The picture and lantern are great, but you need a second lantern with this one! The floral is too small and the bottles are not interesting. Remove them and have a much larger arrangement made for the bottle spot. Put it in a black metal container to match the lanterns and have it be tall enough to reach the center of the painting. Take the painting to the floral designer so the colors can be replicated in the floral design.

Thanks! Were you thinking another lantern exactly the same, or one that would compliment the one I have now?

Hi Lori, It's difficult to comment on your fireplace decor without seeing a full picture of the scale you are working with. I like your stacked stone and think "less is more" in this case.

a picture from further back to help assess proportion and surrounding decor would be helpful

Here is a picture from farther back. And I put a vase up instead of the bottles, but probably not the right thing either :(

HI -- I love the stacked stone ! I think you are doing the left,right and middle too much . What you had before (vases) was too close to the color of the stone . Can you put your painting on another wall ? Find a nice big framed mirror -prefer round , or horizontal long . Then have three various height decor items to one side and then one other medium size item on the other side or that lantern with a bigger one with it . Look for other mantel arrangments on Houzz. But I do think a mirror is the better way to go.

Something lighter than the lantern would show up more against the rock...although I like it..seems too dark at least in this pic. Maybe a larger pic would fill the area better?

Try relocating the picture (if you love it that much) to another wall in the room. The dry stack stone wall is a beautiful feature in itself but looks way too busy with this picture and it's multiple mounts. What you choose to put on your mantel can then reflect the height and scale of the picture that was there; large floral arrangement or a simple round mirror. I also like to put lantern/s on the floor just side of fireplace. Have fun.

You like the picture, so keep it. Consider having it rematted in a lighter color. Instead of having "things" on the mantel, put other family or landscape pictures you like, all in lighter frames or mattes so they will contract will the beautiful stone, not blend into it. A coordinated collection of photos. Good luck.

I love your fireplace. I do think the pic is too small and wrong type. Perhaps a mirror but don't know what it may reflect. Try something off center on the mantle and prop artwork on mantel; try large floral arrangement on hearth. If not mirror perhaps a large wreath with nothing else on mantle. Good luck.

Saw a similar set up at a friends house. They used a large round mirror with a black decorative frame wall mounted above mantel. Sitting on mantel either side of mirror were two tall black (or very dark timber) candle holders. Simple but striking..

Thank everyone for your help! Any more comments are welcome and I will post a before and after when I finish!!

Erica is spot on, that picture is so dated, the matting was in style in the '70 or 80's. So enough people have said that but what to put there - I have it! A deer head or whatever head, it can be totally fake, caved, made of metal, does not matter as it is whatever your tastes says, but if you do want to put anything actually on the mantel itself make it a collection of all the same things, such as photos, antique bottles you collect, salt and pepper shakers, whatever it is is not as important as the fact that they are a collection of things - everyone collects something so just put out your things. But the head of some animal is going to look so great. Go to Etsy to find a cool handmade one, unless you have a real one in the attic or something, it's so retro it's cool.

A few pics with better symmetry