I did a giveaway about a month or so ago for a free bookshelf styling in my local area. I had two entries that came out of that on top that I wanted to do as they were both rather different.
Today, I’m sharing pics of these two bookshelves, a little bit of what I’ll be using that the homeowners already have, what I’ve already purchased and what I’m still on the hunt for.
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Bookshelf Styling #1
These bookshelves are built-ins at a fireplace wall in a more traditional home. I’ve actually done a consultation with this homeowner in her previous home and she took that info and did a partial kitchen remodel and some furnishings. You can see her remarkable results in this post I published a few years ago. :-)
Here are her bookshelves now.
Bookshelves to be styled in one home.
She also had built-in bookshelves in her home office, not sure we will get that done, but she has a lot of bookshelves to fill with both of these spaces.
Because of that, I asked her to do a little homework prior to the styling.
The plates at the top are her fave color, a dark indigo blue, however, they look black up there in the shadows. Also, because she doesn’t have much to work with now, I told her to do what I did in this bookshelf styling a few years ago, lose one shelf per section.
When you do that you have more room for taller items, you don’t need so many things to fill the shelves, and it just gives everything room to breathe. In this case, it will also make the bookcase feel taller and more vertical, which I think would be nice here.
If you have tons of books and are squeezing them in to utilize every inch, then a lot of shelving is fine. In most cases, builders install a few too many shelves and it is best to remove at least one and spread the others out then.
I asked her to lose one shelf per section and then space the others equally from the top of the face frame opening to the base of the cabinet.
Something like this.
We ‘re going to be able to do so much more with styling, by losing one shelf per section. Wait and see! carlaaston.com
Then I asked if she would be willing to do one more task for homework, before the styling.
Do you see that vertical line in the back corner of each bookcase section?
Those are “standards”. That’s a little older way of doing adjustable shelves, a popular way to do them back when this home was built. I have them in my home too, built in the 90’s.
See the vertical dark brass “standards” on the side wall of the bookcase? There are 4 of those within each section, two on each side. It makes things look a little busier in an all white bookcase. carlaaston.com
Now, we use those little pin holes drilled into the sides of the bookcase for adjustable shelving, avoiding the more distinctive metal standards.
I’m not a huge fan of an all white bookcase, as I think doing something on the inside back is a nice way to break up the space and not make the books and items look too cluttered. With an all white look, it can look kind of spotty and busy sometimes, even with a nicely decorated bookcase.
So, I asked her to paint the inside back and sides of the open shelf area a taupe color, something that sort of matches her brick.
I think that will warm up the white look, soften the wall, and make it all look more “designed” and appealing. It will also cause those standards on the sides to disappear, visually, so we’ve killed two birds with one stone here.
She likes black and white items, like the vase there on the bottom shelf, her indigo blue color and even some pops of apple green.
All those will look great in front of a taupe color.
What items to get for this bookshelf styling?
We wanted to keep the expenses really low in this redo, so I vowed to keep it at $100 for some new items. In this process, I discovered the best way to fill bookshelves on a budget.
Books from thrift stores!
Here’s a portion of the books I found thrifting for my local bookshelf styling. I can’t wait to get these on the shelves! carlaaston.com
I thought I’d just check out a few thrift stores in my area and I hit a gold mine! Of course Goodwill works, although the one in our area doesn’t have that many books. There is another shop in our suburb though that really delivered.
I found so many beautiful picture books on topics that this homeowner loves and pricing was $1 for paperbacks and $2 each for hardbacks. That’s such a great deal!
I just dipped in once a week for a few weeks to see what was new and ended up grabbing 10 plus books each time.
I also found a few vases, etc. that would work, in perfect condition.
I’m so anxious to get started!
Bookshelf Styling #2
These bookshelves are quite a different look from the first bookshelves. These are three floating shelves in a home office. This home has a rather transitional style, so I’ll be looking for more clean-lined items, and likely not nearly as many books.
I think floating shelves are best not loaded up too heavily, the idea that they are floating suggests a lightness that should be repeated in the decorating too.
Floating shelves in a more transitional home to be styled. carlaaston.com
I wanted to see if she had some things to work with so I could personalize these a bit before I go off and find some additional items for this styling.
Here are some of the things she showed me that were stored away. She has some books on closet shelves too that I will likely be pulling from.
I found the little square painting in the closet, a stack of antique books, a small handmade figurine from her travels and a graceful metal vase that I want to use in this styling. carlaaston.com
There was a beautiful chinoiserie bowl in reds and blues in the closet and we pulled that out to put on a modern side table in this room. There was also some red in a larger painting she had on the wall in here, so I really like the touches of red that we can incorporate.
I’m heading to Dallas Market this week and plan to keep my eye out for more goodies for all these shelves!
Bookshelf Styling Extras
I have a collection of items I take when I style homes that support the beautiful pieces I find. Easels or stands for plates and platters and risers or pedestals for objects or vases always come in handy. See these below, some of which are always in my bags!
Subscribe, if you haven’t already, so you can see these when they are complete! And follow me on Instagram to get some sneak peeks in my stories and reels of some of my finds.