How to Style Shelves Like a Designer
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Shelf styling can be a tricky business. Too many items and you end up with a cluttered mess. Too much symmetry and it looks posed and staged. Too few items and it looks bare. There is an art to styling a shelf and with a few tips and tricks, your shelves will look organic, curated, and professionally styled. There are quite a few types of shelves you may want to style, from open to closed to floating, these tips apply to almost every kind!
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Collect a wide variety of items with different textures, sizes, shapes, and heights. Books, plants, mirrors, picture frames, candles, as well as decorative objects in finishes such as metal, glass, ceramic, and wood are some of the most common shelf styling decor pieces. Ensure that your items are substantial in size, anything too small (under 4 inches) will look inconsequential from a distance. It’s a good idea to mix in items in neutral colors along with a few items in colors from the color palette of the entire room. You can pull existing items from throughout your home and supplement with new items from some of our favorite stores like Burke Decor, Scout & Nimble, Pottery Barn, and even HomeGoods for a bargain.
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Now that you have all the necessary items for styling, clear your shelves entirely (and dust them). Gather all of the items you intend to use in one place. Seeing everything in front of you will help you in your positioning and planning.
An important rule in Interior Design is that you ideally want to work in odd numbers, as that feels more natural and organic. Knowing that rule will come in handy here.
You will want to work in sections, or vignettes, and the number of vignettes you have will depend on the length of your shelves. A three to four foot shelf will likely require about three vignettes depending on the size of your items. Create vignettes with about three items varying in size, shape, height, and texture. Avoid placing the same types of items above or below each other if you have multiple shelves. Avoid being overly symmetrical or intentional, you want things to feel collected and not forced.
Now that you have developed several vignettes, take a step back. Is there enough variety? Do your items complement each other? What is missing? Do you have a mix of finishes, heights, and shapes in each vignette? If you don’t, keep playing with rearranging your items until they feel right. This can take a bit of time and effort, even for a professional, so don’t get discouraged! If you feel stuck, walk away and come back later with fresh eyes.
These tips can help you create beautiful, curated shelves that feel organic but not messy!
