Styling A Bookcase

I have a very tall, build in bookcase in our living room that has really only seen books, books and more books. When my grandparents lived here, they had tons of books that loaded the shelves, like their full collection of encyclopedias. When we moved in we had lots of college books, bible study books, yearbooks, just a lot of books, so what did I do? I shoved them all up on the bookcase and forgot about it.  My kids would tear everything off of the bottom 3 shelves and the top ones looked cramped and sad. Fast forward to the days of Pinterest and mobile children I decided it was time to change things up.

So I started by taking everything off the shelves.

These are my piles of books that are going elsewhere.

And these are the only ones going back on the shelves.

So I added the books back up first because I felt they were the least pretty to look at and I didn't mind if some were hidden.

Next I added some pictures that were in black frames, the single color frame helps to make it look cohesive. I also added my blue glass pieces. 

And finally I set all the other items I had, a collection of nesting dolls, an antler my husband found in the woods, an old camera, etc. 

Making sure there are themes throughout the shelves tie everything together. I love having lots of color and I think it is a nice change from the old boring bookcase.

I added my quilts back into the bottom 3 shelves which add a peek of color from behind the sofa.

 In the end I am so happy to have put my favorite things out on display. I am so happy to have purged so many books that I never used, it feels great!

Now I love my bookshelf the most in my living room!!