tips and tricks for styling bookshelves.

I feel like built-ins and bookshelves can either be a complete joy or the bane of your home decor existence. A great styled bookshelf can add so much personality to a space and really help to personalize and create a warm inviting room. But if you are stuck on where to start or don’t have a lot of experience with styling those empty shelves can feel like a constant taunt. Today, I thought I would share the tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the years for styling bookshelves. I’m also going to share my favorite places to score great vintage books, and meaningful decor for a steal.

Step 1: figure out the purpose and gather your items.

Before you begin styling your bookcases, you need to decided how you want the room to function, and what you want to display. Are these shelves mostly going to house books, decor, family pictures? You need to understand how you want the room to feel and function before you begin.

Once you’ve decided what it is you’d like to display, it’s time to start collecting and gathering. My rule of thumb for styling a bookshelf is similar to any vacation/home project, we always underestimate how long something will take or how much it will cost, so double it. The same goes with bookshelves. However much you think you need to fill the shelves, you’re probably going to need a lot more, so double it. I like to have lots of options to work with and then I can edit out as needed. (More on my favorite places to find vintage books and decor below).

Step 2: create groupings.

I always start with the books when styling my bookshelves and I like to create groupings with sizes and color. You want to make sure you are balancing out colors and heights, etc. So this is a good place to start. Then I start placing them on the shelves by grouping and moving them around until it starts to feel balances. So if I have a grouping of books that are in the cool color tone, I’ll make sure to add a warmer grouping on the next shelf.

A few more tips for styling books:

Stack your books both vertically and horizontally, this really helps break up the monotony and gives you a built in pedestal for displaying decor later.

Turn some of your books around and display them pages out. This can add a nice visual break and helps to lighten the feel of the bookshelves so it doesn’t feel too heavy. It also helps if you have books you want on there, but they don’t have the prettiest spine or are the wrong color.

Vary and balance the heights of your books, but try to keep the sizes consistent in their groupings. You don’t want a behemoth of a book paired with a petite volume so keep your grouping sizes together, but vary the heights a bit within those groupings.

Step 3: Add texture and personality.

This is my favorite part of styling a bookshelf, adding the texture and making it personal! You can infuse so much personality to your bookshelves, really make a statement and add so much texture to the shelves with wood, and metal decor pieces. You can even artwork! I think home decor should be beautiful but also meaningful so add pieces that make you happy, that you love and that have meaning to you. I collect antiques from all over the world, where we’ve travelled (it’s usually my souvenir of choice), pieces I’ve found on picking and thrifting outings, and those pieces are so special to me. I love to display them on my bookshelves. Collecting pieces with meaning takes time, so enjoy the process and be patient. Think of the bookshelves as ever-evolving things!

A great vintage print in a small frame can really add a fun element to a bookshelf as well. (If you are looking for affordable vintage art prints check out my entire line of vintage prints here!) Create vignettes by styling books, decor and even art together on the shelves. Keep playing and arranging pieces until everything looks right.

Add greenery! This is another tip I use on every shelf I style. I love to add natural, and live elements to bookshelves. Watering live plants does make me nervous around old books and so I usually stick with artificial plants on bookshelves, but adding live greenery works as well!

My favorite places to find great vintage books and cool decor:

Where to buy great vintage books for a steal:

Thrift stores: this is my first place to find vintage books for a steal. I love hunting for old books in thrift stores and can usually find great unique pieces for $3 or under. One big tip when searching for old books in a thrift store: check under dust jackets. Sometimes there are really beautiful books hiding under ugly old dust jackets so peal those off and take a peek!

Garage/tag sales: Another great place to find vintage books for a great price is garage and tag sales. People collect the coolest things! And the best part is if you are buying several you can usually negotiate the price and get them all for a steal. Years ago I found an antique set of Ralph Waldo Emersons collected works at a garage sale. It’s a beautiful deep green set in wonderful condition and I paid $5 for the entire set. It would have been 10-15 times that in an antique store.

Estate sales: Also a great place for finding unique books (and decor) where you can haggle on the price a bit, especially if you are buying several pieces.

Antique stores: most of what I buy at antique stores are decor pieces because vintage books are often priced quite a bit higher at antique shops, which isn’t super practical if you need dozens of them to fill a bookshelf, but I do like hunting for one or two really special pieces to add to my collection. Plus antique shops will give you good ideas for what to hunt for while thrifting!

Etsy: Etsy is a great place to find cool vintage pieces online, and even vintage books. You’ll want to play with search terms a bit and favorite the shops you love so you can keep coming back and checking for new pieces!

I hope these tips help you when styling your bookshelves and if you have any questions or want any advice, feel free to leave a comment!