styling: shelves done right

When reading interior magazines and viewing house tours online one of the things I notice right away is the styling of bookshelves. Badly arranged bookshelves can be a complete turn off, and don't even get me started on colour-coded ones. They can ruin the experience for me. Mainly I'm referring to shelves in living areas because it's important to get them right and let them be in harmony with the space. I guess bookshelves have been on my mind lately because I have been unpacking our books. I haven't started the styling yet, the books are on the shelves and now I'm slowly unpacking the decorative objects and thinking about ways to arrange them.

This blog post is not meant to be a how-to one but the bookshelves in this Melbourne home that was recently featured on The Design Files make my styling heart happy. This is what I call shelves done right, a beautiful mix of books and decorative objects. The colour palette is well balanced, not demanding. With the books either displayed horizontally or vertically the shelves seem to breathe; they aren't overloaded. The addition of artwork and plants takes the styling to another level.

There is no shelf in the bedroom but I had to include the last image to show you what I call a beautiful colour palette for bedrooms. I use whites, greys and light browns in my own and I often mix them up. In summertime I like adding a bedspread with colour and am currently using a light blue one.

Have a wonderful weekend!