Decorating With Books Without Shelves In Living Room

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STYLING BOOKSHELVES WITHOUT USING BOOKS- Creating a fabulous, well-balanced bookshelf styled without books.

I like to change up the decor here at StoneGable! But one thing I have not changed in a long time are the bookshelves in the family room that flank the fireplace. Because they are the focal point of the back half of my home I did not want them to be too busy and full of books. Funny, a bookcase that is not really used for books. Books in this bookshelf would be very distracting in my bookshelf and way too busy! Today let's talk about styling bookshelves without using books!

Now let's decorate a bookshelf…

STYLING BOOKSHELVES IN THE FAMILY ROOM- EASY TIPS FOR BEAUTIFUL STYLING

My family room is very neutral and has a relaxed refined farmhouse feel. So it was important to keep the bookshelves the same.

Here is how they looked before…

And here's how they look now…

I think I like the bookshelves equally as well. I just needed a change. I must make a little confession, I did use books. White painted and burlap covered books. They can still be read, but they are not really for reading at all! I use them as a decor element.

SYTLING BOOKSHELVES WITHOUT USING BOOKS

My favorite way to tackle any bookshelves, hutch, or open shelves is to visually divide them into equal sections.

SYTLING BOOKSHELVES WITHOUT USING BOOKS

And then I fill in each "box". I divided this bookshelf into 9 boxes and worked with items in a very tight color palette. Whites, neutrals, blacks, and browns. Just like the rest of my family room. Some of the decorative items spilled over into another box, and that's okay. I didn't want to make it look too rigid!

As always I paid attention to texture…

nubby-basket
smooth-copper chest
fluffy-plant
hard-wire basket
shiny- copper chest

This beautiful copper chest will tarnish and age into a soft brown/copper. It will get better and better with age. I have a smaller chest just like it on the top shelf of the opposite bookshelf. See the image of the whole family room above.

SYTLING BOOKSHELVES WITHOUT USING BOOKS

Did you notice the magazine holders on the bookshelves? I love magazines! And I can keep them out of sight and organized!

You can see we put our television in the bookshelf left of the mantel. It made sense there. I know it can't be helped much of the time, but I am not a fan of a tv over the mantel.

I love anything organic in bookshelves. And again, on both bookshelves, I have a small faux green plant.Ikea has really nice for faux plants and little white pots to put them in.

It is also important to vary the heights of the things I put on a bookshelf. Even though there are no books that we actually read on these shelves the stacked decorative books work so well as risers and bring an element of cohesiveness to the design.