Styling Faux Wreaths Inside Your Home

Wreaths have a habit of being treated as a front door decoration and nothing else — brought out in December, hung up, and packed away again in January. Which is a shame, because a wreath indoors does something rather different. It brings instant texture, colour and a bit of seasonal character to a wall or a table, and unlike fresh flowers it asks nothing of you afterwards. No water, no dropped petals, no quietly browning stems by the end of the week.

Indoors is also where a faux wreath is at its best. Out of the weather, away from frost and rain and afternoon glare, the materials hold their colour and shape for years rather than seasons. So if you've only ever thought of a wreath as something for the front door, here are a few places I'd suggest looking instead.

Above the fireplace

The classic, and still the best. A mantelpiece gives a wreath a natural frame — a bit of breathing room above, a shelf of candles or ceramics below — and the eye goes straight to it. If the chimney breast is painted a deeper shade, so much the better: greenery and dried tones sit beautifully against dark walls.

On interior and pantry doors

An internal door is an easy win. Hung from a length of ribbon over the top of the door, a wreath softens what is otherwise a very plain surface, and you notice it every time you walk past. Pantry doors, utility doors, the back of a bedroom door — all good candidates. Choose a ribbon that picks up a colour already in the room rather than one that competes with it.

Over a mirror or a piece of art

Layering a wreath over a large mirror or a framed print adds depth to a wall that might otherwise feel flat. It works best when there's a clear size difference between the two — a smaller wreath over a generous mirror, rather than two pieces of similar scale fighting for attention.

Flat on a table, as a centrepiece

One of my favourites, and the one people tend not to think of. Lay a wreath flat in the middle of a dining table or kitchen island, set a hurricane lantern and a candle in the centre, and you have a centrepiece that takes about ten seconds to assemble. It's low enough that people can still see each other across the table, which is more than can be said for most floral arrangements.

Leaning on a shelf or against the wall

Not everything needs to be hung. A wreath propped against the wall on a bookshelf, a dresser or a wide windowsill has a relaxed, unstudied look to it — as though it's just been set down there. Layer it slightly in front of books or a stack of plates for a bit of depth.

In a hallway or up the stairs

Hallways are usually the most neglected walls in a house, and the ones you pass through most often. A single wreath partway up a staircase, or on the wall opposite the front door, gives you something to notice on the way in and out.

The nice thing about styling indoors is that nothing is permanent. A wreath that lives above the fireplace for most of the year can move to the table when you have people over, then on to a bedroom door when something more seasonal takes its place. Once you stop thinking of it as a door decoration, it becomes far more useful than it first appears.