Styling a mantelpiece with stems

A mantelpiece is a hard surface to style because it is long, shallow and at eye level. Everything on it is seen edge-on, which flattens depth and exposes any arrangement that is too symmetrical. Stems fix this faster than anything else, provided you resist the urge to balance them.

The working rule

Three groupings, not five, not two. Place the tallest at roughly one third along the mantel rather than at either end. Let the second cluster sit lower and closer, and keep the third small enough that it reads as punctuation rather than a third arrangement.

• Tallest element: around 1.5 times the height of whatever hangs above the mantel.
• Middle cluster: half that, placed close enough to overlap visually from the front.
• Low element: a single bloom or a small bowl, at the opposite third.

Then break it. One stem should lean out of its vase and cross in front of, or behind, its neighbour. A perfectly upright arrangement is the fastest way to make good stems look artificial, because real cut stems always fall somewhere.

Symmetry reads as a display. Asymmetry reads as a home.

What to pair

Eucalyptus and hydrangea work together because the leaf shapes are opposites — long and narrow against round and dense. Magnolia on bare wood is best left alone; it has enough line to carry a mantel by itself, and anything beside it competes.

Avoid mixing more than two species in one vessel. Real bouquets do it, but real bouquets have the advantage of looking slightly wilted, which forgives a lot.