Fireplaces are a definite symbol of the holiday season. Even without Christmas approaching, the colder weather evokes visions of a family gathering around a fire, roasting marshmallows or telling stories before bed.
Toss in all the typical holiday decorations and you may immediately envision a fireplace mantle decked out with stockings and tinsel. Then there's always that essential Christmas detail — Santa slides down the chimney to deliver his gifts. How else will he leave presents if he can't get into your home?
Unfortunately, if you live in an apartment, you most likely won't have a fireplace. Without one, preparing for a traditional Christmas can be a challenge.
However, it's not impossible. Before you being “bah-humbuging" about your holiday decor, consider one of these decorating alternatives when you lack a traditional fireplace and mantle.
Because the number of apartments equipped with fireplaces is on the lower side, you miss out on having a mantle, the central location where stockings and many decorations hang. As a result, consider making your stockings portable with a free-standing stocking stand.
A metal or wooden frame includes hooks for you to hang stockings from front and center on Christmas Eve. There are even designs that mirror trees and include holiday messages. Place it near your tree for easy access when Santa makes his visit.
An interior doorway or an empty space on the wall can hold more than the mistletoe during the holiday season. If your lease allows it, a few strategically placed nails can discreetly stay up all year round, and serve as great stocking or decoration holders during Christmas.
If nails are against the rules, adhesive hooks can go up in time for tinsel and holiday wreaths. When the season is over, pull them off the walls with no mess. They're a little weaker though, so make sure the stockings don't get too heavy. A weighed-down stocking can damage the wall if it falls. Set stockings on the floor once they get too full. Nobody will complain about a heavy stocking on Christmas morning.
It will be harder to surprise the sleeper on Christmas Day, but hanging a stocking on a bedpost means instant gratification Christmas morning. You'll have to keep them light, but tying a stocking onto a bed with a decorative ribbon or piece of rope makes it a festive piece to keep up all holiday-long.
Any decoration that can lie flat can sit on a bookcase. Stocking holders can hang off the edge with a few Nutcracker soldiers standing guard. Garland, a few tea lights and other decorations hanging off the high spots on a bookshelf, stay out of the way while helping make your whole apartment merry and bright.
Console tables can work wonders imitating a fireplace mantle. Although a little lower to the ground, traditional stocking holders that hang on the edge will fit on this piece of furniture.
They're also a great place to drape festive garlands or lay down a fake snow blanket to transform your apartment into a winter wonderland.
“When you live in a small space, every single inch counts. This becomes even more apparent during the holiday season when you're faced with an influx of guests and the urge to impress them with an array of decorations," says the editors at Elle Decor.
You may need to find everyday items that can work overtime as holiday decor. This may mean transforming a curtain rod into a place to hang stockings or grabbing the candy canes off your dessert table and hanging them on any available surface.
Amanda Garrity from Good Housekeeping suggests you use balloons to make a bold statement. While they automatically incite a celebratory mood, stringing them up like giant ornaments lets them pull double-duty to promote Christmas, as well.
Take the focus away from stockings, garlands, Nutcrackers and ornaments. Instead, focus your holiday decor on lights. Christmas decorating without a fireplace is easy if you're just hanging lights all around.
You can even arrange them into wreaths or make the outline of a Christmas tree and stockings on the wall. You'll need a lot of small, adhesive hooks, which are easy to find this time of year alongside the Christmas decorations.
If you can't live without having a fireplace for Christmas, there are ways around not having a chimney. Simply place some candles around your apartment and light them to add a holiday glow. As an added bonus, get candles with Christmas tree scents. Just make sure you don't leave them unattended because they could be a fire hazard.
While candles still won't give you a proper mantle for decorating, they'll add in the cozy, holiday feeling you may miss without a built-in fireplace of your own.
Of course, there's always the non-traditional route when it comes to Christmas decorations. With no fireplace or mantle to hang stockings, maybe it's time to consider a stocking substitute.
Rain boots are often colorful, festive and can hold a lot of small gifts when you think about it. They sit on the floor so no need to figure out how to hang them. They also look pretty cute stuffed with presents on Christmas morning.
If you're the type who tends to overfill a traditional stocking, replace it with a holiday sack. This slightly bigger container will look tantalizing on the floor full of gifts. If your family all enjoys the same hobby and you can take an item from there to use in lieu of stockings, make Christmas more personal with the strategy. Who says a stocking has to be an oversized sock?
While a traditional fireplace features heavily in the most popular Christmas stories, there's no reason you can't decorate your apartment beautifully for the holidays without it.
Stockings don't have to be hung with care on the mantle, and there are other ways for Santa to get into apartments if there's no chimney (rumor is he has a special key). Don't get caught up on logistics this year as you deck the halls of your own home. Try out one of these alternatives to keep the Christmas spirit alive and well with or without a fireplace.