Using your shelves isn’t just about a simple storage solution, but rather provides a fantastic opportunity to finish off your room. Get creative and establish a sense of personality. You may have floating shelves, bathroom shelves, or freestanding shelves that you are looking to style, but the key is to have a game plan before and capture your personal taste.
If there’s any secrets to displaying the perfect shelf, it’s that you don’t have to be an experienced interior designer. Rather, should blend yours and others inspiration together to find the perfect blend. Shedding out large amounts of money on shelving accessories isn’t necessary either.
So, let’s explore several ways to style your shelves that starts with a little bit of preplanning. Think about the placement of your items and which items will layer well together. It’s a good idea to add dimension and height to your shelves so the addition of taller books, candle holders or towering vases are a good option. The experts suggest it adds ‘fluidity’ to your décor and a more interesting arrangement. It’s just a good idea to have a bit of an idea about the different items you’ll be using and where they’ll be placed.
First, choose a main colour to work with and keep this consistent throughout the shelf. Having neutral colours is a great starting point and provides an ideal backdrop for the rooms in your home. You can then add drops of colour for contrast purposes whilst maintaining cohesion.
Add natural elements
For character and textural purposes, incorporate natural pieces into your shelves. Plants provide the perfect solution, or maybe you have some personalised driftwood or pebble filled jars to incorporate. Mix these natural elements with framed photos, woven baskets, or art prints for a fantastic organic shelf arrangement. Adding to this, woven baskets can create storage shelves and a sense of practicality.
Create item groupings
Groupings is another important aspect of creating interesting and seamless arrangements. Layer several items and group them together like stacks of books for example, making sure to leave space in between the groupings on the shelf. This style looks visually pleasant, tidy, and not like we have just thrown several objects together.
Add quirky items to your arrangement
One more technique is to incorporate random or surprising items in your arrangement occasionally. Small garden statues, vintage toy cars or different coloured glasses are just some ideas that could be worked into your shelves to keep them engaging.
Paint behind the shelves
You may have some mundane bookshelves that could do with some updating. Take away the books and paint the backdrop of the shelves. If your books are predominantly dark colours, then pastel tones may be better suited to create a contrast.
Create an arrangement that is personal
The last tip we have is to make sure your shelves are personal to you. Work in your personal photos, gifts, and sentiments to give your shelves meaning and showcase these to friends and family.
We encourage you to install shelves throughout your home. These could be with the addition of corner shelves or kitchen shelves to name a few. It just adds more storage and décor elements to your rooms. When selecting which shelves to install, we would strongly recommend using oak shelves as these provide a natural element to your homes. For a complete guide on how to put up shelves, read this blog here.
The great thing about styling shelves is that the options are endless. Have fun with it, and once done, step back for a moment to gather a full picture of the arrangement and decide whether that’ll be the finished article.
Relevant Information
Where To Locate Shelves Around Your Home
A How To Guide On Installing Your Home Shelves With Brackets