Wanted: Shelf editor
Decorating shelves is hard to do and I need an editor. Or two. Nate Berkus, feel free to call me.
I’ve tried about 10 different arrangements on our new floating shelves so far and I’m still not quite satisfied. Take a look for yourself…
I really want these shelves to be functional and decorative, but not cluttered. Which means, I want them to actually store items that we need a place for (like pitchers, vases, our silver set), and I want them to look good. And not be cluttered. Did I mention I’m down on clutter?
I’ve tried the basic rules of shelf decorating, like grouping items in odd numbers, and trying to vary the height of different pieces. I don’t know if I’m succeeding and I could use your opinions.
The bottom shelf is the one I am struggling with the most. That big wooden piece is the case that stores our heirloom silver. Before this, it was stored up on top of a cabinet, which made it tougher to use (I needed a chair to reach it). We are the type of people who want to use the nice things we have, so my goal was to put the case on one of the shelves so that we could easily reach for it, but I don’t know if it’s working here.
Perhaps this shelf bothers me because there are three items that are virtually the same height and there is nothing that draws your eye up? Or maybe I just don’t know what I’m doing!
I’m actually feeling pretty good about the second shelf. The painting in the middle was done by my sister and I just love the colors. But the shelf might be a little too cluttered, and the blue gurgling cod pitcher might be competing too much with the other items. Any thoughts?
And the top shelf might be okay. By virtue of its height, this shelf can’t be anything but decorative, so I don’t have to worry about function. The tall photo frame helps draw the eye up and makes the wall feel tall.
But the wall is tall, so I might just be full of it.
And yes, I used repetitive shelf decorating to procrastinate on the faux paneling plan for the bottom half of the wall. But, I finally made progress this weekend and hopefully I’ll have an update for you later this week!
In the meantime, do you have any shelf editing ideas?
i found this & thought of you!
http://www.styleathome.com/decorating-and-design/styling-secrets/how-to-style-open-shelves/a/34418
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LOVE the shelves! Two and three are perfect, in my opinion. I love the glass bottle on the top shelf, and the repetition of the white items on the second shelf. And I like the dark blue pitcher against the white ceramic piece.
I agree about the height thing on the first shelf…maybe find a smaller photo frame to replace the black one, or even just get rid of it and leave just the smaller photo. I would probably re-frame the baby photo in something wood-toned, to coordinate with the color of the silver holder (which has a gorgeous shape and color, btw!).
Or, you could do something similar to what’s featured in the link above that Candice posted, which has two busier surfaces (the dresser and the first shelf), then a sparsely decorated top shelf. You could try just using the silver holder and maybe one picture frame or something else more substantial on that bottom shelf, and eliminate the other items to create some balance with the busier shelves above. The pitcher filled with something to coordinate with the wood toned silver holder, like wine corks, would look pretty (but maybe not functional if you need to use the pitcher on a semi-regular basis).
I have a hard time with this too. I just worked on my shelves in the living room and I’m not 100% sold on what I’ve got. It takes tweaking, I think!
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I like the top shelf as is, but the bottom two do seem too cluttered. Hmmmm….
Your sister’s painting stands out a bit because of the colors (gorgeous, btw!), but the other items on the shelf cause it to get more lost than it should. I’d definitely get rid of the cod. I also might get rid of the small glass piece next to it, as well as the white butter dish on the bottom shelf. Read: de-clutter!
And I hate to say it, but I might search for another place to store your silver. It just doesn’t seem to “go” with everything else, and removing it may give you better space in which to play with the placement of your other items. Plus, if you leave it and place other (breakable) items close to it, you always run the risk of knocking something off when you go to retrieve your silver to use it.
This was tough! It’s a challenge to rearrange things on shelves in pictures! As such, feel free to ignore everything I’ve said if it looks ridiculous in person.
Good luck!
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You’re definitely on the right track, but I find it odd to see kitchen items (specifically the butter dish) in a hallway. I totally understand wanting to store items here, but I think that keeping it to “decorative” items like vases would be the way to go. Also, the painting is cute but the lemons in the painting are the exact same scale as a few other items as that shelf so they may be contributing to the “clutter” look.
Love the color mix, though!
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maybe going with a same color theme would help. paint the picture frames navy and/or get some that are the same brown as the silverware case?? just a thought – it seems shelves look “cleaner” when they are coordinated (to me anyway.)
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I agree with you, the top two shelves look good. I don’t feel the middle one is too cluttered, I like the cod there.
I’m not totally comfortable with the bottom one though. I agree with Kelsey, the butter dish is odd there. I’m not opposed to the silver case where it is, but maybe move out the glass/ceramic pieces and try the baby picture in front of it? I don’t know… My bookshelves in the living are still un-styled after close to two years. There’s a reason for that. lol
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I’m loving all of the opinions/advice, people! Keep it coming!
xo,
- e
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Can I be bossy for a second?
On the bottom shelf, maybe put the pitcher on the right & fill it with tall branches, flowers, etc. Put the suitcase towards the middle/left side & leave the two pics near it, maybe remove everything else?
Also, do you have any other wooden objects that you could put on the higher shelves to tie the suitcase in?
I think you might need fewer items on the second shelf – maybe stick with your sister’s painting on one side & the books/cool fish vase on the other? Or, better yet, could you hang the painting on the wall to the right of the second shelf to fill some space there & keep the books/candles & fish vase?
I think the top shelf looks great!
I find that I’m actually terrible at this arranging business when it comes to my own house, so feel free to completely ignore me!
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I think the top shelf looks great. I like the mixture of different heights. Honestly I have this problem too. I am forever changing around my built-in bookcases. Also I love the painting your sister did. It needs to stand out more!
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I think the top and middle shelves rock. I think Nate himself would approve of the middle one, in particular!
The bottom one is puzzling me. I think the vase needs to be filled w/ flowers or replaced w/ something else. And I agree with a PP’s suggestion to perhaps move the butter dish.
You are doing great!
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I am no help… I actually wrote a post about how I suffer from vignette-a-phobia. It takes me a week to work on my mantel because I have to change it so much. But here is my trick to know when I am happy with it. When I don’t fuss with it for 24 hours – I know I am happy with it! Hope that helps.
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We just hung two long shelves yesterday, in part to cover a waterhook up and two outlets. I just have a bunch of frames leaned on it, because there is a front lip so the space is very narrow (it won’t hold most objects). Maybe we can fix each others’ shelves. I like the shape, color and texture of the case but can you do something to add more intrest to the front? Your monogram? Tie a ribbon on top and let long pieces hang down?
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I love the top shelf, it balances really well.
Middle shelf: I think I would move the items on the left to the right and slide your sister’s painting to the left a bit. I love the white ceramic thing and would put it to the right corner of the painting. Maybe move the cod pitcher to the bottom shelf
Bottom shelf: I think I would put the picture of the baby in front of the silver holder, remove the butter dish and pitcher and put the green bottle next to the wedding picture with the green and white coaster from the middle shelf behind it and the cod to the left of the wedding picture…hope that makes sense.
It’s so hard to arrange things the way you picture it in your head. Can’t wait to see the final outcome. Oh and maybe the glass pitcher could be used on the table below the shelves with some flowers or branches in it.
)
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I think the big clear pitcher is throwing me off on the bottom shelf, and the fact that two out of three shelves have something white (the top shelf doesn’t although I like this shelf’s arrangement best).
Gurgling fish over to the right instead of the middle, prop the green tile lightly against the painting, and put the lotus vase on top of the books and lose the candlesticks or move them, because they look a bit odd by the angle of the staircase (whereas the top shelf looks great with the angle of the staircase). Generally I think you can’t go wrong if your arrangements follow the angle of the stairs – it will keep the eye moving in the right direction.
Love the photo of Ike, BTW!
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I skimmed the other comments and I dont think I saw this mentioned… if its there and I missed it then consider this a “Second” of the idea (As in “I second that!”)
I don’t know if the box that holds the silverware is as important as the actual silverware but I think I would like the box there if it had alittle more spunk. I was thinking you could cover it with some sort of pattern (fabric/wall paper) that could tie it into the other pieces more? Just a thought. I may also move the vase to one of the ends and as other said add something like branches.
Good luck!
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I don’t have anything “helpful” to add .. but that post made me chuckle.
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Top shelf looks good.
I would group “like” colors together, for instance, your sisters painting and the cod work well together (since there is some darker blue colors for the shadows in the painting), but I would put the cod pitcher on an end with the painting slightly behind it. Maybe even putting the cod pitcher on top of the stacked books.
I would group all the white items together and the clear items together (pitcher, vase and maybe even the small green bottle).
Biggest thing I would do is lie the silverware case flat and use it like you are using the books; placing things on the top of it.
my 2 cents.
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I like the top one the best. There’s some height and some not-so-much. They all look good though — Good job.
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