How to Style Bookshelves: Our Top 5 Tips to Style Bookshelves
This post may contain affiliate links, which means we’ll receive a commission if you purchase through our link, at no extra cost to you. See our disclosure here.
Bookshelves can be hard to style the way you want them. These 5 tips will help you style any bookcase in your home.
When it comes to styling bookshelves, it’s still one of the trickiest things for us to design in a space. Having lived in multiple apartments over the years, we have had to style many bookcases and open shelves in different spaces. We have found that there are several things that we like to keep in mind when styling bookshelves.
We know it is daunting looking at and empty bookshelf and deciding how to add just the right about of books, decor pieces and still leave some space so it doesn’t look too cluttered. It can seem intimidating, but we believe that these 5 tips will help you easily style any bookshelf in any space.
This post is all about how to style bookshelves.
How to Style Bookshelves
There are so many ways you can style a bookshelf. Maybe you have a lot of books you want to display in a decorative and aesthetically pleasing way. Maybe you want to decorate your space with a lot of neutral toned objects that add a sophisticated look to your space.
Whatever you are styling on your bookshelf, these tips can help you achieve the look you are wanting.
Our Top 5 Tips to Style Bookshelves
The first two tips for styling your bookshelf are our rules that we always think about before we start styling shelves. These are general rules of thumb to when decorating a bookcase.
1. Don’t Fill Every Single Space
When styling shelves in a bookcase, you don’t want to fill every sing space with something. Above is a picture of what the bookshelf looked like before we styled it. The bookshelf was too cluttered, busy and some of the items needed to go.
Having too many things on a shelf can make it look cluttered. You want to have some small pockets of empty space on the shelf along with your books and decor items.
2. Choose a Cohesive Color Scheme
Styling a bookshelf with a cohesive color scheme can help your design go more smoothly. Whether you want to categorize your books in rainbow order or with a specific color in mind (like neutral tones, blue tones, etc.) it’s totally up to you.
For this project, we decided to group the books in their respective color. We think that doing this adds an artistic element to any space and draws your eye to the bookshelf as a focal point.
3. Start with Books
If books are going to take up a majority of your bookcase, you’ll want to start by styling them first.
Begin with the largest books first to create a good foundation. Then, gradually add smaller books to the shelf–keeping them standing or laying them on their side.
4. Add Vases, Bowls and Baskets
You want to start with your largest items first, so style any large baskets, vases or bowls. Make sure you evenly distribute items of similar color, size or shape around your book case.
This part is fun, because it’s like putting pieces of a puzzle together!
5. Finish with Other Decorative Items
Finish styling your shelf with he final decorative pieces. These can be any small unique items or framed pictures.
Layer these items on top of stacked books, frame them as bookends, or give them a moment of their own.
This post is all about how to style bookshelves.
Other Posts You May Like:
How to Style Twin Beds in a Small Bedroom
6 Gorgeous End Table Decor Ideas + How to Style an End Table
Cozy Home Decor Ideas: 8 Ways to Make Your Home Cozy for Fall