Styling shelves is a true love of mine. What comes across as simple + straightforward, at times, can be exhausting to homeowners. I’ve known people who refuse to style their shelves (or hang art), because it’s overwhelming

That being said, I’d love to give you a few tips that have helped me through the MANY years of styling shelves (and yes, it is an ongoing practice that isn’t mastered overnight. I’m still practicing).

I love lists, so here you go:

Collect your favorite items that you want to showcase in your home…those items that make you a little giddy, when you look at them. But please, do NOT collect every single item to display on your shelves. Remember, a little goes a long way.
Things that ALWAYS look good on shelves are beautiful coffee table books, wonky-shaped ceramics, and dried grasses (pampas is really hot right now), or a potted plant with drapey leaves. Fresh flowers work too, but you might find yourself changing them out quite a bit. I’ll leave that decision up to you.

What always helps me is making little clusters of items. As you can see in the above picture (second shelf), I have gathered little vases, and made a cluster right in the middle of the shelf. Additionally, you will find little clusters of books, alongside one main round vase (bottom row). The key is BALANCE. You don’t want too many clusters, but just enough to support the main objects that you want to portray.
Shoot for various heights. What is a definite no-no, is the same height and shapes. Think of layering with different textures/heights. The eye loves variety in small doses. Mix it up.

This is not a hard and fast rule for me, but it usually works the majority of the time. Style in odd numbers. I am very much an even, symmetrical person. It makes me feel organized. But for some reason, having a grouping of 1, 3, or 5 items just works. I can’t explain it, but it just does. Again, I don’t always do this, but if you are confused as to what to do, stick to the odd rule.

Step away. I have been so close to a project, that I didn’t realize how bad of a job I was doing, until I took a break and then came back to it. I then had clarity of what needed to be done to fix it. If you return to your styled shelves and you are still happy with them, then Hooray, you accomplished your goal. But if you aren’t happy, a little break from it will do you tons of good.

You can change/add one or two items and it transforms the look of a shelf with little to no effort (as portrayed in the two pictures above).
And lastly: practice, practice, practice. If you don’t try it, you won’t ever progress. And please, don’t be so hard on yourself. Shelves are no easy feat. But you CAN do it.

All photography, styling + opinions are my own.

Shelf Styling