Styling a bookcase, etagere, or cabinet can sometimes seem like an intimidating task. They are often in very visible places and are sometimes the first things that your guests see upon entering your home. The pressure is on to make them interesting and vibrant while still showcasing you! It doesn’t have to be that difficult though. Here are three tips to creating the perfect “shelfie”:

1. Showcase your interests

Pick some of your favorite books surrounding your hobbies, interests, or ones bound to be great conversation starters and save them spots on your shelves. Peeking at books on shelves is one of the first things I do when visiting a new friend’s home. You can learn so much and find commonalities you might not have otherwise.

Make sure that your books and objects of interest reflect the room they’re going in, whether that’s a main living area, man cave, nursery, or formal sitting area. Keep them gender neutral if you’re placing them in a common area. We found these great etageres on Joss and Main. They’re sold individually, so we purchased two to make it a complete pair. We added in wall reinforcement as they look great, but aren’t the sturdiest. Still, they were the look I was going for in the room, so they work great.

I love these bamboo Two’s Company picture frames that I found on Tuckernuck. They’re also available here. We’ll go through and print our wedding pictures one of these days soon to fill them! I have this habit of “placing” my frames when I pick them up shopping so that I know they’ll be guaranteed a spot on my shelves or wherever they’re going to go.

2. Organize your books by color and height

Sort your books into stacks by the color of their spines once you’ve picked out some of your favorite titles. Shades of red, burgundy, and merlot colors go in the same stack, and so on and so forth. It gives your shelves a sort of neat, organized feel.

 

Play with height once you’ve organized them by color. They may all line up beautifully in a higher to lower stack, or they may vary in height within each color group. I like a little variation to keep things interesting, so the choppier the better.

(Brooks Brothers Red Fleece dress available here; Mark and Graham monogram tortoise cuff here; Prada blush pumps, similar here and here)
 

Sneaky Spines Trick

Have a rainbow of book spines that don’t match? It happens. The Strand in NYC actually sells books by the foot in color groups if you’re really into it and don’t want to wait to curate your collection over time.

Another solution is to reverse your patterns. I can’t tell you how many studio apartments and one bedrooms I’ve done this trick in. All you have to do is reverse your spines so the insides face out, and voila! Instant color grouping:

Finally, make sure you push your books forward from the back so that they all line up nicely and evenly, like so:

3. Add in variety

Keep your shelves appealing by stacking books horizontally and vertically, mixing items both old and new, and playing with height on your shelves.

Stacking books on top of each other is a nice visual break from having them all lined up on every shelf. Pick interesting conversational books for your stacks as the individual books are much more visible this way.

Curate your items carefully. They’ll fill out over time. Some days mine feel so sparse. A good quick fix for that is a few bud vases full of fresh flowers to fill in any gaps. You can also add in seasonal decorations, like pumpkins below.

You don’t have to stick with finding bookends either. I’ve used ginger jars found at Home Goods in the first picture below, and a tortoiseshell votive holder (here, and similar Aerin pair here).

Beautiful magazines, like Architectural Digest, National Geographic, and World of Interiors are wonderful to collect and stack. I’m constantly seeing stacks of vintage Architectural Digest magazines for sale all over.

Make sure you add in fun objects of interest. I love finials and found this one below at The Old Lucketts Store in Leesburg, Virginia. I found this pair of figural pitchers in the Staffordshire dog-style at The Consignment Cottage in Banner Elk, North Carolina on a recent trip.

This monogrammed soy candle from Tuckernuck was the perfect little something extra to go on the blue and white porcelain vanity tray I found on a Home Goods run not too long ago. You can happily still find it on their website here.

Share your “shelfies” on Instagram and Twitter by tagging @magnoliastripes, and add your ideas for shelves or future #magnoliaathome Wednesday home tips in the comments below!