How to Decorate Shelves Like a Pro: Simple Tips

Decorate living room shelves like a pro with these shelf decor ideas and tips for styling them one shelf at a time!

Styling shelves can seem intimidating at times. But it doesn’t have to be!

With a few design ideas and some tips and tricks from interior design experts, it’s a perfect way to add interest and a fresh color scheme for a new season.

Although I loved the cozy, comforting style of our Cottage Core Living Room for Winter, shelves styled with cheerful yellow feel just right for the sunny days of Summer!

Secrets for How to Decorate Shelves Like a Pro

Tips for Styling Shelves

Whether you’re decorating shelves in your living room, home office, or dining room, the same decorating principles apply. Here are some tips and tricks to help you get the styled look you’ll love.

1. Empty everything out and start with a clean slate.

Before you begin, take everything off the shelves and use the chance to dust them well! This gives you a blank slate for decor ideas.

2. Start at the top and work your way down one shelf at a time.

Gather decorative items in the color scheme you want to work with, and start styling your bookshelf one shelf at a time.

This time I chose yellow and white as my color scheme, and I wanted the top shelves to feel “light,” with the heavier-looking decor near the bottom.

3. Stagger repeated items and colors from shelf to shelf.

Learning this shelf styling trick made everything so much easier for me! It’s a bit hard to explain, but the idea is simple.

Look at the photo above and notice all the yellow items. See how they move in a diagonal pattern down the shelf?

The green items do the same thing.

Do you see it?

That trick makes the arrangement feel orderly and cohesive without looking overly busy.

4. Leave blank space between decorative objects.

To decorate shelves without making them look cluttered, leave space between the items. It gives your eyes a chance to “breathe” when they look at it.

4. Group decorative items in odd numbers and vary the height

There are always exceptions to this rule, but I tend to group items in sets of 1 or 3. I read somewhere that’s just easier on the eyes, and I agree!

5. Add in a little green and black throughout the bookshelf decor.

I wanted yellow to be the pop of color on these shelves, and white was the other main color. Using only white and yellow, though, looked a bit bland.

Adding greenery and a few splashes of black gave nice contrast and life to the overall look.

5. Decorate with items you already love to put together a brand-new look!

I love reusing what I already own to create a new look for each season. I included the “hello Spring” free printable sign I made a few years ago. (You can get your own free printable Spring art here.)

I also dig through my kitchen cupboards for bowls, pitchers, teacups, and lemons to add to the mix.

What are some cool things to put on floating shelves, open shelves, or built-in bookcases?

There are so many things you can display on shelves. Here are some ideas to get you started. (You’ll also find a “Shop this Look” section at the bottom of this post.)

Old books
Pictures
Dishes, bowls, and vases
Pitchers
Plants
Faux greenery and florals

A few more notes about living room shelves…

One of my favorite places to decorate for each season is the Ikea Billy Bookcase unit in our small living room. We bought the components separately, then assembled them to look like a built-in bookcase with crown moulding.

In the past, I’ve styled them to look like an inspiration photo of a West Elm bookcase, and I wrote up the steps for how to style a bookcase for a farmhouse look.

How to choose farmhouse decor for shelves
Spring Dining Room Decor + Spring Ideas Tour
Our favorite DIY wall shelves

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I’ve collected these items over time and can’t find exact matches online. However, I’ve put together a list of similar items below. (Disclosure: they are affiliate links.)