How to make your shelves a decorative statement
Almost any room in the house will be better for some well thought out shelving, whether it's a discreet wall mounted shelf that runs over your bed, or a full wall of bookcases in a sitting room. There are plenty of things to think about, from the design and finish of the shelves to their colour, and then the arrangement of things on them. Do you want your shelves to be a perfectly orchestrated arrangement, and if so, what balance of objects will achieve that? “Calm, curated shelves are really lovely,” remarks Rita Konig, "although I love that look when you have a wall stuffed to bursting with books.” We've put together a few particularly good shelves that really add life to the decorative scheme of the room, from dreamy kitchen dressers to nifty bathroom cabinets.
Owen Gale1/11Painting the interior of a bookshelf in a different colour to the surrounding walls (and the front of the shelf) is a super fun way to enliven a wall, and you can even go a step further and do a gloss finish to contrast with the flatter colour of the walls. In this colourful London house by Honor Devereux, the walls are painted in Farrow & Ball's classic ‘Setting Plaster’, while the shelves are Dulux’s ‘Ruby Fountain 2 Red Gloss'.
Paul Massey2/11These yellow bookshelves in Bridie Hall's north London house are another illustration of the power of contrasting paint. Look closer, however, and you'll also see the smart reeded detail of the shelves, which elevates the entire look.
James McDonald3/11Bathrooms can often be neglected when it comes to decoration, but adding some antique shelving to the walls, as antique dealer Jack Laver Brister has done in his Georgian house in Somerset, is an easy way to remedy that. Here, Jack’s collection of seashells and coral is displayed in an Edwardian case on walls in ‘Euphorbia’ by Paint & Paper Library.
Owen Gale4/11Textile designer Molly Mahon's Sussex cottage is full of her charming block prints, and the kitchen shelves are no exception. Molly has made sweet scalloped trims from block printed paper to add to her wall mounted shelves, and frequently swaps them out to change the look of the space. It's an easy weekend craft project to carry out.
5/11These bookshelves in Beata Heuman's London house are a perennial favourite, both for their colour –“the bottle-green hue inside the bookshelves adds depth and mystery,” says Beata – and because they incorporate a cocktail cabinet behind a glass door which is both stylish and eminently practical.
Tom Griffiths6/11We're huge fans of plate racks in the kitchen, and this type, where plates are displayed front-on, can add charming extra decoration to the walls. Choose your plates carefully, as Victoria Barker of Studio Faeger has done in her Cotswold cottage, and it's like having another artwork in the room.
James McDonald7/11While we're all in favour of a well-stocked bookshelf here at House & Garden, it can be very appealing to install some beautiful shelves and use them only for displaying objects. It's what Kate Guinness has done at this colourful house in Kensington, installing a wall of extremely elegant shelves by Edward Collinson and filling them with ceramics, candlesticks and small pictures.
Simon Upton8/11The late, great Robert Kime was a collector of so many things, and he knew how to display them to his best advantage. In his Belgravia flat, a simple shallow shelf above the archway between rooms is the perfect spot to show off a series of antiques glass vessels.
Andrew Montgomery9/11Kitchen dressers have long been places to display plates and other ceramics, and can add layers of texture and colour to a kitchen. This example from the sitting room of Patrick Williams' house, which features the ‘Bath Dresser’ he designed for Berdoulat, is one of our favourites.
Mike Garlick10/11If you're building in joinery, think carefully about what you might display there, so that the colour can be used to best effect, and the size of the shelves works for the objects. Sarah Vanrenen has created an absolutely immaculate piece of bespoke furniture for this newbuild flat in London, where books are neatly slotted in amid a striking display of ceramics. The bookcase is painted in ‘Vert de Mer’ by Edward Bulmer, a colour which runs across the woodwork of the flat.
Simon Brown11/11House & Garden's former editor Susan Crewe has installed a delightful over-bed shelf in her London flat, with panelling covering part of the wall behind the bed, an upholstered headboard in place, and then a shelf above for books and ornaments. This won't perform the function of a bedside table, but note the tiny alcoves built into the side of the panelling for essentials.
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