Bookshelf Styling Tips
I recently reorganized my bookshelf to feature treasures from my travels, art inspiration, and some of my own creations. I’m noticing themes of musical theater, animals, felted wool, and pink & green. Every trinket holds meaning and memory, and I love how my collection has morphed over the years and reflects my own creative growth.
Tips for styling your own collection
A lot of careful thought went into placing each of my bits and bobs – here’s some insight into my process!
1. Take Inventory
I find it’s easiest to first remove everything from the shelves in order to notice what you have. You might try grouping items by material (like wood, paper, metal, etc.) or you might notice trends in color, theme, or shape.
2. Start Big
Lean framed artwork, record albums, books, plates, and other large flat items against the back of your bookshelf to add your first layer and create focal points. Try to stagger the placement so the shelves look balanced. Use museum putty for stability or pushpins to tack paper/thinner items.
3. Create Vignettes
We’re now going to use our large items as our foundation for creating vignettes, or aesthetic groupings of items. There’s a lot of trial and error to this process, so I suggest taking pictures as you work so you can switch things up and not forget your favorites.
I’ll be the first to admit that it’s tempting to keep things neat to a fault by putting everything in rainbow color order or displaying your entire Glassybaby collection… but unfortunately, keeping things too organized can end up feeling forced or sterile. By working to create variation, you’ll create visual interest that keeps eyes engaged and coming back to notice every special detail.
Tips:
Odd Numbers – As a starting point, try building vignettes of 3 or 5 items.
Mix Height – Placing trinkets on top of books helps ground smaller items as well as add height variation.
Make Triangles – Congrats, now that we’re using odd numbers and mixing height, we’re creating triangles! You can also step back and make larger triangles with accent colors that reappear across multiple shelves.
Mix Materials – Try varying your vignettes with different textures and material such as pottery, glass, fiber, rattan, wood, paper, metal, or plants.
Create Rhythm – Try placing groups of similar items together to create rhythm, like three matching vases or a few things of the same color. Books are also great for creating rhythm, especially if the spines are in a similar color/style.
It’s an Art (not a Science) – The aforementioned tips should be treated merely as guidelines that can be broken! Guidelines are helpful when we’re feeling stuck, but eventually the goal is to learn to trust our unique taste and creativity.
Zoom Out
Step back, take a picture of your progress, then sleep on it to freshen your perspective. My bookshelves are always evolving to include cards I receive in the mail, cute cookie packaging, my latest projects… and I have other treasures that are currently hiding in baskets or the garage. They’ll have their time to shine someday!
