Decorating Guides

Handmade Home

I enjoy changing things around the house to make a new, fresh look, but I do not always have a great deal of money to do so. Something as simple as restyling your bookcases is an cheap and easy way to change up the look of your room. As you browse through house design photos, you are bound to see beautifully styled bookcases and shelves. You jump right in or, even if you are like me, could begin by gathering some pictures!

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I use my bookcases to display some of my favorite things. Photos, novels, ironstone, silver trays and classic cameras are simply a few examples of items I like to display. I enjoy blending the old with the new for a fresh look.

1. Clear off your shelves. By beginning with a blank canvas you won’t be tempted to leave anything in the same location. This is a good time to give them a quick cleaning too! Wipe off dust with a damp towel and get rid of any cobwebs.

Susan Duane

2. Gather like items. Put them all in 1 spot and take a look so that you can see just what you need to work with. Make sure you look all around the house. Sometimes finding a new house for a product can give it new life.

Susan Duane

3. Start with a single section at a time. My bookcases has been divided into three sections. I love to tackle 1 section at a time then proceed to the next — almost as if every section is a stand-alone case. I find it simpler to do this because it’s not overly daunting. You’ll see from the finished photo the composition is different than it is in this shot.

Susan Duane

4. Play around with your items. I decided to flip the publications around on the top shelf, giving it a totally different look. I also like to combine the height of the items I use to add interest. Displaying things in groups of threes is just one of the tricks I’ve learned — it’s visually pleasing.

Susan Duane

5. Mix up the height. I use publications to include height to items. Try ordering items in the tallest to the shortest. I would not do this for the entire instance, because each one the tall things would end up on one side. It is going to work better if you handle every section one-by-one, and also have only some of the groupings go from tallest to shortest.

Be sure to take a step back every now and then to acquire an overall view.

Susan Duane

6. Utilize your collections. When grouped together, your collections have a much larger impact. Here I used some of my own ironstone pitchers. Repeating the ironstone throughout the shelves creates a feeling of cohesiveness.

7. Pick a colour palette. I think keeping the colour palette simple is critical to a pleasing composition. Here, I mostly used black, silver and white.

For something a bit unexpected, I hung one of my favorite photographs of the kids from among the dividers for the shelves. I also like to integrate some form of storage, like the basket I used for the publications. It keeps the messier items clean looking.

Do you have a beautifully styled bookshelf? I’d love to view them! Share your pictures in the Comment section below.

More:
Guest Picks: Storage and Styling for a Child’s Bookcase
Making Books Part of Your House’s Style
Guest Picks: 20 Finds for your Artful Bookcase

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