Shelfie ready: easy ideas to style your shelves like a pro

Marble mantlepiece to bedside tables, ceiling high shelves to a sitting room sideboard, the shelves in our home tell a story - beautiful pieces from far flung shores, ornate discoveries in secret markets. At Wicklewood we believe decorative accents add life and personality to our homes, so we’ve searched the world for unique pieces which will look beautiful on your shelves - carved wooden nandis and intricately inlaid boxes from India, handmade ceramics from South Africa and baskets crafted from pine needles in Guatemala.
 
The key? Beautiful styling. Here’s how to ensure your shelves are perfectly curated...

 1. Start with a clean slate
Take everything off your shelves, give them a good clean and then build from a blank canvas.

 2. Be selective
There’s no need to cram everything you have into a single shelf - a few carefully selected pieces will look visually striking.

3. Be clever with clutter
Choose beautiful boxes to hide clutter - an ornate design is perfect to tuck away remote controls, papers and those little bits and pieces we all have lying around…

4. Use your imagination
Is there another way to display something? Mount baskets on your walls, or upend an unused tray as an impromptu artwork.

5. Go odd
In general, pieces grouped in odd numbers have more impact - three over two, five over four. But remember there are exceptions to every ‘rule’ - go with your gut.

6. Add greenery
Fill vases with tumbling flowers, introduce pretty house plants, opt for trailing leaves.

7. Or don’t…
Decorative vases and beautiful ceramics look just as striking as ornaments, so don’t feel you need a fresh bunch of blooms to display your favourite pieces.

8. Seek balance
Proportion is important - mix heights, sizes and shapes to create a visual rhythm.
 
9. Play with symmetry
This needn’t mean mirroring shelves, or creating matching vignettes, but think about the space as a whole - echo shapes to tie the montage together.
 
10. Group collections
Whether you’ve gathered a herd of nandis, or a stack of pine needle baskets, sometimes more is more, so don’t be afraid to display collections together.

11. Be playful
Mix colours, add print, go for an unexpected combination.
 
12. Style, style and restyle
Shelves are easily updated for seasonal changes or a quick visual refresh, no shelf layout is set in stone - that’s the beauty of decorative accents…
 
13. Don’t follow the rules
If it feels right, ignore everything we’ve said and go your own way. The most important thing to remember is to enjoy the process - your shelves are sure to look lovely.