How to Style Bookshelves

We are going to show you how to style bookshelves, but in a different way than you may have seen before. Bookshelves can be tricky friends.

Somehow, you always need way more than you think you will to fill them, and finding the right balance between too full and not full enough is a fine line.

Watching videos other designers have done showing how they styled a bookshelf in real time is definitely helpful, but I wanted to share with you how I approach prepping for styling a bookshelf for a client.

More than likely, you don’t have all the pieces you need to complete your bookshelf. But what do you need? What are you missing? How do you incorporate pieces that you already have? Where should they go?

Make a Plan

I this video, I show you the map I draw for shelves, and how it helps me think about which shapes should go where to create a well designed flow through the bookshelves.

We also cover how to bring color into the shelves in a really intentional way, and I show you some examples of the elusive “decorative objects” category.

https://youtu.be/PEGasJqJKBI

I hope that was helpful, and you feel empowered to create your own map on how to style your bookshelf. Guess what? That map concept can help you with pretty much any surface in your house!

I’ve drawn one for fireplace mantles, the tops of dressers and side tables, and coffee tables. Not to mention walls! It’s what we in the business call an elevation, and it can really go a long way in helping you envision what will look well balanced without moving everything around a bunch of times.

If you are missing some pieces to complete your bookshelf, I have some favorites below that we carry in our shop. We come back to pieces like these over and over, because we love them and they really add interest to your home, as well as telling a story.