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Some people have gallery walls as the feature of their sitting room, others have oversized art, and some with collections of books and smaller decor pieces need to use shelves to maximize their storage space.
In a sitting room, the focal point sets the vibe. When that feature is bookshelves from floor to ceiling, filled to the brim with books, it can feel more like a study room rather than a relaxing place to unwind. To style a bookshelf (or multiple) in way that creates a relaxing vibe in your sitting room, there are a few design tricks you can lean on to turn bland wall displays into a stunning focal point.
Applying a background
Bookcases are usually sealed with a back panel. Open shelving units or a curation of floating shelves can also be used as a bookshelves, provided they have the structural support for the weight of books. Vast book collections can be heavy. Whichever type of bookcase you have, the back panel can be styled. Wall murals, or decorative wallpaper can be hung on the wall directly behind open shelving systems to give the backdrop a stylistic touch. For closed shelved bookcases, the back panels can be painted either a solid color, or if you want a more intricate pattern, use stencils. There are various patterns ranging from geo lattice stencils, floral designs, lace, and even asian themed stencils that would fit right in on a bookshelf with a Japanese book nook of Tokyo City at night.
Choose Your Display Pieces
To avoid the library look or the formal style of a study, bookshelves in living spaces set a relaxed atmosphere when there is plenty of open space. Books don’t get sandwiched side-by-side right along the shelf. Instead, to decorate a bookshelf, different items such as ornaments, mementos, photos, souvenirs, and plants get placed strategically along each shelf.
Tips on Plant Selection
The key to using plants on a bookshelf is getting sufficient light to it. If you can make a shadow on the shelf, there’s enough light for at least a low-light tolerant plant. It’s usually on the top shelf, or near the top. Lower down, dwarf varieties and succulents fair better. On the top shelf, trailing ferns cascading over the edge brighten the space up. What to be careful with plants is the humidity they release. You don’t want moisture near your books, as that’s going to cause the paper to degrade.
This is the most important part…
When you’re choosing your display pieces, you want to have plenty of items to work with, all in different sizes. The more items you have, the more arrangements you can create. This part can (and should be) fun!
Staggering Sizes and Layering
Styling your shelves is easier when can arrange items thematically, and specifically in groups. The top shelf of a bookcase, you can go heavy on, arranging the largest items right across the top. Then directly below, introduce space by starting slightly in from the edges and working with two groups of up to 3 items per group. For example, a large picture frame leaning to the back of the shelf, a pillar candle and a bowl filled with potpourri to one side. Then on the opposite side of the shelf, some of your largest books stacked, standard sized books stood upright, and a perhaps a paperweight perched on top of the flat-stacked hardback books.
When arranging items, groupings of 3 items of different heights seem to always work well. Some designers consider it a rule to work in 3’s. It’s not a rule but it does usually work.
Personalizing your Bookshelves with Handmade Items
Personalization is beautification. Whatever your hobby, make it a part of your focal point and display your crafts. If you’re into vintage photography, have a vintage camera on display. Perhaps a photo, or even the boxes the roll of film comes in. For avid bookworms, you could have your main bookshelves elsewhere and the one in your sitting room styled like a pro, displaying a book collection, perhaps stored in a wooden box, or customized with fabric book sleeves, perhaps even some photo books created with stylistic bookbinding techniques applied.
Focal points in sitting rooms have more of an emotional influence when you have items of sentimental value on display. You don’t get more sentimental than handmade items.
