know how to tie it all in together. This is especially true with mantelpieces and fireplaces, which tend to be the focal point in any room but are a lot trickier to decorate than most people expect.
One of the easiest ways to dress up your mantel is by using a good clock and building up the design from there. With a well-decorated mantel, the rest of the design will come easily. To help you with this, here are some mantel decorating ideas that use a clock!
Mantel Decorating Ideas With Clock – 25 Tips For A Dreamy Transformation
Quick Look
- The Wood Finish
- Planted On Top
- Off-Center
- Skillful Contrast
- Antique Direction
- An Oval Take
- Tastefully Oversized
- Framed And Ready
- Lit Up
- Keep It Warm
- Emeralds And Silvers
- Spell It Out
- Textured Neutrals
- Center Stage
- Fire And Flora
- Spot Of Tea
- Keep It Symmetrical
- Little Library
- Eternal Spring
- Candied Accessories
- Reflective Charm
- Cool On The Eyes
- Intriguing Jars
- Starry Wall
- Keep It Measured
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The Wood Finish
First on our list of mantel decorating ideas with a clock is wood. One method of making a space cohesive is by decorating it with an interesting wood clock and bronze accents. Despite what many might assume, this would work even better with a wood wall or mantel.
It calls on a nature-centric style with a contemporary twist. Luckily, wood finishes are easy to do and very affordable to install in your house.
Get some more inspiration from the PresenTime & Co 13 which has raised 3D numbers on a shiplap-style background and a bronze finish.
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Planted On Top
Want to use your houseplants? Simply choose your favorite potted plants and match your clock color to them. Not only is this one of the best mantel decorating ideas with a clock, but it is also the easiest! You can either match leaf colors with a green clock or you could coordinate your clock with flower or pot colors.
After getting everything you need, arrange them how you feel looks best. We recommend having the clock centered, with your favorite plants spaced out evenly on each side.
These Joyhalo Artificial Potted Plants (3 Pack) come in fashionable modern pots that allow the fake ferns to shine.
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Off-Center
How do you style an off-center clock? Try playing with levels. Having various heights in your mantel accessories can help balance out any clocks hung off-center.
Setting something tall and chunky opposite the wall clock and placing smaller elements below the clock will all work together in balancing out the mantelpiece. Using dried plants, chunky vases, modern frames, and books will all contribute to making this mantel look perfect rather than awkward.
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Skillful Contrast
Your mantel could also benefit from some striking contrasts. Choosing a dark modern clock for a light-colored room will help draw the eye to the clock and make the design much more interesting.
This style works best if it's the only dark piece in the space since it makes contrasts look much stronger. On the opposite end, this technique also works with dark rooms and light-colored clocks.
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Antique Direction
You can also go in a more classic direction and use unique antique-style pieces. Using brass tones in the design would work well and pairs up wonderfully with deep wood tones. You don’t need large pieces, just a handful of interesting mantel accessories that are all roughly the same size and style would look fantastic.
The Mariyam Art Handicraft Nautical Clock is a great place to start for your antique design, using a Victorian pocket watch design with a compass at its bass. It’s a conversation starter and is the perfect size for sitting on mantels!
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An Oval Take
One simple way to dress up your mantel is with a unique clock shape. Rather than a standard circular wall clock, try a delicate oval standing clock and match it with equally charming pieces in the same color scheme.
To make the design even more seamless, remember to match ovals with nicely curved pieces and avoid straight lines in your mantel decor.
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Tastefully Oversized
If your living space is mostly decorated and you just need to find the perfect clock for an already well-balanced space, using an oversized wall clock might be the solution you need.
Oversized wall clocks come in all shapes, colors, and styles, making it easy to find a design that would pair up flawlessly with what you have prepared. The largeness of the clock will also make up for the empty wall space you might be thinking of filling.
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Framed And Ready
If you’ve chosen a squarish clock, think about using rectangular frames to match it. You can make your mantel a more personal piece by turning it into a picture gallery, showing off your hobbies, interests, or loved ones.
The frame shapes will match nicely with your clock and make it a more cohesive space, with the similarly shaped pieces tying everything together.
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Lit Up
Whether you have a working fireplace or not, candles go perfectly with mantels. Choosing clock and candle colors that match the shade of your mantel will give the space a very clean and sophisticated look.
You don't need much— just two candlesticks and an interesting clock will do wonders. If you want to try being a little bolder, using more candles with various sizes and scents could help enhance the design.
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Keep It Warm
What better way to match a fireplace mantel than with warm shades? Yellows, oranges, and reds are fiery colors and would go marvelously on a mantelpiece. Even with mismatched accessories, the color palette will help tie everything together. To add highlights to the design, adding gold and bronze-tone metals can help.
This Bedford Clock Collection Redwood Mantel Clock comes in a classic design and a deep reddish wood color, perfectly matching a warm color palette!
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Emeralds And Silvers
One of the most popular mantels decorating ideas with a clock is color combos. One sophisticated color combo that’s easily overlooked is emerald green and silver. The result of this color combo is a stunning and sexy palette that's easy on the eyes.
For your mantel, choose a statement silver clock and surround it with emerald green candles, vases, plants, picture frames, or whatever you prefer. Stick to these colors and you won’t go wrong.
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Spell It Out
Is there a word that’s important to you and your home? Why not spell it on your mantel with clever and fun 3D letters. You can complement this with an interesting clock in a gentle pop of color for added dimension.
Accent these elements with candles, books, or plants and balance it all out for a meaningful design.
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Textured Neutrals
If you're struggling with a neutral color palette and need a way to make the elements stand out more, try playing with textures. Choosing an interesting clock with embossed numbers and surrounding it with various fabrics, glass, and wood textures will help neutral colors pop out for a chic end product.
Remember that you don't need to limit yourself to standard mantelpieces. If candles aren’t your style, how do you feel about using baskets and pillows instead?
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Center Stage
If you're interested in adding shelving above your fireplace, consider using your clock as its center point. This wall layout helps your clock take center stage and creates a good balancing point for the shelving.
With this, clock placement is hassle-free, your mantel won't need much work, and you’ll have additional shelving for function and design!
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Fire And Flora
If you're not too keen on the clock and candle design, adding flowers might change your mind. While remembering to stay faithful to the area's color scheme, you can pair interesting candles with your favorite flowers to give the mantel a vintage appeal.
Topping it off with a classic wall clock will help it stay charming. If you choose this style, don’t forget to space these elements properly, especially if you’re using real flowers and candles!
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Spot Of Tea
Sometimes, the best thing to add to a warm space is a little teal. Teal is a beautiful green shade that perfectly complements warm and neutral shades.
Using a teal clock will add a fun pop of color to the mantel without being too distracting. It’s no problem if nothing else in the room is in the same shade— that will just highlight your mantelpiece even better!
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Keep It Symmetrical
Balance is a crucial element in art but it could be challenging, especially for those who haven't found much confidence in their design choices yet. The easiest way to balance out a mantel's design is through symmetry.
Make sure to double up on each mantel decor you want to include before styling the space. Using your clock as the center point, place each accessory on both sides of the clock and space them out accordingly.
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Little Library
If your mantelpiece has space underneath, take this as an opportunity to create a unique reading nook. Stacking your favorite novels and your waitlisted books here is a creative use of space that isn’t done often.
With this design, choosing a simple oversized clock to hang over the mantel can help balance out the heaviness underneath. This also makes sure that no space is wasted!
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Eternal Spring
Why settle for one clock when you can have multiple? Although it doesn't sound practical at first, it does make for a fantastic feature wall! Using strategically placed clock prints and flower bouquets, you'll be sure to draw out fantastic reactions from your guests.
Our tip is to stick to one easily visible working clock and surround it with a bunch of vintage clock printouts— or skip the clock prints all together! Either way, using large flower bouquets, patterned candle jars, and a light peach-tone palette will result in a beautifully decorated wall that looks like it was taken right out of Alice’s Wonderland.
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Candied Accessories
Some homes are built with fun in mind and their mantels should show that. Decorate these mantelpieces with bright candy-colored pieces. Don’t be afraid to use completely different colors since these can still go well with each other if you use the color wheel properly.
Using two complementary colors or three primary colors will help create an exciting palette for your home. To avoid any clashing, make sure to keep the different shades consistent throughout the space to help it all flow nicely with the mantel.
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Reflective Charm
If your mantel is in a tight area and you have no clue how to decorate it without feeling cramped, a mirror is your best friend. A mirror wall clock can be a strategic piece in your mantel decor, helping space look larger while still telling the time.
Regardless of design, this will be a statement piece in any area.
Try the Creative Co-op Metal Mirror with Gold Trim, which has a chic minimalist design that could look amazing on your wall.
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Cool On The Eyes
Have you ever considered a cool-tone palette for your mantelpiece decor? Soft shades of blues, greens, and purples help add an element of peace and calm to space.
It's a fuss-free palette that helps the space look bright and welcoming, especially with white-walled rooms. Simply choose any clock in your favorite cool shade and mix and match from there with candles, dried flowers, and delicate glassware.
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Intriguing Jars
This mantel is decorated with intriguing jars and boxes in deep brown shades, looking great against a white backdrop. When trying this out, using different jar sizes and wooden boxes helps create different levels that make it look more interesting.
You can also try to space these items out with dried cotton flowers to help them leave a softer impression. At the center is a simple black alarm clock that blends in seamlessly with the overall vibe of the design.
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Starry Wall
This white mantel is set against a bright pink wall. It’s decorated with a modern white and pink clock and is accented by gold pieces and peach-colored candles for an exciting look.
To make the space more interesting, it also has a simple star-shaped string curtain hanging beside it, filling the empty wall space and making it look much more entertaining to the eye.
If you want to try this lookout, the Fecedy Sparkling Star Garland is a great place to start, with glittery silver stars hung on a 13-foot long string.
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Keep It Measured
The last on the mantel decorating ideas with clock list is keeping it measured! This fireplace mantel is decorated very simply, with a small figurine on the shelf and a curious clock set beside it.
At first glance, it looks like three clocks but, upon closer inspection, you’ll see that it’s a thermometer, a clock, and a barometer in a single fixture. If you want to try and personalize this style, you can stack three clocks with important time zones on them or use the measuring apparatus that you regularly need instead!