Decorating Shelves-My TOP 5 EASY TIPS

I’m a person who is not a huge fan of change. There’s a saying: “Change is good. You go first.”

That’s very much “classic Morgan.” I like to watch on the sidelines before diving in. With Most things….

Except when it comes to home decor- I LOVE switching things out to make something look new and fresh.

One of the easiest places to do this is on my bookcases. Hello multiple shelves to decorate!

Ikea Billy Bookcases. “Billy, I love you.”

We’ve had these two “Billy” bookcases from IKEA for 11 years and they have served us well! (We opted to add on the doors to the bottom half and we have been very happy with them.) They have been in a home office, which was then converted to a nursery (in our old condo) and now are in the living room in our current house. (Can’t you just picture Hugh Grant saying to Sandra Bullock, “Did you say: ‘Billy, I love you’?” in Two Weeks Notice? That’s what I always think of when I think of a “Billy Bookcase.” Ha!)

Brightening Up IKEA Billy Bookcases

Now I have to say, when we were buying furniture soon after we got married, I was very drawn to black furniture. And while I still think black furniture can look lovely in a space, I am much more drawn to lighter furniture these days. What’s a girl to do with all of this black furniture? I can’t just get rid of lots of things (that would be a waste since they are in perfectly good condition AND it doesn’t fit my budget), but I CAN style them to look a bit less “dark.” 

That was my goal with these bookcases: to brighten them up.  (I did an “update” at the end: we brightened them up even more by painting them white! Don’t get confused by the black shelves in the photos below. Same shelves, same tips!)

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Here is the before (I feel like a lot of things just got lost in the dark “abyss.”)

And the after (See the end of the post for the shelves with updated white paint.)

Top 5 Tips for Styling Shelves

1. Pick a few key colors that you want to feature. These help pull everything together and make them look unified and intentional. (I think it also has the added bonus of making your space look calming and polished all at the same time- WIN!)
2. Pick a few different textures to create depth and interest. 
   
   

   I love the glass jug, wood, and paper elements.

3. Add a few personal touches that can tell a story or bring a smile. This is your space. When restyling something, aim to only put things that you love on the shelves . (Now, I realize this isn’t always helpful or doable. A lot of us would have pretty bare houses if we had to absolutely be in LOVE every little thing in our home. But start to gradually move out the things that you don’t really like and replace them with items that you DO.) 
   
   

   Personal Items in this picture: pear my husband got me when I launched the blog, a picture from when my daughter was born, and a prayer book.

4. Arrange items to make them appealing to the eyes. How? Vary heights. Another tip:I like to pretend I am drawing an imaginary triangle when spreading colors around. I frequently place a key color in 3 different “corners” to draw the eyes across and make the area appealing. (See the white items on the shelves?) 
5. Shop your home! Go around your home and gather all of the items in the color scheme you are aiming. Need some budget friendly options? Dishes, picture frame with scrapbook paper (or a free printable), or books. You can also paint items. That fun pig was actually gold. A little acrylic craft paint and BAM, ready for my “new” shelf makeover! (To lighten up the back of my two largest spaces on my shelves I used old cabinet doors. My parents recently redid their kitchen and gave me the old doors. These helped add some color to lighten up the black background of my shelves.)

Let’s Recap Those Shelf Styling Tips:

That’s all there is to it! So fun and such a quick and budget-friendly way to makeover a space in a short amount of time (you can get this done during nap-time with time to spare!).

Update: We went ahead and went “whole hog” and painted the bookcases white. I will have to share the process soon, but here are updated pictures. The items on the shelves are basically identical, but white paint sure does change how things look.  
It made the space feel so much brighter with the “new” white bookshelves! 

I’d love to hear what you like to put on your shelves! Leave a comment below!