Display Your Vinyl On Bookshelves Too
Vinyl records also look great on bookshelves and popping in some singles amongst the albums varies the heights perfectly. If you do have a key color in your scheme like the tangerine pieces shown here, add in a few pieces in the same color to tie in a tangerine pot or vase or show off your Penguin classics that mostly have similar colored spines.
How To Decorate Bookshelves
The best bookshelf decor often comes from items you already have. Shop around your house to find artwork, picture frames, vases, and other accessories in a cohesive color scheme or style. Place the largest items on the bookshelf first, staggering objects between shelves. Fill in with the rest of your objects, adding in stacks of books or magazines and potted plants for added color and texture.
Bury Yourself In Bookshelf Decorating
Learning how to decorate a bookshelf and diving into the project can be an extremely entertaining and enjoyable process. Allow yourself to get lost in the action of conceptualizing, arranging, rearranging, tweaking and admiring.
If you are still looking for ideas to decorate your homes bookshelf or personal library, Van Dykes carries a panoply of home décor accents that can help to bring your vision to life.
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Work In Form + Function With A Ladder
If youre working with a sky-high book collection, a sliding library ladder will solve access issues while adding a bit of panache. Visually, a ladder provides a break in the uniformity of a book-clad bookshelf, and practically, a ladder provides easy access to even the top shelf of tomes. Choose a ladder in a different finish than your bookshelves to really help it stand out.
Think About The Size And Scale Of Your Decor
Identifying the items you want to display on your shelves is not the only piece of the puzzle when it comes to decorating. You’ll also want to consider scale and symmetry, and how items fit in relation to each other. According to The Spruce, pieces on a bookshelf should ideally be of different heights and sizes but feel cohesive. No item should be so big that it overpowers the shelf, nor so small that it disappears behind other pieces.
To keep shelves looking symmetrical, work with the rule of threes and ensure that objects are arranged equally on the shelves. For example, if you have three houseplants, arrange them on different shelves and sides to create balance. The same rule applies to color, height, and textures as well . Repeating elements in different places on your shelves will help them feel balanced and cohesive.
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Choose A Book Wallpaper
If you love color and print why not bring an element of fun to a living room with a Trompe-l’il book wallpaper idea?
A design from the Fornasetti Senza Tempo collection at Cole & Son, this Libreria paper looks great above living room paneling, but would also work well in a study, or, alternatively you could use it to create a playful talking point in a cloakroom.
Remove The Dust Jackets
If you have books with less than stellar looking dust jackets, try removing them. You might be surprised at how appealing your naked book will look. Usually, the hardcovers are wrapped in cotton in a solid color and look quite smart.
BUT! There are things to take into consideration if you remove the dust jackets! What are you going to do with them all? Will you keep them or toss them? Will you change your mind 6 months down the road and want to put them all back on?
Personally, I much prefer the look of my books *without* the dust jackets, but Im too afraid to throw them out . My little pea brain cant handle it.
So in the end, I keep them on, secretly always longing to remove them. Its a genuine struggle.
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Take Everything Off The Shelves And Start With A Blank Canvas
It really helps to begin with a clean slate.
Gather and lay out all the things that you potentially want to use. This helps you to see where you can go. And what all you have to shop from.
Think about your books in terms of the color, design, and look of the spines. (unless the book is on top of the stack or at the end of the row, only the spine will be visible.
Consider removing the dust jacket if the book cover suits your design look better.
Before you begin the process of placing items on the shelves, give thought to the weight distribution. As youre placing items on the shelves be sure to balance large items throughout the shelves.
Or Build Around A Window
Working with the home’s existing 1920s architecture a central window with a radiator beneath gave these built-ins their unique window-surrounding shape and encouraged the homeowner and designer to enclose the shelves’ base with central vents for the radiator. Take a tour of the century-old home, filled with new-meets-old design ideas, below.
See More Photos: Tour a 100-Year-Old Home With an Eclectic Twist
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Watch The Video Instead
Stacking books for decoration is great, but what about all the people that have a lot of actual physical books?
Surely there are a few of us out there!
I used to get really anxious over how to make my bookshelf decor look pretty since I own a ton of books.
But heres the thing: in terms of DISPLAY, I realized that having a lot of books is like having any other collection. And generally, collections look best when theyre displayed together.
The challenging thing about having a large collection of books is that you ideally want to be able to know what you have and easily access things. When you add to the equation the problem of also making it look nice, its where things can get challenging.
Fortunately, books have been around for awhile, so people have been dealing with this problem and coming up with great solutions for almost just as long.
Lets take a look at some of them!
How Do You Stage A Bookcase Like A Pro
To start staging a bookcase from scratch, the pros tend to empty it entirely then create groups of items that they want to go on the shelves by size or purpose. Larger items whether books, storage baskets or even pieces of art will go on the lower shelves, with visually lighter and smaller items being placed higher up. It is worth alternating the displays so that accessories sit above and below a row of books, rather than having books above books and accessories above accessories. This will create pace in your bookcase staging.
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Create A Wall Of Books
When it comes to how to style a bookcase and book storage, dedicating an entire wall to a bookcase can make a wonderful traditional decorating idea, giving rooms a textured backdrop and a timeless feel. Having a bespoke bookcase fitted around your architecture is the best way to make the most of the space and achieve the look.
‘A big advantage of getting a bookcase specially made is that the size of the shelves can suit the collection, says Simon Tcherniak, senior designer at Neville Johnson . A bespoke bookcase can also fit the room perfectly, meaning no gaps around the bookcase, no dust-traps and no wasted space.’
If your collection is likely to change over the years, ‘adjustable shelving might be worth considering, but adjustable shelf holes dont look great in light finishes so if you want shelves to be adjustable that might affect your choice of finish, he adds.
Why not make a feature of your shelving with a two-tone paint idea as demonstrated in the bookcase here with its brown backboards and terracotta frame.
Office Bookshelf Decor Ideas
Whether you work from home or in a corporate office, its important to have a space that feels like your own. A personal touch can help you feel more relaxed and motivated when working, and adding a bookshelf is a great way to do this. But not all office bookshelves are created equal. With the right styling tricks, you can make your office bookshelf look professional and pretty at the same time. Here are 20 Office Bookshelf Decor Ideas to get you inspired!
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Books + Bookend Next To Filled Bowl
Choose 5-8 books and add a decorative bookend. My favorite online source for unique bookends is Etsy . Place a bowl next to it and fill it with something decorative. These are a few of my favorites:
I threw in a bunch of faux cabbages that I had laying around after using them on my fall fireplace mantel but you could also use decorative ceramic balls, faux flowers, shells. just about anything!
Start With Large Books
Layer horizontal stacks of large coffee table type books.
How large your shelves are will determine how many different stacks you should have. For smaller shelves, one stack is enough. But large shelves could benefit from a couple of stacks.
Styling tipPull objects to the front of the shelf. Resist the urge to push everything to the back when you have deeper shelves. For a more polished look, bring the pieces to the front. This helps them to catch light and show up in all their beautiful glory.
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Decorate A Coffee Table With Books
Perfect casual reading for guests, large books with beautiful images are lovely coffee table styling idea, plus those with eye-catching covers can help brighten up a living space. Choose subjects that reflect your personal taste and be sure not to make your stacks too large piles of just one or two of the similar size work well.
How Do You Decorate With A Lot Of Books
If you have a lot of books then making them look visually pleasing can be a challenge. A bespoke floor-to-ceiling bookcase is a good way to keep books organized, but can also make a decorative accent wall, too bringing texture and a welcoming feel to interiors. Consider arranging the books order of size and color to make the shelves look easier on the eye.
Alternatively, ‘mixing decorative objects and plants in with your books will help to create a more casual feel and will bring a lot of interest to the shelves,’ says Simon Temprell. Or, ‘if you are short on space and your shelves are already crammed full, try adding artwork that can hang in front of the books, treating the bookshelves as wallpaper,’ he adds.
Making large book collections look visually appealing can be tricky to make them look easier on the eye try covering the books, suggests interior designer Joanna Wood .
I have been known to cover books with cartridge paper so they all match, but it does require a lot of organisation about what goes where and you need a very good memory! Whenever Ive done it Ive color coded novels, reference books and historical books in different colors.’
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Visit Your Favorite Bookstore
Do you have a favorite bookstore that you return to time after time? What is it about that particular store that appeals to you? Go back and take a look at how they display their collection. Make note of how its organized and if they display books in a certain way that you like.
It might not just be about the books themselves maybe the type of shelves they use speaks to you. Or perhaps they created a cozy reading nook somewhere in the store that you could also try to recreate. Maybe they have plants and succulents mixed in among their books.
Analyze what you like, and see if you can translate some of that back into your space.
Decorate With Books By Color
Bring visual harmony and an element of fun to a large book collection by arranging books in color order to create an ombre effect. As well as being decorative, the look is easier on the eye than a mixed hotch-potch of books, which can help spaces feel more soothing perfect if you are looking for bedroom bookshelf ideas.
We love to use clients’ objects to create playful, decorative elements around their homes. Books are a brilliant way to add interest and whether color co-ordinating them or using a more natural organisation method they always manage to add a wide variety of tones to a space, says Nicole Salvesen, co-founder of Salvesen Graham .
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Beautiful Bookshelf Decor Ideas For 2021
After a turbulent, stressful year, 2021 is finally here! Why not upgrade your living space with a bookshelf makeover? You dont have to scour the internet for the best new decor for your home library. Book Riot will walk you through how to decorate your bookshelf with the latest bookshelf decor ideas and inspiration.
Don’t Worry Too Much About Rules
When it comes to displaying books, don’t feel as though there is one right or wrong way to do so. You should focus on a layout that is functional for your household and overall appears orderly, but there isn’t much to keep in mind beyond that. Some people enjoy looking at rows of color coordinated books, while other people are easily irritated by this styling approach. Others enjoy alternating vertical and horizontal stacks on their shelves or sorting books by height. Perhaps you have always grouped books by genre or author. When it comes to books, do what makes the most sense to you in terms of organization. You will be the one reading them, after allwho cares if your guests would have taken a different approach in their homes!
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Pay Attention To Color
As mentioned above, do pay attention to the color of the forward facing parts of books. Whether the spines, dust jackets or covers, do try to keep a seamless color palette it makes a huge difference!
If youre making your shelves an interesting conversational piece keep your favorite book covers pointing outwards and try to evenly distribute pops of color. Whether using the covers to provide interest, or coordinating the colors to a palette, always create a sense of balance with the colors and weights of the books.
Call Forth The Tchotckes
Collect All The Pretty Things in your house that you might want to display. This is the time to pull out everything youve been storing with hopes of displaying it someday: your grandmothers cool vintage teacup collection, smallish frames with meaningful photos, mementos from your wedding day, spare vases in closets, pretty ornaments, colorful jars, anything that youd love to look at. Its all fair game at this point! Make a giant pile that inspires your spouse to think you might have lost it.
Erin and I shopped Jills house for anything that might look pretty tucked inside the bookshelves, and grabbed a few things on clearance at target or from our own piles of yard sale accessories. This is a small portion of our pile. We found some beautiful things hidden in cupboards, like this beautiful silver tea set which deserved more appreciation! When I was doing the bookshelves in my house, all my animals came out to play, which inspired Andy to call out: WHY IS THERE A ZOO IN OUR OFFICE?!
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Stack Books Horizontally And Vertically To Add Visual Interest
Books have the power to bring warmth, charm, and character to any shelf. Not to mention that they contain a world of information between their covers. If you want to display your beloved book collection in style, mix up the positioning by arranging titles in both vertical and horizontal stacks. Placing objects on top of the horizontal piles will instantly create visual interest. You can also arrange books to either the left or right side of the shelf, leaving open space for decor items.
According to Homes & Gardens, arranging books in horizontal stacks leaves open space between the piles to prevent shelves from looking messy or over-cluttered. While there’s no perfect formula for filling shelves with books, a good rule of thumb is to curate one pile of books and two decorative objects per shelf. If you want to take it up a notch, arrange book piles by subject matter or author.
Breathe Life Into Bookshelves With Lush Greenery
You don’t have to have a green thumb to appreciate the beauty of plants. Sprinkle a few potted plants on your bookshelf and watch it come alive with character and style. According to Apartment Therapy, plants complement any style. Whether you decorate with a large number of plants for a bohemian vibe or stick to three plants to achieve a modern look, there’s nothing a little greenery can’t help. Plants work great as bookends and can also be used to fill up empty space on shelves.
When it comes to selecting the right plant species for your shelves, think about how much natural light the shelves receive and the amount of available shelf space. Snake plants, golden pothos, and ferns are all great, low-maintenance options for shelves not in direct sunlight. There are a wide variety of plants to choose from, including species that detoxify the air. According to Country Living, scientists claim that certain plants help purify the home by removing dust and germs. English ivy and spider plants are both prime air purifiers.
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