How to Style a Bookshelf

by Nicole Raudonis

I’ll be doing a full home office reveal hopefully soon, but it’s not 100% complete just yet. For now, I wanted to share how I’ve styled our new bookshelf from Home Decorators Collection. I hope you enjoy and get inspired to redecorate your own.

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1. Add Pops of Color: Since I tend to gravitate toward cooler colors, I chose pops of green and blue. I absolutely love the blue Sun Beached Denim candle from DW Home. It smells like fresh laundry and helps add some color to my otherwise white bookshelf. I also added a blue ocean print that I painted, and a blue bowl holding green decorative apples.

2. Group Similar Items: Since we have limited storage space in our kitchen, I’m keeping our cookbooks in our home office. I know that I probably have other laying around someplace (I can’t find them all), so that’s why I positioned the second shelf so high. It gives me room to add more books and higher decorative pieces.

3. Add Personal Touches: I added a memento from our honeymoon, a snow globe my dad had personalized for me, and the folder my college diploma came in. You could add a wedding or family photo, collectibles or a gift from a loved one.

4. Use Baskets or Bins for Misc Items: I have so many journals. I was very diligent about writing in them when I was younger, so I’ve collected dozens over the years. I keep them all in a wicker basket on the bottom shelf. You can use baskets or bins to hold extra office supplies, magazines, important binders, cables/wires, etc.

5. Mix up Book Placement: Try a mix of vertical and horizontal arrangements. As you see in the photos, my cookbooks are horizontal and the rest of my book collection is vertical. By switching up the book placement, the bookshelf looks more interesting and unique.

6. Add decorative pieces: I’ve added a terra cotta vase from Pottery Barn, an acrylic art piece I painted and decorative fruit. Some other options are lanterns, bookends or decorative trays.