Organize and style your shelves

Whenever we add built-ins to a home, one of the things the clients worry about: how are we going to make these shelves look nice without them becoming a dumping ground of forgotten books and dust-collecting paraphernalia?! Dreaming of well-organized stylish shelves doesn’t need to be out of reach, it can be done! We promise!

Declutter 

Before anything else, make sure to only keep what you really want to display. Too often, we end up with too many books and decorative objects that we don’t really need, and that only creates an overwhelming effect.  I myself have been a culprit of this mistake. Having moved to New England after college, I brought a LOT of stuff with me. The bookshelves became a place to shove magazines, frames that I didn’t know where else to display, and other knick knacks that didn’t have a place in the rest of my curated home. It actually took me a LONG time and three moves to finally weed out all of the extraneous stuff. But once I did, it finally felt like a load off of my shoulders. And suddenly I had a curated collection that I could proudly show off without cramming everything in there!

Organize them by size 

Before putting them on the shelf, organize all your pieces by size. Separate the big items from the small, and then by height. Start placing the bigger and taller ones first at different spots on the shelf. Then mix in the smaller items. It sounds complicated but once you fill in the big pieces far apart, across all of the shelves, you’ll find that you have small pockets to fill in with the knick knacks! And playing with the height of the objects and putting tall objects next to shorter ones will create an interesting visual effect.  

Keep it asymmetrical 

Group objects by odd numbers - by 3 or 5 for example. Don’t try to make all your shelves the same. You don’t need to reach perfect symmetry. Quite the contrary (ooh I sound proper…), an asymmetrical effect will be more visually appealing. To add some order, you can place similar objects on the same diagonal to ease the eyes and give them lines to look at.  

Add a plant 

Adding greenery to your shelves creates a lighter more breathable effect and will add some soothing colors. It’s a great way to fill in empty space. We love ferns. Especially because depending on the amount of space you have, you can fit a big Boston fern or a smaller maidenhair fern in any little crevice! Pothos are another great plant that doesn’t need a lot of maintenance or sunlight that will eventually grow and trail along the bookshelves!

Add artwork

We love to put artwork on a bookshelf. And not just sitting on the shelf in a frame. We love to use it in different, unexpected ways - such as hung on the frame of the bookshelf. Yet another way to add visual interest as well as showing off your personality!

Add Something Unexpected

And of course, there’s always ways to include surprising elements - like this client below who had a collection of Lego people. Repurposing a vintage typeset box helped give those guys a little home!

Have fun styling your shelves and turning them into an art piece! If you need additional advice, don’t hesitate to reach out!