I was perusing stylist and HGTV personality Emily Henderson’s blog this morning when I stumbled upon this (hilarious) nugget of design wisdom:

“Not decorating your mantel is like going to work without your pants on—it doesn’t matter how nice of a shirt you have or how pretty your hair is, it kinda ruins everything…..unless you work at an underwear factory and are wearing the underwear that they design and have really nice legs in which case you’ll probably get a promotion.”

I love you Emily Henderson. I do.

To inspire your own mantel decorating efforts (because clearly it is imperative that you do so), I give you two specimens of holiday mantel perfection. On left, for the design minimalists out there (i.e. me), there’s our incomparable D Home creative director Jamie Oliver’s artfully earthy take. And for those of you that prefer a little more action above your fireplace, behold stylist Jimmie Henslee’s bedecked extravaganza on right.

Do you have a fierce holiday mantel? Send me a snap. I’d love to see it!