2017 Decorating Shelves In Family Room

It can be a challenge to know how to decorate shelves, but this foolproof formula will teach you how to style shelves beautifully in no time!

An Easy Formula for Decorating Shelves (Get Perfectly Styled Shelves Every Time!)

I am so thrilled to be joining some of my favorite bloggers for a fun mantel/shelf decorating extravaganza today! My friend Krista from The Happy Housie was so kind to get us all together to share a bunch of ideas for creating summer vignettes all in one place. If you're coming over from Norma's place at Paint Me Pink, welcome! Isn't she so talented?!

Not long after we moved into our house, we put in an entertainment unit (made with IKEA's BESTA system) with a bunch of open shelving in our living room, and since then, almost every time I show a photo of it, someone asks, "Can you do a post about how you decorate those shelves?"

Well, today is the day! Yippee!

How to Decorate Shelves in a Living Room

When I re-styled my shelves for summer, I took photos of each step so I can break down the process and make it easy to replicate in your own home. This same process would work for styling floating shelves, a bookcase (which would obviously end up with more books than mine!), the top of a buffet or basically any area where you'd like to create a little display in your home!

How to Decorate Shelves

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1. Take Everything Off of the Shelves

Step 1- Take Everything Off of the Shelves

I like to start with a blank slate, so even if I'm going to be using a similar color scheme, I always start by taking everything off of the shelves. This allows me to get a clearer overall picture of the space so I can decide what goes where.

2. Decide on a Color Scheme, Collect Items

I want my shelves to look unified and polished, so the next thing I do is decide on a color scheme or theme for them. This doesn't have to be super strict, but it is nice if there is a general overarching theme to tie the look together. For my summer shelves, I decided to go with my favorite mint, aqua, and white combination for a beachy feel to go along with the summer season.

What to Put on Decorative Shelves

Step 2- Decide on a Color Scheme, Collect Decorative Items to Style Shelves

Once I've decided on the look I'm going for, I go around my house and collect a bunch of items that would fit well in my vignette. Some of the things that I use to fill my shelves include:

Plants (mostly faux for me due to my black thumb 😉 )
Books
Vases, pitchers, bowls, baskets, and other vessels
Vase fillers
Picture frames
Small mirrors
Letters or monograms
Candles
Coasters and stands to add height
Lanterns
Demijohns
Small sculptures
Orbs
Other decorative objects

I try to collect more items than I think I'll actually need so that I have a lot of options to choose from.

3. Start with "Leaners"

Once I've collected all of my items, it's time to start refilling my shelves! I like to start with what I call "leaners," flat-ish items like frames and mirrors that lean against the back of the shelves and create a background for my other objects. Layering is the key to making the shelves look interesting and giving them dimension, so these leaners form our very first layer.

Step 3- Add Picture Frames, Mirrors, and Other Flat Objects to Form the First Layer on Decorated Shelves

As you can see, I tried to make it interesting by mixing in frames of different heights, shapes, sizes, and finishes, along with mirrors, letters, and monograms to create my background layer.

What to Put in Picture Frames

One thing that can be a challenge when dealing with "leaners" is figuring out what to put in the picture frames! I might have frames that are the perfect size and shape to fill a space, but what do I put in them?! Here are some easy and inexpensive ideas:

Wrapping paper
Scrapbook paper
Wallpaper scraps
Gift bags (I have used Anthropologie bags in frames a few times!)
Beautiful cards you've received
Kids' art
Your original art
Leaves or dried flowers
Feathers
Old book pages
Antique documents like marriage or birth certificates from ancestors that may have been passed down
Free printables (Search on Pinterest-- there are a ton!)
Purchased printables (I usually look on Creative Market and Etsy.)
Meaningful photographs (of course!)

4. Add Tall Objects on the Ends

This is probably somewhat of a personal preference thing, but after my leaners are in place, I like to add tall objects on the ends of my shelves. I think having taller objects on the ends helps to visually "frame in" each shelf and make it look more intentional and complete. I don't put a tall object on every single end, but I add them in on most shelves.

Step 4- Add Tall Decorative Objects to the Ends of Shelves for Shelf Styling

I will usually have to adjust my leaners as I'm putting the tall objects into place, and that's okay! It's all about trying things out and seeing what works where!

Quick Tip: If I have an item that I want to use but it's not quite tall enough on its own, I will use a few coasters, books, or a little cupcake stand (you can find them for $1 at the Target Dollar Spot!) to add some extra height like I did with the blue mason jar, faux flowers, and mint bowl in the image below.

Decorated Shelves with Aqua and Mint Coastal Decor

5. Fill in the Gaps

This is where the process becomes a little more "art" than "science." After I place my leaners and my tall items on the ends, I use the decorative items I have left to fill in the middle areas of the shelves and create more layers.

Step 5- Fill in the Gaps to Complete Your Styled Shelves

While a lot of this is just trial and error-- putting things in place and seeing if I like how they look-- there are a few general guidelines that I keep in mind:

Variety is key. I try to vary the size, shape, and height of objects on any one shelf so that each shelf looks more "collected" and interesting, rather than just having a bunch of objects that are similar placed together.
The eye likes odd numbers. For some reason, our eyes tend to like groupings of odd numbers, so I tend to create groups of 3 or 5 or even 7 objects when I'm decorating my shelves. On each of the shelves below, there are 5 objects (with the lidded container + cupcake stand counting as a single unit) of varying shapes, sizes, and heights to add depth and interest to the shelves.

Decorative Objects on Styled Shelves, Vignette

Add "repeaters" to unify the shelves. I try to have a few kinds of objects that I repeat throughout my display to add consistency and pull the look together. In this shelf display, for example, I have a lot of blue glass, touches of gold, white frames, faux florals, and even rope/twine that repeats on several of the shelves.

Decorating Shelves for Summer, Shelf Styling

As they say, "Rules were meant to be broken," so these are certainly not hard and fast rules, but they are good guidelines to come back to, particularly if you're feeling stuck or if a shelf doesn't look quite right but you can't figure out why.

Decorated Shelves, Coastal with Aqua, Mint, and White

Where to Find Cute Decor Pieces

My collection of decorative items has grown over time. At this point I'll typically be able to fill my shelves without buying anything new, but if I do need a few extra pieces to fill in the gaps, my go-to places for finding pretty items are usually:

Hobby Lobby
Michael's
HomeGoods/ TJ Maxx
Target (The Dollar Spot typically has cute and inexpensive "filler" pieces, and they usually have some fun options for vase fillers as well.)
IKEA (I especially love their frames and fake plants.)
Pier 1 (I love their lanterns!)

Tips for Styling Shelves and Decorating Shelves

So that's my process! I hope that breaking it down step-by-step made it easy to follow and repeat in your own home! I think styling shelves is also one of those things that comes with practice, too-- the longer I do it, the more I realize what I like and don't like on my own shelves.

IKEA BESTA Entertainment Unit with Styled Shelves in a Farmhouse Living Room

If you're looking for even more tips for styling different areas of your home, the posts below may be helpful:

How to Style Floating Shelves

How to Style a Hutch

And don't forget to hop around and visit my oh-so-talented blog friends who are sharing their gorgeous styled mantels and vignettes today as well! Jamie Costiglio is up next, and you can catch the rest of the tour below!