Amber B Design Studio

Interior Design & Decoration for the South Florida region

Styling Tips and Tricks

by Filed Under: design, e-decorating, e-design, personal design style, shelf styling, styling


When putting together e-design boards for my clients or decorating my own home, my focus is always on the accessories. They are the icing on the cake and take a space to the next level. The accessories are usually what gets noticed when company is over and can be a great way to show your personal design style. They are also great when updating a room on a budget, because amazing accessories can draw your eye away from an old sofa or outdated furniture. Here are my tips and tricks for styling!

Layering is Key
When thinking about shelves, art can lean on the shelf while smaller accessories sit in front. Layering your accessories adds depth and dimension to your shelves. And they actually make your shelves look bigger!

Our Family Room
Balance and Texture
When restyling your shelves, it’s best to take everything off and start fresh. {Which is also the time I dust the shelves!} Shop around your home for unique finds with different shapes and textures. I always tell clients to pair something flat with something sculptural and the everyday with something unique. A tried and true styling trick is to pair a stack of books with a pretty sculptural piece on top!

The picture above also shows how you can color code your books to give that rainbow effect. It’s a great trick when you have so many colorful books. All of a sudden, it’s well put together and thoughtful!

Turn Your Books Around
If you want to give your shelves a more neutral look, turn your books around so the pages show! It’s a subtle look and creates a softer, more subdued feel in the room.

Line the Back of Your Shelves
To bring texture and another color or pattern to your shelves, line the back with pretty paper! You could go as easy as attaching craft/wrapping paper with double stick tape or line the back with wallpaper. You could also paint the back of the shelves, like the image below. If the back of the shelves were the wall color in this room, the accessories would not stand out as much.
Source: google.com via Amber on Pinterest
Mix Tall and Small Pieces
This is a great way to get that layered, collected over time look to your shelves. Pairing tall vases with small accessory pieces adds more depth and looks great!
I am in the process of choosing something fun to line the back of my secretary shelves. Since this is an antique piece and I love the wood’s finish, I don’t want to paint or permanently cover the back in any way. I am thinking of using some type of paper and attaching it with double stick tape. Any thoughts on color or pattern?
Our Living Room
I saw a faux bois paper that might work. Also, if you have any other better suggestions instead of using double stick tape, I’m all ears! Whatever you think is best to preserve the wood.

Comments

  1. Emily A. Clark says

    Amber, this is a great post! (And, thanks for including my shelves.)

    I know somewhere I've seen a secretary that covered the back in a bright floral and it was really pretty. I cannot remember the source…. If it hits me, I'll let you know 🙂

  6. pam {simple details} says

    Great tips, Amber! SO sweet of you to include mine. I've seen other bloggers attach their paper to foam core and pop it in. I recently used double-sided removable poster tape, and it worked really well.