Not just random vessels and imitation roman busts.
Too often in interior design media we see bookshelves filled with everything BUT books. How many times have you seen photos of a celebrity home or an editorial shoot where something about the living space just felt staged and sterile? I would bet that they didn’t have a bookshelf, or, if they did, it was littered more with obscure pieces of who-knows-what and not populated with actual books.
I’m not saying you can’t display objects you love (just the opposite, really). What I am saying is that a bookshelf without books just feels off, meaning all the other great design work in the room won’t really be able to shine and you might not be able to put your finger on why. Books on a shelf reflect on the person who put them there… maybe more than anything else in our homes. If you have a space that feels bland or cold and you can’t figure out why, add a few of your favorite books. You’ll be shocked at the instant injection of warmth and personalization.
Bookshelves are also a great place to mix a couples interests. Sometimes differences in taste can be hard to navigate. The one place where I think this isn’t true is on a bookshelf. No matter how broad the range of topics, books somehow just belong together. Here, we can house the ideas and stories that mean the most to us without worrying so much about cohesion.
Bookshelves can be a reflection of a homeowner in ways that other home elements just can’t. They can be upbeat, dramatic, neat, haphazard, collected, sparse, or abundant. But without books, that personality has nothing to hold on to. Without books as an anchor, it can feel like other objects, even ones meaningful to you, are just floating on a surface, rather than intentional given pride of place.
To me, styling shelves is simple: just add books and play around. people expect to see books on a bookshelf so the resulting visual effect is much more forgiving than a shelf with only objects because we EXPECT to see books there. For an object only shelf to visually work the objects have to be so perfectly curated, and that’s a much taller (and more expensive) order than people might think.
Kassie
