Styling Floating Shelves

The list of to-dos for my apartment is endless. There is always something that I’m wanting to tweak, re-style or add to a wall. The empty space above the sink was seriously screaming at me every time I walked by. It was haunting me in my dreams at night. Okay, it wasn’t that serious but it was getting on my nerves. We needed shelves of some sort. I started stalking my local Home Depot and Lowes in my free time, trying to find the perfect set of shelves to fill the space. There were too many unanswered questions in my head every time I looked. What color? Raw wood or painted? Length? Width? Two or three? How tall above the tile should I hang them? Each question made it harder and harder for me to pull the trigger on the shelves I had been eyeing. Finals were approaching last semester and I desperately needed a new project to momentarily escape from my school design projects. I got off work early one night and went straight to Lowes to look at their selection again and just couldn’t get myself to buy the shelves. And then I remembered Ikea. Wow, I’m not sure why it took me so long to think of Ikea for the perfect shelves to fill that void above our sink. I drove home and started a google search and discovered the most perfect (and affordable) floating shelves. (Here) The length and color was perfect. Done, sold. I rushed there after church the next day to buy and hang them. 

​My roommate wasn’t home and being the annoyingly impatient and stubbornly independent person that I am, I spent two hours trying to hang them myself. I ignored the cute drawn characters on the instructions and turned into the sad man standing next the pile of shelves on the floor (as shown above). I somehow thought I could sit in the sink and hold the level and the shelf at the same time. It was awful. I gave up and left for work. Luckily my roommate, Aremae,  was home when I got back and she was more than happy to help hang them on a Sunday night at midnight. Score. 

(Before)

The late night installation

(After)

They’re perfect and make our very old kitchen, with the strangest color palette look young again. We live in a quaint Spanish style four-plex apartment building that was built in 1929 and the kitchen looks appropriate to the era. I’ve researched 1930’s kitchen designs and the tile and cabinets look similar to what I’ve found online. The fact that it’s all original makes my heart so happy. I love old buildings, mainly because the older it is, the more character it has. For our old apartment the character is found in the high ceilings, wood floors, plaster walls, unique kitchen tiles and our Spanish style fireplace. 

Styling the shelves was my favorite part. If you’re having any trouble styling shelves, here are some tips.
 

1. Try to keep the overall space full, but not too crowded. You want shelves to look balanced appropriately and not cluttered.
2. Mess around with stacking books horizontally and vertically.
3. Layer items to add interest and depth.
4. Keep vignettes in numbers of threes.
5. Add greenery that hangs.
6. Find jars to fill with items that go with the overall theme. Since these shelves are in the kitchen, I filled a jar with wine corks.

 
Overall, just have fun with it. There really is no right or wrong way to style shelves. It’s all about the edit and finding the right composition. Most of the items I used for our shelves were already found around our apartment and I’m sure you already have the perfect items you need for the shelves you want to style. 

Thanks so much for checking out my blog.  
xoxo 
Jill