Boost Living Room Style With Open Shelves

Open shelves are an excellent element to incorporate into modern living room design. Displaying your favorite books, decor items, and plants on airy, open shelving brightens up any living space while adding handy storage.

Properly styling open shelves not only organizes your belongings but also boosts your living room's visual intrigue. Read on to learn key steps for evaluating your space, selecting shelves, editing your items, and creating stunning arrangements that make a stylish statement.

Preparing Your Living Room for Open Shelves

Before installing open shelves, assess your living room's existing layout, color palette, and furnishings. Measure the wall area where shelves will go to find the ideal dimensions. This informs shelf selection and arrangement decisions down the line.

Choosing Freestanding or Built-In Shelving

First select your desired material: wood, metal, glass. Then decide on freestanding shelf units, typically with visible sides, or built-in shelving custom-fit to your space. Built-ins blend seamlessly but limit future flexibility. The number of shelves and their sizes also impact room aesthetics and storage capacity.

Editing and Arranging Shelf Contents

Carefully curate shelf contents before displaying. Only showcase your most beloved items that you enjoy seeing daily. This editing process prevents chaotic clutter from overtaking your shelves.

Employing Style Techniques for a Cohesive Look

After paring down items, think about overall style for a coordinated look. If your living room uses a blue and green color scheme, for example, organize book spines into those hues. Mixing small collectibles with bulkier vases balances visual weight. Repeating ceramic shapes promotes harmony across the shelves.

Zoning Shelves into Defined Areas

Dividing shelves into separate vignettes adds organization. Use bookends to visually define spaces for art objects versus plants, for instance. Cluster items together rather than spreading thinly across the shelves.

Incorporating Seasonal Touches

Rotate holiday-specific knickknacks into the display for seasonal joy. Even swapping a few key pieces refreshes the look for autumn or spring.

Decorating Open Shelves with Flair

Avoid cramming shelves so full that items overwhelm the space. Judiciously mix books with photos, artwork, ceramic pieces, and great swaths of greenery. Illuminate special decor items with sleek shelf lighting. Follow these tips for eye-catching shelfscapes.

The "rule of three" lets you artfully cluster pieces in trios for harmony. Try stacking thick books on their sides in both horizontal and vertical orientations to add dimensional intrigue. Sculptural art and tall bud vases incorporated at staggered heights prevent a flat, boring display.

Open shelves can be a focal point for your personal style. First evaluate your existing room, then select quality shelving, pare down clutter, and get creative showcasing favorite items. Follow this blueprint and your shelves will instantly boost living room style.