Styling My Bookcases

Our 1850's home includes a 1970's addition.  Complete with wood paneled walls and low ceilings.  We enjoy this area and use it often.  The first thing we did when we bought the house was paint the room - it pretty much looked like a bowling alley the first time we saw it - long and narrow and dark.  

The french doors along the back wall have a bookcase on each side.  Here is my 'winter' arrangement which took me ten minutes, tops.

Nothing fancy.  I had to force myself to remove most of the books.  We have way too many books.   What you are seeing is what remains after I purged the shelves.

Here is the same corner with a reading chair in front......

Do you see the brown wooden box near the small lamp?   That is a shadow box I filled with items we found in the backyard.  Every time we dig in the yard or plant something, we run across remnants of pottery and glass.  Lots of broken dishes.  

A few items we do not recognize, but looked interesting.  I am sure this is a million dollar collection. (Ha! - we WISH we would run across something valuable!)

Here are a few of my quick "tricks" when it comes to arranging bookshelves.

1) Use a mixture.  I like to mix Books - Something Earthy - Framed Photographs - Art  - Something Shiny.   This particular time I included white footed dishes.  

2) Place items diagonally across from each other as you go from shelf to shelf, so that the photos are not arranged atop one another, or the books are all along the left, etc.   

3) Group like items together.

4) Avoid an excess of trinkets, collectibles, and doohickeys....

(photo not mine)

Now, if I can just keep them dusted.  

Enjoy your day!


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