A few weeks back when I polled you all. Some of you asked to give some insight and inspiration on how to style open shelving in your home.
I REALLY love styling shelves in our home it is one of my favorite things to do. It is such a fun way to add you and your families personality, as well as some of your favorite things into an open space in your home where every can enjoy it. It is also a fun way to easily interchange and display some of your favorite things by creating an entirely new look without always having to buy something new. Have a cool piece of art you would like to lean? What about that hand me down glass vase you got from your aunt? Or what about a cool object from your travels? I am telling you the beauty of different items you have around your house will surprise you.
Whether it is decorating your bookcases, shelfs, or even a surface in your space these tips will allow you to think outside the box and give you the confidence you need to decorate. Here are a few tips that I live by when doing this around our home. It can be tricky but these methods I have will help:)
Spread out colors: On your bookshelf or shelves that you are styling here are some of the tricks I use. I like to spread out accessories and books of the same color tone. It is more appealing to the eye when you decorate this way. If you have a few trinket boxes, for example, place a couple on one shelf and place the remainder on a shelf located diagonally across. Use the same rule with the materials you pick. When putting different things like spreading out your metals, glasses, and porcelains you want to place them diagonally across each other to add interest. The goal here is to make your shelving look like a very well planned display not something that is laid out color coordinated and perfect.
Look for interesting objects: This can take some time but I really encourage you to take your time looking for pieces that you love and will mean something to you for years to come. Vintage and antique stores as well as thrift stores are your best bet for objects like this. I will say in recent years though HomeGoods and Target have REALLY brought their A game with incorporating different objects into their home decor lines. In the photo I shared above I have a unique milk glass vase, and stone book end. I also love the horse head that I found at HomeGoods. Another idea could be using seaglass pieces you have found over the years and placing it in a clear glass jar.
Balance your shelf: For the balanced look I am referencing this is what you will want to do. To allow your eye to be drawn to a shelf without feeling overwhelmed here are some of my favorite ways to do this. Try to avoid placing all books on the left side or the right side. Instead, space out the books you want throughout your bookcase, occasionally filling only half a shelf versus the entire shelf. Grouping books with solid-colored ones or mostly solid-colored covers by shades and try grouping multicolored books by topic or size.
Less is more: Clear the clutter. Less is more when you are decorating I promise. I know it can be so tempting to place all of your favorite things in one place on a shelf but by using some of the steps I listed out above the layout will have more of an impact when you have some thought behind it.
Here is some inspiration for you to reference from the shelves in our home:
Below I went ahead and rounded up some of my favorite objects that were affordable for you to have in your own home. Here are some that I thought would look so pretty displayed. Another very powerful statement on open shelfing is to add tree clippings from your yard and adding them to a vase they make SUCH an impact.
Wood chain link| Wooden Vases| Black wooden knot| Marble Bookends| Gold Watering Can|Peace Sign|Decorative Storage Box|Artwork|Candle|Ceramic Vase|Marble Disc|
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