Shelf Styling Tips & Tricks

Shelf styling is both one of the most fun parts of decorating and the most frustrating! If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to create a vignette that looks “right”, I’ve compiled a list of tips to help take your styling skills up a notch.

Use fewer, larger items

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made when styling my own shelves is buying a bunch of small items and trying to make them all look good together. A lot of small items grouped together tends to look like clutter as opposed to intentional and curated. Try buying fewer items at a larger scale.

Group in odd numbers

Odd numbered groupings are most pleasing to the eye, so try groupings of 3 or 5 items. For instance, instead of stacking 2 books on top of each other, stack 3.

Vary heights

Using varying heights will help your eye bounce from one item to another easily. A simple formulaic approach to this would be to group items to form a triangle. The triangle doesn’t have to be symmetrical… In fact, I personally prefer an asymmetrical triangle in most cases.

Add organic elements

Have you ever grouped a few items together and wondered why it just didn’t look “right”? Chances are you used a lot of square items but didn’t add an organic element. Including something with a more freeform shape will break up straight lines and give you a much more varied vignette. My favorite organic elements to add are - surprise - plants!

Mix new and old

This tip is relevant in all aspects of interior design if you ask me. A combination of new items and vintage, patina’d, unique items is the key to making your spaces feel collected and carefully curated, so get yourself to your local thrift store and find a treasure to incorporate into that shelf you’re styling!