Bookshelves seem to be a staple in every house, often crammed full of books or dust collecting nick-nacks, they can be far from stylish.  Today I’m sharing 5 tips for taking your bookshelves from dreadful to beautiful.

1 – GATHER EVERYTHING – Gather all of the items you might like to use on your shelves. Try to keep things in a consistent color palette, too many bold colors will not be pleasing to the eye. Be sure to have items in a variety of shapes and sizes, I suggest; framed art and photographs – both big and small, florals and greenery, small trays and bowls, books you love, and my favorites – treasured antiques, travel mementos and keepsakes. Your space will feel more personal if you fill your shelves with items that you love and that tell a story, rather than trendy objects.

2 – START WITH BOOKS – Decide if you want to group them together by color, size or another way. Start placing small groupings of books through out your shelves, place some standing on the shelf and others stacked on there sides.

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1460154339309_17391 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -20px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1460154339309_17391 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; }

 3 – ADD FRAMES AND LARGER ITEMS – Place framed art/photos and larger decorative items, through out the shelves. Do not fill taller shelfs with all larger items, placing items of varying height will provide visual interest.

4 – FILL IT IN – Now add all the pretty little things, put them on top of stacked books, use as a book end, fill trays and bowls. Use things with different textures and tones.

5 –  TAKE A STEP BACK – Through out the process take a step back and see what areas need adjusting. Check to see that there is not too much of one color in an area or too many objects of similar height grouped together and adjust as needed.

To help give you a little visual of the process I put this video together that provides a peek at the process of styling a bookcase. I apologise for the poor quality, I’m still learning, but hopefully it is still helpful.