It has been very hard for me to take down our Christmas decorations this year. It never seems like enough time to enjoy them. So I have been taking them down SLOWLY. I think we will take down our tree.....or should I say trees, this weekend and I suppose I will have to take the rest down and pack it all away. I will miss our tree forest!
Yesterday I shared on my Insta-stories that I had a to-do list that started with 3 things and then turned into me getting distracted and doing a million other things that I hadn't planned on doing. I started by taking down the garland that hung over our TV, which turned into dusting the shelves, which turned into taking out all of the decor, which turned into restyling the whole thing. So I thought I would share with you what I did and some of the tips that help me when styling shelves.
Here are some tips that help me when I am styling my shelves.
1. SHOP YOUR HOME AND USE WHAT YOU HAVE! It may surprise you at how much you actually have laying around your house. Don't be afraid to shop other rooms and use things that might not necessarily fit. Try things out! If it doesn't work, just take it out and try again. When I style anything, it usually takes me a few hours to get it just how I want it. I'm no professional, so I really have to take my time and think about how things look and then find a solution when something doesn't look quite right.
2. PLAY WITH SCALE! I find that when you have a variety of shapes and sizes it always looks more appealing than if you were using items that are all the same size.
Here are some larger items.
Here are some smaller items.
3. REMEMBER THE POWER OF THREE! For some reason, even though it is an odd number, when you group together groups of three, it often looks better than if you just had two things together. Of course, this is not a hard rule (nor are any of these "rules") but it is a helpful tip.
4. CREATE TRIANGLES! When you start to put things in your shelves, try and think about triangles in the whole picture. What I mean is this. If you have a green item on one side, try to form a triangle by putting another green item on the opposite side and below the first item, so that if you connect the 3, it will form a triangle. This helps to balance the look. See below.
Here is another example.
5. STAY IN THE SAME COLOR FAMILY! When you stick to a set pallete, say 3 to 4 colors, it helps the shelves from feeling cluttered and overwhelming. In this room, I like to use lots of neutrals, creams and greens, so that's what I did for the shelves.
6. LAYER OR DON'T! I like to layer items and put something like a photo or artwork in the background and place other items in front. But sometimes just one item on a shelf is all you need. It just depends on you and what look you like best.
The biggest recommendation I have is have fun with it and take your time. As I said before, these are just some ideas to help you get started when styling your shelves. They are not hard rules. You can break the rules and do what you want! Play around, try things that seem like they wouldn't work. Use pieces that don't "go" in the room. See how I used the 3 white creamers? They are totally kitchen items, but I tried them out and I really like them here.
Anyway, I hope that this was helpful if you were looking for some ideas and inspiration for styling your own shelves. As always, I am here for any questions. REALLY. ASK ME! Even if you just want to know where I got something I will be happy to give you the source or something close to it. Just leave me a comment below and I will get back to you.
Have a wonderful rest of your day!
