5 Steps to Styling a Beautiful Bookshelf

I love to style bookcases, but don’t often get the chance. When I designed my new studio to have a wall of bookshelves, one of the things I was most looking forward to was styling them to create personality and interest in my space plus add practical storage for all of my staging accessories, craft supplies and books. Let me give you a peek at the new bookcases in my studio plus share with you my 5 best tips on how to style a beautiful bookshelf!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by The Brick. As always, all of the opinions here are my own. 

I’m starting with the Boston Bookcases from The Brick as my bookshelves. They’re very affordable, come in a variety of colours, and they’re a great basic that would work in any style of home.

My dream for my work studio was to have a whole wall of bookcases that could be both functional and decorative, and these Boston Bookcases are the perfect pieces. I used lots of items I already had on hand to style these bookshelves, and then I found a lot of other pieces at The Brick in store like the green vases, rattan baskets, gold lanterns and the clock.

Because my wall of bookshelves has to be both decorative and functional, I used a lot of baskets in this styling to hide thing like craft supplies and tools, and then chose to keep my prettier staging supplies like tableware, lanterns and greenery on display.

Want to know how I style my shelves? Let me share with you my 5 best bookcase styling steps & tips!

1: Nail Down a Colour Story

I think it’s really helpful to decide on a colour scheme you want to incorporate into your bookshelves before you do anything. This helps keep your shelves looking consistent and pulled together. For my shelves, I’m going with teal, natural rattan, black and white.

2: Creatively Place Your Books

When adding books to a bookshelf, lay some horizontally in piles of 3 or more and some vertically to create interest. I don’t have a lot of books in my bookcase, but as you can see I have a horizontal stack and a couple of vertical stacks of books that suit my colour scheme. Also, try to stagger your groupings throughout your shelves so that you don’t have too many like items beside each other.

2: Place Large Objects

Next, add in your larger objects on the shelves. For my shelves, these are the large baskets, vases, lanterns, bags, and the clock. Again, stagger these throughout the shelves ensuring no objects with similar colours, heights or shapes are beside each other.

2: Add In Small Objects

Smaller objects can add interest and personality to your bookshelf. Things like souvenirs, nature, small DIYs and even practical items like essential oils can tell a story about you and your space. Intersperse them throughout your bookcase, grouping them by the larger objects to create interest. Make sure not to fill your book case up too full – you still want some blank space for the eye to rest.

2: Finish with Some Greenery

Finally, complete your beautiful bookshelf by adding in some greenery – real or faux. I like to add fake greens like faux succulents, boxwood and ferns to add some vibrancy and texture to my shelves without the maintenance. You can add little pots of greenery here and there, lay some stems on top of books, or pop some stems into vases or baskets.

With these 5 steps, you’re well on your way to creating a beautiful bookcase styling in your own home!

Watch my video below to see how to decorate a beautiful bookshelf in 5 easy steps:

Now tell me: What do YOU store in your bookcases? Do you stick to books or do you like to add other decorative items?