How to Style Shelves in 7 Simple Steps (and My Fall Shelf Decor!)

I know I’ve confessed this before, but decorating is kind of hard for me. Yes, I realize I write a decorating blog. But sometimes having endless possibilities for a space makes me feel overwhelmed, and I don’t know where to start because I literally could do anything I wanted. Eeeek! Pressure! 🙂 When this happens, it helps me to make some “rules” for myself, a formula to follow to keep me on track.

Take my floating shelves, for example. I decorate them at least four times a year, and though I typically only show the final product on the blog, I end up going through a bunch of steps to go from empty shelves to something like this:

Since I’ve decorated these shelves so many times now, I’ve kind of worked out a little process that I go through each time I do it, and though I’m far from a styling “expert,” I thought I’d share my little process with you all in case shelf styling is kind of hard for you too! 🙂 Here we go!

1. Study.

Instead of just throwing random things onto the shelves, I try to figure out what I really like! Before I put my fall shelves together, for example, I did simple search for “fall decor” on Pinterest, and wrote down a list of things that consistently jumped out at me in photos that I loved. My list ended up looking something like this:

• white pumpkins
• hydrangeas
• feathers
• wheat
• wood tones
• white/gray/neutrals
• aqua
• lots of texture

Now just because my list didn’t include things like red and orange and tons of leaves doesn’t mean those things are “wrong”– not at all! In fact, they may be the absolute perfect things for your style! Take some time to look around at photos of other peoples’ spaces and see what you’re drawn to over and over. Doing this really helps clue me in to what I’ll truly like on my own shelves.

2. Shop the house.

Once I have a list of items I’m looking for, I start searching my house for things that fit that description. I usually bring everything I can find down to my living room so that I can see it all in one place and begin deciding which pieces will work together and what I’ll actually use. I am not awesome at visualizing what everything will look like in a space, so I like to physically put it up there and try it out before I make any decisions.

Sometimes I need to edit what I have to make it work for the space. I had all of the filler for this lantern, for example, but all of the pumpkins were brightly colored. I gave them a few quick coats of white spray paint, and they fit perfectly with the look I was going for.

If I’ve used everything that I have and there are still gaps in my shelf decor, then I’ll go out and buy a piece or two, but I’m cheap I change these up so often that I mostly try to stick with what I have.

3. Choose the “leaners.”

Now, steps 3-5 could be done in various orders and they sometimes happen simultaneously, but because my “leaners” tend to be larger objects, I usually start with those. “What in the world are ‘leaners’?” you may be asking. I’m sure that’s probably not an official term, but that’s what I call the objects that lean against the wall and typically fill in the back layer of my shelves.

On this top shelf, the large frame is my leaner. It helps give height to the whole grouping and really “grounds” everything. Along with large frames, I’ve also used wreaths, two frames side by side, mirrors, and bunting as my leaners. Plates hung on the wall, a tapestry, an old window– so many things could be great leaners!

4. Put tall stuff on the ends.

See all of my technical lingo? Tall stuff. So chic and professional. But really, that’s what I do. I really like when the ends of my shelves have height because it kind of frames in the whole look and gives it balance. Flowers, sticks, and other natural elements are wonderful for this.

I sometimes also will layer a vertical frame on the end to give some height or use a tall decor item like a lantern or a tchotchke set on a book to make it higher. There are occasions when I break this “rule,” but in general, I like tall stuff on the ends most of the time.

5. Layer, layer, layer.

After I have my leaners and my tall stuff, I begin to fill in the gaps and layer in other items. I know that is pretty much the least specific guideline ever, so here are some things I try to keep in mind when I’m layering:

• I use “repeaters,” meaning I’ll use the same object in a few different places on the shelves to make the look more cohesive. For my fall shelves, I used feathers, white pumpkins, off-white candles, and twine in several different places as my repeaters.

• I group things in 3s (or 5s). Don’t ask me to explain the science behind it, but for some reason our eyes like groupings of odd numbers. I also find myself tending to “cascade” the items downward– one of the items will be tall, one medium, and one short, so the eye follows them from top to bottom.

• I put items at different depths. So rather than lining everything up in one row, I tend to place some items closer to the back of the shelves and some items closer to the front to get that layered look. One exception I’ve seen to this that can look beautiful is if you have several of the same item {like several vases of the same flowers} and line them up in one line. Otherwise, though, I try to vary the depths.
• I layer frames on top of frames. This is one of the easiest ways to layer, and typically everyone has a few frames in various sizes laying around. I usually just put a simply patterned piece of paper, wrapping paper, gift bag, etc. in the back frame to give a little pop of interest, and then the front frame has a more detailed print or photograph.

{This fall arrows print is actually a freebie from the amazingly talented Bre at Rooms for Rent! You can snag it here.}

• I love texture! From the feathers, to the different textures of the balls filling the lantern, to the twine, to the wheat, texture is another thing that will give your shelves more depth and make them seem polished.

6. Move things around until it finally looks right.

Truly, this is the name of the game. I typically style shelves over a period of a few days because I like to let them sit for a while. Then when I walk by, something will catch my eye as being out of place and I’ll switch some things around. When things have sat for a day or two and I haven’t touched them, then I know I’m done. 🙂

7. Recruit a second set of eyes.

I don’t always do this, but a lot of times I’ll ask Donnie or my mom and sister if anything looks “off” before I officially deem my shelves finished. Sometimes they’ll catch something I’ve missed because I’ve been staring at it for so long. A lot of times they’ll have an idea I hadn’t thought of. Two heads are often better than one!

I realize that shelf styling is more “art” than an exact science, so it is hard to say “every shelf should have this and not this.” There will always be exceptions to every rule. I find that if I go through this process, though, I almost always come out with styled shelves that I love in the end!

Have a wonderful day!