The holiday season is an opportunity to let loose with festive decorations, bringing cheer to a home in a way that might seem too extravagant the rest of the year. And in a home with a fireplace, whether functional or notjackpot mania, the mantel should be a focal point.

ImageBunny Williams at home in Falls Village, Conn., with her dog Bebe.

A mantel decorated with greenery and ornaments “makes any room look like Christmas,” said Bunny Williams, an interior designer who relishes decorating the five fireplace mantels in the house she shares with her husband, the antiques dealer John Rosselli, in Falls Village, Conn., every December.

When the temperature drops, Ms. Williams, 80, clears her mantels of collected antiques to create celebratory compositions.

ImageFor most of the year, Ms. Williams displays antiques on her living room mantel. In December, she clears them off to make way for festive decorations.

“Over the years, I’ve collected boxes and boxes of things, so it’s fun to bring them out,” she said. “I have all my old, favorite objects.”

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