Styling Shelves
Hey there! I don’t know about y’all but I’m on house arrest/stay home/WFH day I don’t even know what and TBH it’s getting to me a little bit. Being home so much I want to do ALL THE THINGS to the house – paint the kitchen cabinets, redo the bathrooms, completely overhaul the office/dog bedroom, jackhammer up all of the floors and put down something new. Y’know, all the regular things totally normal people probably think about.
Being at home 24/7 I just need something fresh and different to look at. But for so many reasons – working from home, lack of project supplies, and mostly lack of funds (did we tell you our fluffy pup Maximus had TPLO knee surgery a few weeks ago? Surprise!) – those projects are a no-go. For now.
::: INSERT MANIACAL LAUGH :::
So what’s a gal to do to stay sane and keep it fresh (for free) at a time like this? Today I’m sharing my tips for styling your shelves – that work for any living situation and any budget at any time.
Start with a blank canvas
This doesn’t mean throw everything out and go buy all new stuff. Starting with a blank canvas means is as you begin it’s important to completely clear off your shelves and lay out all of your options. This helps you take inventory of the things you might’ve forgotten about, the things you’re really in love with and the things you might be ready to not see for a bit (like any seasonal items). It also helps you not get too tied to your current setup – and bonus – it makes your shelves easier to clean (because if you’re anything like us, your shelves could use a real dusting).
This one I have to admit I don’t do every time. Mostly because it can be a lot – a lot to get out, a lot of space to take up, a lot to put back up, just a lot. BUT whenever I do, I never regret it and my styling – and the fresh, creative headspace it gets me into – are so much better for it. It really does allow you to get more creative with what you already own and helps you see your pieces differently.
To help myself “shop” later, I prefer to group my styling pieces by type as I remove them from the shelves – colored glass, vintage pieces, wooden items, clear glass, photos, art, books and magazines of the same type/color, etc. Whatever you’ve got, I find having some kind of organization to this part makes it less overwhelming to take stock of what you have (and where you can find that perfect piece you’re looking for) later.
Shop your home
I do this all the time, social distancing or not. We rarely go out and buy new styling pieces because there’s only so much money and storage space. Frequently, I wander around the house and look at all of the pieces we already own and try to see them in a new light or envision them in a new space. This might mean taking a piece of art off of the wall from another room, or stealing a functional – yet attractive – piece of glassware from your kitchen, or temporarily relocating your dog’s super cute treat jar to the living room.
Don’t forget to think outside the house
Just the other day I cut off some long sprigs from one of our (overgrown) rosemary bushes to use as vase filler. It’s something I’d never done before, but given the circumstances, I was having to get a little more creative than usual. It adds a nice organic texture in our perfectly imperfect gold vase, and it smells fantastic! I even did another smaller bunch last night.
I also picked up some olive branches from the grocery store while we were there picking up some essentials to last us for the next week. Bonus: they were on mega sale because not many people seem to be thinking about flowers right now (understandable), plus greenery like this usually lasts a lot longer than the floral blooms. Perfect to go the distance during our shelter-in-place.
You could use any scrounged branches or flowers from any plants you may have out in your yard. (Obviously I don’t recommend stealing from your neighbors or using anything you’re allergic to … for us that means we won’t be bringing in any oak branches for decorating, especially since it’s the time of year when they’re full of pollen!)
Start with the oddities
If you’re like us, you may have those pieces you absolutely love and know you have to use somewhere … but they can only fit in a couple of specific places. Around here those are our oversized coffee table books that are too big to go on the TV-wall built-ins, so they get used to decorate the deeper, taller shelves by our fireplace. We also have some framed pieces and our navy letterboard that are barely too tall to be used anywhere except two shelves on the TV wall and on any of the fireplace shelves. I know starting off if I want to use these pieces, they get placed first since they don’t fit anywhere else.
This also includes the three spots in our bookshelves that have outlets or a light switch in them. I try to style those shelves specifically to help hide those types of things as much as I can.
Find your anchor
I like to make sure each shelf has its own anchor point – one central piece (or collection of pieces bundled together that give that one-piece feel, like a stack of books) that help ground the shelf. Some of my favorite “anchors” are:
1. the large framed piece
Because of the size, these are usually my “oddities”, mentioned above. They’re great for those taller shelves where you have the height. A lot of times I like to pair this with a book stack for some added depth.
2. The book stack
Perfect for those medium-tall shelves, depending on the size of the books. These don’t have to be stacked the same each time either. There are a few different combinations that I love that don’t require bookends. They can be stacked to the left or right or stacked centered. I usually finish these off with some type of object on top.
3. The magazine stack
I like to use these for my skinnier shelves where I don’t have full height but have full width and want a little lift. I find my thicker, mostly neutral CommArts magazines work best for this, but any magazines will work!
Give it some order
You might’ve already noticed from the photos above, but I like to arrange my groupings by color and size. I find it adds some additional order and organization to the wall as a whole so it’s not total chaos. Books are aligned by size (tallest book touching the bookshelf) and overall groupings are done by color family (neutrals, those with metallic accents, blues, greens, warms, cools, etc).
Your accessories don’t have to match your stack exactly – it’s nice to find an accent color you can pull out for some added interest (like the blue book stack with the yellow candle that pulls out the yellow and gold text accents, or copper hurricane lamp on top of the mostly gray book stack below). The green in the canister pulls out the green in the magazines, while the rusted railroad tie works with the rust on the green canister.
If you don’t have enough books with the same spine color (or prefer to go neutral), just turn the book around and show off the page-side instead for a look that’s just as clean. And don’t forget you can always check under the dust jacket to see if you like that look better – I use a mix of softcover and hardcover books both with and without dust jackets, depending on the specific book and what look I’m going for.
Add layers
This adds a lot of interest and depth to what could otherwise look pretty flat and one-dimensional. For most shelves, this can mean up to three layers. In some cases, like on the shorter or shallow shelves, you might not be able to layer as much, but you can still get some depth.
On these shelves specifically, I usually like to square up my “lift” piece to be parallel to the front of the shelf, and then make sure the piece (or two) on top are angled to help give a little more depth and interest. On the shelves were I don’t have a “lift” and use one piece – like the blue leather picture frame above – I always angle it into the room slightly.
Give it some movement
As you style, take a step back periodically – or take a photo – to check it out from a distance.
Looking at the bookshelves in columns, I try not to let shelves that touch each other have the same “width” or visual weight to them. In other words, the overall shape of the pieces on the shelves should generally move in and out when you look at the bookshelf as a whole so it doesn’t feel stagnant. You want the colors and object placement to easily bring your eye down the shelf, while giving yourself some moments of open space too.
The same goes for your “rows”. When you look at a row of shelves from left to right, try to make sure the heights of your items are varied as you move across.
By checking the larger picture each time I’m happy with a single shelf, I am able to make little adjustments here and there and know what the next shelf “needs”. I aim to have the bookshelves feel balanced overall, but not perfectly symmetrical.
This will all help your shelves breathe a bit and give some life to them, without feeling too formulaic or chaotic.
Add seasonal touches
To keep my shelves feeling fresh, I add some seasonally-appropriate items here and there. This is my “cheat” and the quickest way to give a mini refresh if you don’t want to take everything off your shelves each time! This spring season we’re rockin’ ceramic bunnies, wooden eggs, and floral prints. And don’t forget your letterboards – they can be anything and for these we usually try to go seasonal or topical.
Practice, practice, practice
I’m not going to lie – nailing your styling takes time, patience, and practice. The more you do it the quicker, easier and more natural it will come to you. You’ll learn what you like, what pieces you need and what you can get rid of. The good news is we have lots of time right now to get it perfect!
Just in the course of writing this post I’ve styled and tweaked, and re-tweaked and adjusted.
And now, some of my favorite finished shelfies
Happy with how well this arrangement was able to hide the outlet and unused coax port on the wall, and still make it so we can plug in our diffuser without being seen.
In love with the pop of color on this shelf – it makes me happy every time I see it.
These two shelves hold so many loved items – travel books from places we’ve been and of places yet to go, a photo of the neon sign on Campus Corner in Norman, a photo of my mom, sister and I on my sister’s birthday, my grandma’s antique nut chopper, some old wrenches and farm tools found in a family barn and a drawing of my grandpa in 1945 by another crew member while he was stationed “somewhere at sea” in the military.
Love the layers and subdued color of this vignette – the touch of gold in the ceramic bunny, a framed study in the importance of contrast from my college days and one of our engagement photos round it out.
So there you have it – how I go about styling our shelves and one of the ways I’m currently keeping busy after work hours. Hope y’all are doing well and keeping busy yourselves. We’ll keep trying to do our part around here, sharing home and camper stuff with you to hopefully keep us all a little more sane.
What do you think? What tips do you follow when styling your shelves at home? Anything you want us to cover in upcoming posts?
