Welcome to another edition of Design Formula Friday where I share tips, ideas and affordable items to decorate those tricky spaces in your home. In the past I’ve shared how to tackle the entryway, the living room accent space, the Christmas Tree, and the countertop. Today’s area of focus is those difficult-to-style shelves. In our home we have these photo ledges which I re-style each season as well as our new lower level built-in shelves. Today, I’ll share how I curated our lower level built-in shelves
The most common mistake in shelf styling is WAY TOO MANY THINGS! This overwhelms the eye, feels cluttered, and takes away from the uniqueness of the items. So Step ONE is to clear everything off your shelves.
Step TWO is to sort through the items you really want displayed and group them by type (just for the planning process). Select items that are different enough but still follow a color scheme. So, for example, our lower level space has a natural toned wood (the flooring, and butcher block countertops) so my baskets and frames are all in that same natural finish.
The next type of item is books…I love styling with them so I removed the book jackets and selected our favorites that are in shades of blue, black, white and green. This book is SO good and the binding is the cutest! I can’t wait to get her next one!
I love seeing my babies faces around our home and with all the color in this space I printed some off in black and white to keep it cohesive and classic. We have marble throughout our lower level so this marble frame was perfect.
Fresh or faux greenery is a must in every space. I love the selection online here. Select different “species” to provide variety.
Lastly, add in some extra color and texture with vases, lanterns, boxes and candles.
Now that you’ve narrowed down your items that all follow your scheme, it’s time to decorate. Think in the RULE OF THREE. When items are styled in threes, it’s most pleasing to the eye. You are going to want to mix up your items. For example the books are on the top left and then the bottom middle. The color green is on the middle right and bottom left. You may have to play with it for awhile to get it just right!
So let’s review, the DESIGN FORMULA for a perfectly styled SHELFIE = THINGS IN 3 + MIX OF COLOR AND TEXTURE + UNCLUTTER
I hope this helps you create those beautiful shelves filled with collections of things you absolutely love!
You can shop all the items in this space here: http://liketk.it/2z9XW and here http://liketk.it/2z4A9