How to style open shelves with my favorite finds

Do you love open shelves as much as I do? We had 3 areas of open shelving – our living room, kitchen and pantry, so clearly I LOVE open shelves. I’m consistently receiving messages and comments asking how I style our open shelves, so I’m going to give you my top 3 tips, as well as linking my favorite items I have used or recommend to style shelves.

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Before You Style

If it’s your first time styling your shelves, they are probably pretty bare. If not, make sure you clear your shelves so that you start with a blank slate. Take this time to group all of your décor pieces together. Put your coffee table books grouped together, vases together, frames together, smaller trinket items grouped together, you get the idea. This makes it easier to visually see all the pieces you have available.

Layering

There’s several ways to layer – by height, by size and by texture. I love mixing natural, organic textures, woven materials, and different wood tones into my shelves. Don’t forget taller vases and picture frames!

When styling your open shelves, make sure you separate your heavier pieces. This will help keep your eye moving throughout your shelves.

Group in three’s

Have you heard of the rule of three’s when styling shelves? I try to stick to this rule because it helps create a natural flow for your eye to follow and is visually pleasing. Plus, grouping items into three’s looks more organized and curated.

Make sure you also leave a negative space in between groups. You don’t want to squish as many items as you can onto the shelves. Sometimes less is more.

stems // vase // wide brass vase // vintage basket // wooden jack // coffee table books // basket // candle // picture frame

There you have it! My secret formula (well, not so secret anymore). Here’s another secret. There is three items I ALWAYS include in my open shelves:

1. Picture frames for added height, yes, even in the kitchen
2. Cookbooks or coffee table books, depending on the placement of the shelves (living room vs. kitchen)
3. Plants or dried stems for added height, texture and life

Now that we covered how to style shelves, below are some of my favorite items that I either currently have or have been eyeing for our new shelves.

Favorite Shelf Finds