4 Steps to Style Your Bookshelves (+ what NOT to do!)

I'm hoping that today's post is really helpful for you in learning how to style your bookshelves and why you're doing what. I took some photos of my own builtin bookcases for you and am showing you a couple quick styling tips to keep in mind, common mistakes I see, and then 4 steps to styling your shelves and why those arrangements work. Here we go!

A COUPLE QUICK TIPS:

This is a really quick and easy tip to implement. Angling things in slightly makes for a more interesting look and makes it look more intentional. The other small thing I want you to note here is that the larger of the two wood houses is on the right, closer to the white birdcage object that takes up less visual space than the mint jug. This helps evens out the visual weight.

This layering tip goes back to this post from last week. Just moving the blue vase to layer in front of the marble frame does SO much to bring this vignette together.

Same principle is applied here-- things too spread out don't look cohesive, so when we move them in and layer the container in front of the frame, we have a much more cohesive looking vignette! It'd be even better if I got a plant for this jar-- I keep forgetting ;) COMMON STYLING MISTAKES:

This mistake is very common! Things might look "fine" but they can be taken to the next level with the help of layering items and not having even amount of space between each object.

One of my biggest tips in styling shelves is to make sure the shelves aren't symmetrical, but that there is an equal distribution of visual weight throughout. You'll see how I do this correctly below, but this example is showing you the (for lack of a better term) "wrong" way to do it. See how the vase is too tall on top of a stack of books, all the color is placed on one shelf, there's only one light colored object on the top shelf and all the white objects disappear? That is due to lack of balance. When I style shelves, I try to pay attention to:

- how dark or light an item is and spreading these out

- spreading out colored items

- making sure large items are spaced throughout instead of making one side too heavy

- proportion (not all your tall items on one side and short items on the other)

Here's the thing about bookshelves like these builtins: you'll need a lot of stuff to fill it. I know that sounds scary, but it doesn't have to look cluttered or overwhelming. Large shelves like these can take a lot of items and books to make it look well-styled and intentional. This example shows not nearly enough items on each shelf. You'll also notice a gaping hole in the middle, which is another common mistake I see!

I think the MOST common thing I see on builtins is people just lining them with frames. And while I love the sentiment (personal photos are great and SHOULD be displayed!), this often looks unorganized, too heavy, busy and there's not a lot of interest if all you have is frames. You can make this better by leaning a large frame against the back of your shelf and then layering with another small one on top of it. Doing this on a couple of shelves looks way more visually pleasing than just picture frames everywhere. Everything in moderation!  Here's the other thing I see: people will put way too small of objects on their shelves. Now, notice all these are the same objects I'll be using to style my finished shelves down below, but I'll be using them in a different, more balanced way. For example, that little wood house is way too small to sit on that stack of books alone. And the blue vase is too tiny to sit on those books alone. The lone plant is also too small not to be layered on something else. I'll show you the better way to arrange them below! MY PROCESS FOR STYLING SHELVES: As a reminder, I don't always land on the finished look my first try, so don't feel bad if it takes you some rearranging to get there!

I always start with books and try to spread them out in a zigzag down the shelves. If some book spines aren't quite in my room color palette, I simply face the pages out and it provides a nice neutral texture! I know big readers can't really fathom this ;) But these books are strictly for style while the ones we actually read are tucked somewhere else. I also use two types of books: regular reading books and novels and then larger "coffee table books" which I find on Amazon by typing in the subject I want and then "coffee table book". For example, "decorating coffee table books" gets you this! I always suggest getting books with the subjects that you're interested in. For us, that's decorating, flowers, ocean, and coffee ;)

Next are larger objects and frames or signs to lean up against the back wall. I try to evenly distribute this visual weight as well.

Next up I'm placing my vases with some color, making sure that all the color isn't on one shelf, and I'm placing my candlesticks or budvases (the wood ones on the top are budvases) Now that I'm adding more textures and items, I'm conscious of sprinkling the different tones around the shelves. For example, I don't want all my wood items on top of each other or on one shelf.

Lastly, I add in my smaller accessories and always something green or fresh (doesn't have to be a living plant, but this one is from Trader Joe's and I love it!)

WHY IT WORKS 

(you can see after stepping back, I switched the top shelf because of the wood tones being too close together. This is much more pleasing!)

OTHER SIDE:

WHY IT WORKS:

Some similar decor:

You can see here that the seafoam green colors are spread out and in a diagonal, which makes it even more pleasing to the eye. The neutral tones are arranged in a diamond pattern around the center to keep your eye bouncing around instead of landing on one area and looking away.  Another tip I have is to not overdo the letter boards, quotes or words! They can be really cute and sweet (even meaningful!), but if you have more than one then it can start to feel cheesy. I try to keep any quotes or words to a minimum and when done keep it as classy as possible with them being neutral :) I love my new one with sentimental song lyrics by my friend Kyleigh. Just my two cents! Let me know if you have any questions or tips to add in the comments!! I hope this was helpful for you! Happy bookshelf styling, xoxo interior design website / services / portfolio

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How to Decorate by Layering Your Artwork, Mantle & Bookshelves

Today we're chatting about one of the things I get the most questions about-- how to layer your decor. Some of you might be thinking "why would I need to layer decor?" Well, good question ;) 1. We layer accessories and decorations to create a collected-over-time and aesthetically pleasing vignette. If we put everything in straight rows and spaced evenly our decor might fall flat and look a little lack-luster. 
2. Think of layering your home decor like you think of layering your outfits. You look more put together when you have multiple items on. For example, you might put on a cami, layer with a chunky cardigan and then throw on a long necklace to finish it off. Think of those items like you would a sofa, layered with a throw blanket and topped off with fun pillows! It looks more finished and put together.
Today I'm going to show you 3 places or objects where layering can have a huge impact: styling artwork, mantles and bookshelves. After the photos of each I'm giving you a couple of practical styling tips. Let's dive in!

ARTWORK:

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via Styling Tips:
- Lean art in front of other pieces of art to create the layered effect. The farthest one back can even be hung on the wall. - Stack books or set a tray with objects on it in front of art as the second layer. - Art and frames should be different heights to create interest. - In the case of mixing art, it looks nice when you keep it in the same color palette, or keep most pieces neutral and then pop one piece with bold color (like the last photo). In the first example you can see they kept it very colorful, but the palette is relatively cohesive.  MANTLE:

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via Styling Tips:
- Stack frames in front of frames like the first example and anchor with taller objects (like plants or a sculpture) on either end to anchor it. Different color frames are okay, just keep balance and visual weight in mind. - In the second example you can see how simple this can be. One large mirror layered with a vase with tons of greens crossing over the mirror and then a stack of small boxes. This looks collected and effortless, not fussy. - In the third example the layering is done by leaning (or hanging) something large against the wall, then setting airy plants in front of it and anchoring with skinny black candlesticks (black brings weight, tall candlesticks bring height and the thin sticks make sure it's not TOO heavy). BOOKSHELVES:

Michaela Noelle Designs

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via Styling Tips:
- The takeaway here is that art doesn't have to be HUNG on a wall. It can be leaned.  - Layering not only has to do with putting art behind shorter pieces, but it also has to do with where on the shelf (how far back) it sits. See how the taller blue patterned vase on the far left is set farther back than the shorter one? - Almost any time you have a stack of books, an object can be set on top of it (unless it's a tall stack as seen in the last photo). This object is a layering piece. - You can layer by adding items to bowls or trays, beads to boxes or vases, plants in front of candlesticks, etc.
Hopefully these inspiration images give you some ideas on how to layer your decor! It doesn't have to be expensive or hard-- just start by using what you have. Let me know if you have any design questions! I love answering.
Happy styling! xoxo
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How to Style Symmetrical Bookcases (+ How NOT to!)

A few days ago I went to my lake house client's house to style his bookcases. We did these beautiful builtins on either side of the fireplace, so they really are the feature of the home. I thought I'd take you on the job with me and show you how I styled the shelves, along with how I didn't style them and WHY!

First of all, I'm showing you what NOT to do. Sometimes we learn best by seeing something done the wrong way. 
Mistake #1: Too small of items. As you can see below, nothing is really jumping out at you, because the items are too small that it makes it hard to read. The items might be pretty and work well for the space, but you have to think about scale. Bigger is almost always better! Another mistake I see often is A TON of small items, thinking it will make up for the size. This just makes your shelf seem cluttered and not intentional. When you can see too much of the back of your shelf, you know you need bigger items.

Mistake #2: Items too spread out. When items are lined up or too spread out too thin on a shelf, they all end up looking like a lone ranger, just waiting for a buddy to come along. When we group decor together, they look more intentionally placed and read better to our eyes.

Mistake #3: Lack of balance. If you look above, though the colors are sort of hard to make out in the lighting situation, you might notice there is a blue vase and more greenery on the right side of the fireplace. We want to make sure to spread out the color throughout the bookshelves. This goes for texture, height, and equally distributing the types of decor you have as well. For example, you don't want two stacks of books directly under each other or two blue vases sitting next to each other. Instead, you want to space those out on different shelves. 

Here's an example of how to create balance well, by separating similar textures. The lines are drawn to other decor that shares the same color or texture. See how the wood elements are in a diamond? This causes your eye to continue scanning, reading it as cohesive, instead of landing on one group of the same texture and moving on from the bookshelf entirely. The black/dark brown textures found in the candlesticks and mirror are placed diagonally from each other to break them up but bring needed contrast in two different places.

Okay, now moving on to show you how to do it correctly!

Just a recap for those of you who are new to the blog: I always say to gather books (big coffee table books, as well as more regularly sized reading books), objects with varying shapes, heights, colors, and textures, then finish with plants and greenery. COLOR: Now you can see that we have brought color to both sides of the fireplace. But not just once with a vase on the left and a vase on the right-- we found books to add to the shelves that were also in that blue hue to really tie it together and have a repeated element of color. This creates unity!

LAYERING: Where there once was a ton of the back of the bookshelf showing, we now layered the textured black mirror behind the succulent and candle to give it depth. Layering is what creates intentional vignettes, or groupings of decor that look like you put everything there on purpose. I love the idea of a candle in front of the mirror because when it's lit, it will give a little extra flicker in the reflection.

BEFORE: too small of items, too spread out, not balanced, see too much of the back of the bookcase.

AFTER:

If you scroll up and see where the little globe was before, all on its own, it was totally lost. Now it's front and center, layered in front of the two candlesticks. Now it doesn't look too small at all!

Instead of the vase sitting on top of the books by its lonesome, now it shares space with a clock (the only request to have on the shelf by the homeowner, by the way!) and a small succulent. On its own, this succulent would have been entirely too small but grouped in a set of 3, it's perfect!

Rule of Thumb: our eyes see things grouped in 3's or in odd numbers as most visually appealing.

Now for the other side of the shelves:

This would be an example of how NOT to do it again, just for a comparison. 

Here is a better option, which shows you better groupings and adding a tray for something substantial below. But I still didn't love how small the globe looked, how randomly placed the blue vase was, how the height was distrubted throughout and how heavy the tray felt.

After switching things around I found something that worked really well! I grouped the bird and vase on a stack of books and placed the twisted driftwood to the far right with a vase and succulent tucked in it to create depth and give it some color. Down below, I added light colored books to the tray to brighten the metal color up and give some more height to the vase, put the succulent on the tray, along with the metal jacks. You can see the left side is STILL a bit too heavy, though.

To fix that, I brought a really cool book with an ocean on the cover to tie in the blue vase to the right side of the shelf. When in doubt, distribute color diagonally! This is getting better, but to create more depth, I kept layering. Currently, the book feels a little lost on its own.

I layered this cool marble picture frame over top the book. You can see the weight is being more evenly distributed now!

Finally, I finished it off with an hourglass. It ties in the glass from the top shelf and is a little shorter than the picture frame, which creates the perfect finishing layer.

In case you're interested, a few of the items I found at World Market that I can link here. All other items are from a cute store in Michigan called Dwellings. Great books are key to any bookshelf, so I suggest searching for topics you're interested in on Amazon. Since my client is a builder and loves nature, I searched for "Architecture Coffee Table Books" and "Nature Coffee Table Books". Adding the "coffee table" part will ensure you're searching for large books. Here are the ones we bought for this project linked in here:

Hopefully this was helpful! Have a wonderful day
xoxo

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My Formula for Styling Your Bookshelves

I'm what you'd call a chronic bookshelf styler. If that is such a thing ;) I absolutely love displaying my favorite things on my bookshelves and creating a balanced, cohesive look. I think something people might struggle with is how to arrange their treasures on their shelves in an aesthetically pleasing way. Often I'll see objects and books just shoved on a bookshelf, and I want you to know that there is  simple formula to create a well-styled bookshelf in no time at all!

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1. Clear off your entire bookshelf. Starting fresh is always the best way to do it.

2. Start by putting the boxes and books back on the shelf first. Turning some books horizontally and stacking some vertically. In the example below, I also placed the boxes on the bottom shelf.

3. Now it's time to fill in with larger decorative objects like candle sticks, globes, art leaning against the back wall, big vases, etc.

4. Finish off with the little decor, like something fresh. Little plants are the perfect finish touches. Adding something green or natural (like sea shells, dried flowers) always bring life to the vignette. This is also the time to add your small accessories like candles, little sculptures, etc.

So the formula is books and baskets, larger objects, decor and art, then little decor and plants.

The goal here is to create balance. Balance is the art of arranging objects so they achieve equal distribution of weight. This can mean darker objects being spread out around the shelves to distribute the heavier visual weight. It can also mean placing larger objects towards the bottom of the shelf (like the large gold vase placed at the bottom of my bookcase below) so it doesn't feel too top heavy.

Other helpful tips:

- Our eyes see things best in 3's or odd numbers! (You can see how I decorated my shelf in 3's)
- Create height by stacking books or even leaving a book out for display if it has a pretty cover! Height can also be created by displaying candle sticks, the globe, varied vase heights, etc.
- Any books that are stacked vertically (generally a stack of 2-4 books is best) requires an object on top of them to ground the look. A candle, picture frame, or plant are great ideas.
- Paint the back of your bookcase a different color or wallpaper it to add interest and texture.
- Arrange your books by color or turn the spines toward the wall so that's a nonissue.
- Sometimes, if you are decorating a lot of shelves, it's nice to give one shelf a breather and only place ONE object on it-- think an oblong bowl full of apples or lemons.

I love how the gold objects are spread out in this to show you balance. They have a great mix of white items with texture here that make a subtle statement, too.

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Hopefully these tips are helpful! I always tell my clients you want to fill your shelves, but you don't want to feel overwhelmed when you look at the shelves. If that's the feeling you get, it's time to take something away. Just like Coco Chanel says, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.” We can use this same principle and apply it to our homes!

If you're feeling brave, take a picture of your bookshelves and tag me on Instagram so I can see them! If you need help with the styling, I'll try to offer my suggestions on your post :) @michaelanoelledesigns

Happy Tuesday!
xoxo

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