If you’ve ever wondered why your room isn’t working, maybe it’s missing a focal point. A focal point can be a fireplace, a grand piano, a spectacular view, an impressive piece of art, a textured wall, or anything else that catches your eye when you enter the room. If you don’t have any of those features, a wonderful way to create a focal point is with bookcases or other types of shelving.

While built-in shelving is attractive, there are many other options: modular, bracket shelves, corner shelves, open cabinets, dressers, cubes, slanted shelves, adjustable rails and more.

Where to find bookshelves and shelves

Find them at antique stores, garage sales, unpainted furniture stores, Pier 1, Crate & Barrel, Home Goods, and others. Get DIY shelving from stores like IKEA, Target, Wal-Mart, and the like. Or go online and type “shelves”. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find in all shapes, sizes, and price ranges.

Create eye-catching bookshelves or shelves

Shelves don’t have to be boring. Whether your style is traditional, coastal, vintage, early American, Asian, modern, or whatever, here are a few ways to turn ordinary bookshelves into an eye-catching display:

– Show off your collections and passions.
– Forget symmetry and be bold
– Vary the height of the accessories
– Place an interesting object on a horizontal stack of books
– Group similar items (books, art, seashells, etc.)
-Add art
– Use baskets or glass containers
– Contrast dark shelves with light objects (and vice versa)
– Organize books and objects by color.
– Place picture frames, artwork, mirrors, and trays behind other items.
– Put a mirror behind the objects you want to highlight.

Tip: Pick 2-3 accent colors that you’ll use repeatedly on your shelves. Take these colors from the room in which the shelves are located, so that the style of your shelf fits.

Decorate your shelves cleverly

Gone are the days when encyclopedias filled the shelves. These days, shelving isn’t just for books. They can be used to display art, vacation finds, family photos, music boxes, collections, and anything else you like to see when you’re in the room. Here are some ideas to bring out the beauty of your shelves, even before you fill them.

– Paint your bookcases or shelves the same color as the walls to create a unified look.
– Identical shelves on both sides of a door, window or fireplace.
– Use open shelving with decorative brackets.
– Wallpaper the back of the shelves so that they stand out.
– Paint the back of the shelves by taking a color from an item in the room (such as a sofa, chair, or piece of art).

Create a clever arrangement

Treat your bookshelves or shelves like a blank canvas and let your personality shine through.

1. Start with a clean slate by removing all items from the shelves.
2. Gather items for display and group them by color, theme, or size.
3. Take three of the largest items you have gathered and place them on different shelves. Then go back and see what they look like.
4. Fill with medium and small pieces and begin to group.
5. Group odd numbers of pieces. Odd numbered groupings are more engaging, memorable, and effective than even numbered groupings.
5. Organize your books by color, size, or theme.
6. Use lighting to add impact to a specific piece or pieces.
7. Now step back and see what you have done.
– Have you achieved color balance?
– Have you incorporated a variety of forms?
– Do you have the correct dimension and scale?

Remember that shelving is always in progress because it’s easy to rearrange, change, add, and remove anything, at any time.