How to Style Your Bookshelves

Bookshelves are an ideal place to show off your style, to showcase things you love and reveal your personality in subtle ways.  But lots of homeowners admit that they have a hard time figuring out how to make their bookshelves look magazine-worthy.

I have good news:  It's easier than you think!  I've gathered a few photos and my best advice to help you get started.  Have fun! 

From HGTV: For timeless style, group similar books together and add decorative objects (like those eagle bookends and the rotary phone) that feel classic.  The library ladder is a perfect touch, don't you think? 

From Design Lines: One simpe tip is to stack some books horizontally, and top some of these stacks with interesting objects.  Easy-peasy, right? 

From Primed4Design: Small pieces of framed art on your bookshelves give your room warmth and interest.  The collection here feels so well curated: textureal, quirky, beautiful. I love it!

From Primed4Design: Group your books by color and display them with colorful accessories.  So fun! 

From Homesick Designs: All right, I admit that this took more than simple styling.  But I love that the piece integrates bookshelves and an entertainment system- a perfect solution to the black-box-on-the-wall problem with flat-screened TVs.  You might also take a cue from this room and add round objects to your bookshelves; the curves help break up the linear look of books. 

From Sawdust Girl: Who says you have to put books on your bookshelves?  There are very few tomes on this shelf, and it looks awesome with sculptural items and framed pictures. 

If you have bookshelves you've styled and you want to show them off, send them to me at nadia@nadiawatts.com, and I'll put them in an upcoming post- with a link to your website or blog, if you have one!  

Happy Styling! 

Beautify Your Coffee Table

Coffee tables are the perfect spots to reflect your style. They're little galleries just waiting for pretty objects, books, and art. But the trick, of course, is accessorizing with the right combination of things: not too much, not too little. Just right.

So I've rounded up a few good examples of coffee tables that have that just-right look, and I'll explain why they work. 

TIP 1: Vary heights. This simple wood-and-iron coffee table is handsome, but not flashy, so it can easily handle the visual interest you get from the wooden horse. One reason the horse works so well is that it has height. Repeat after me: I don't want all of my accessories to be the same size. 

TIP 2: If you have a coffee table with a bottom "shelf," go ahead and put something on it. I love this wiry basket with the blanket inside: It's cozy, unusual, and a nice textural complement to the hard edges of a table.

From Tip Junkie

TIP 3: Build on a tray. Pretty trays add a tailored look to your coffee table, and can give you just the right amount of space to accessorize because you don't want to fill the entire coffee table. 

TIp 4: When in doubt, add a plant. (Back to tip #1: Plants add height, and the mix of organic items with hardback books is just fabulous.) Orchids, succulents, a grouping (three, perhaps?) of small vases filled with flowers--they all work. And you can even use a faux plant: In Denver, one of my favorite spots for faux plants is The Lark.

From The Lennoxx

From Shelterness

From DG Style Blog 

TIP 5: When in doubt, go with books. A simple stack (or three) of nice-looking books--choose some that actually reflect your interests--topped by one unique object is a great way to accessorize. Remember the odd rule: It's generally better to have an odd number of items in a display than an even number. 

From SAS Interiors

Next week, I'll share a few of my favorite sources for distinctive and beautiful decor items you can use on your tables. Until then!