How To Style Shelves
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that styling your shelves is a “thing” – the trend even has its own hashtag #shelfie so shelf stylers can find inspiration from others. We fell down the Pinterest rabbit hole to find some of the most stylish shelves around.
Books
Yes, everyone knows that shelves are great for books but are you even a serious interiors player unless you colour block your books?
We love this look because it instantly adds colour to a plain room and of course keeps your books tidy.
We love the range of colours used in this particular set up, from the white and blush combo to the brilliant pinks and the blues and greens.
If you don’t want a rainbow effect – then copy this look by choosing just a few colours, and use different tones to create a subtle yet stylish look.
Top tip: If you haven’t got tonnes of books with same colour spines, scour charity shops or eBay to buy bargain paperbacks
Plants
If you’re short on floor space but still want to incorporate plants into your scheme, we love this idea of using shelves to create a striking plant display.
Great for sprucing up a boring alcove, this look is fairly easy to achieve, you just need to make sure you’ve got your green fingers ready.
This particular set-up works particularly well because of the different plants, textures and pots.
But if you want to start small, try just one or two shelves at first, varying the height and texture of your plants pots
Top tip: If you really don’t think you’ll be able to keep all those plants alive then think fake! There’s a great selection faux plants available which look just as good as the real thing.
All White
Ok, so this shelf does include a little bit of black, but we love the way it’s been styled to include practical objects such as books and magazines along with decorative items such as the plants and artwork.
But what we mostly love is the composition of big things, small things, soft and hard – it all works really well.
And of course, you don’t have to stick to just white; other single colour objects can also look super stylish and striking when displayed like this.
Top tip: Don’t rush out to buy a whole new bunch of stuff in one colour to achieve this look, instead look around the house and gather items in the same colour and start your collection with those.
Children’s Room
Kid’s rooms are getting ever more stylish don’t you know and using shelving units or wall shelves is a great way to keep the clutter to a minimum.
These wooden shelves are stylish and super practical providing room for books, keepsakes and even clothes as well as giving the room a focal point and adding depth to a plain wall.
Shelves in kid’s rooms could also be used to display awards, intricate LEGO collections, photo frames filled with family snaps and even the odd plant or two – adding some greenery to the scheme but keeping little hands safely away.
Top tip: If you’re going to use a freestanding shelving unit, look for ones that you can add canvas or wicker boxes to, so you can keep anything you want hidden away out of sight.
Kitchen Focus
More and more people are opting for open shelving in kitchens as opposed to wall units.
As long as you’re really good at keeping things nice and tidy, wall shelves in the kitchen can house a multitude of items from crockery and pots and pans to pots of herbs and dried goods.
If you have the space, shelves the length of your wall will provide maximum storage space and as with this simple rustic set up, why not add in hanging racks to keep utensils and other cooking paraphernalia neatly stashed.
Top tip: It might sound obvious but if you’re going to have shelves at varying heights, make sure you use the lowest ones to house the things you use most frequently, while the highest one can be used to store products you only use now and then.
