Shelf Styling

Today I want to talk to you about shelf styling. I've recently had a couple clients ask me to help them, since they felt a bit overwhelmed as to what to put on their shelves. The famous textile designer, William Morris said it best..."Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. This is something that I have come to live by as a designer, and as a person who loves decor!

There is something in the design world called " The rule of 3". This basically means that when you design anything, odd numbers, such as 3 work best, and are the most appealing to the eye.

A couple mistakes people make when styling a shelf are choosing objects that are all the same height, or using too many objects, which can look cluttered.

When I am styling a shelf, I like to choose things of various heights, and materials. I also always love putting something organic, and full of texture (such as flowers, plants, or a wooden vase). I'm going to show you some pictures below, and give you examples to the rules I like to follow.

This is a metal shelf I recently styled. Can you see the "rule of 3"? I also used items that were various materials, such as glass, metal, ceramic, and natural elements (all the flowers).

The embossed antique blue glass bud vases that are 3 different heights add dimension, and texture. One of the coolest features of this shelf are all the built in vases below!

Lets talk about styling kitchen shelves! These shelves are mainly functional, but they are also visually pleasing, with all of the different heights going on, as well as the pops of green and blue. The lower shelf is very useful, with every day dishes. I arranged them by different heights, to create more dimension. I used the "rule of 3" again, with the blue canisters on the second shelf, as well as the pitcher, green depression glass canister, and large serving bowl, on the upper (most top) shelf. I also like to display practical, every day items that will get used on kitchen shelves, such as the coffee, and cutting boards.

I recently gave this fireplace a makeover, with tile, and this custom alder mantel! Yes, technically you don't call a mantel a shelf, but you do display things on it, just as you would a shelf.(so that's why this counts!Lol). I implemented the "rule of 3" with the candle sticks(they count as one), clock, and vase with flowers. I choose these candle sticks because the bluish grey color really plays well with the blue in the tile. They are also at different heights, so it adds visual interest. The clock and thermometer are the smallest on the mantel, but don't get lost since the brass and black match the mirror(and the chandelier you can see in its reflection). Last but not least, I always love adding fresh flowers or plants to any shelf for texture, and color.