Styling bookshelves

One of the things I really enjoy doing is taking what a client already owns, moving it around a bit and maybe adding a few new pieces here and there to give them a new look. When I was working with my out of town client a couple of weeks ago, one of the things that I did for them was to re-style their bookshelves. Most of what was in the bookshelves before I arranged them were things that we had purchased for their previous home about five years ago. It was a heavier look and we had used a lot of dark reds and golds. For this new home, we have lightened up the look, and brought in a cleaner, slightly more modern feel. To update the bookshelves, I took out a lot of the dark red and gold vases and urns and replaced them with some white pieces to brighten it up a bit. I also edited the books, using only certain colors and I turned the dark leather volumes around to lighten them up.

While I was working my client brought in a box filled with an old collection of bulldogs. I love collections and I particularly like bringing in objects that are meaningful rather than just 'things' I have picked up for decoration. 

You can see there are still a few 'holes' and the platter on the top righthand shelf is just a 'placeholder' until they find the perfect thing to put there, but it is a good start.