These four simple guidelines for styling shelves (or any horizontal surface like a tabletop or mantel) will help everything look balanced and beautiful.
After I built my farmhouse shelves in the kitchen for just $40, I was eager to style them. I gathered pieces from my decor closet and favorite shops over several months — mixing old favorites with new finds from budget-friendly retailers. Affiliate links were used when I shopped; I include affiliate links for convenience and have a disclosure on my site.
I’d wanted shelves in this spot for a long time, but I waited until after I painted the cabinets and refreshed the wall color. Once those projects were done, I could finally enjoy styling the shelves with a mix of treasured items and recent finds.
I love the finished vignette and plan to refresh it seasonally—Christmas will be especially fun to decorate here.
Tips on Decorating Shelves
Styling a blank wall of shelves—or any horizontal display—can feel like solving a fun puzzle. Here are the guiding principles I use to achieve a balanced, cohesive look.
- Apply the “rule of three” when grouping items. I aimed to create three small vignettes per shelf, each containing either one large piece or a cluster of around three medium-to-small objects. Some groupings have more than three pieces, but they still read as a single, unified vignette.
- Vary the heights. Staggering heights creates visual interest. If something is too low on its own, place it on a stack of plates, a book, or a small riser to lift it up—like the greenery on the top right shelf, which sits on three small salad plates to add height.
- Repeat and space textures. Distribute repeated elements—wood tones, metals, greenery, and typography—across the shelves so similar textures don’t cluster together. Moving one item often creates the need to shift another to keep the balance.
Styling a horizontal surface really is like solving a puzzle, and it’s a rewarding one to piece together.
Repeat colors to pull the display together. I threaded a pale yellow through the shelves using a cookbook, a utensil crock, flowers, a small book, a coffee sign, and a tea towel. That recurring pop of color ties the look together.
I enjoy displaying prettier cookbooks as decor. One of my favorites is “Cooking in the South with Johnnie Gabriel”—it’s as lovely to look at as it is tempting to try recipes from. Pretty cookbooks are now on my shopping radar.
Because these shelves have a farmhouse character, I leaned into that style. That said, I like to swap in seasonal accents—coastal touches for summer or navy and turquoise mixes when I want a different vibe.
I plan to make the shelves functional as well as decorative. My daughter loves art supplies, so I’ll design a pretty box to hold markers, crayons, scissors, and paper on one of the shelves so her supplies are handy but tidy.
Some items are decorative now but will become practical later. For example, the cookbook currently sits on my DIY chalkboard iPad stand; eventually I’ll move that stand to the bottom shelf and use it as a charging station for tablets and phones.
There’s an outlet behind the “Farm Fresh” printable on the bottom shelf that will be handy for a charging station. I like blending pretty decor with functional solutions so the shelves look good and work for everyday life.
I’m thrilled to have this wall finished. It adds character and personality to the kitchen and brings me one step closer to completing the room.
If you’re curious about the overall kitchen updates, check the before-and-after photos I shared in my Simply White Painted Kitchen post on the blog for the full progress story and inspiration.
If you like farmhouse decor in the kitchen, there are other posts with ideas and product suggestions that informed these shelf choices. I’ll continue adding and evolving the display as I find pieces I love.
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear which farmhouse accessory is your favorite—leave a comment and tell me what you like most.
Sources and styling pieces used on these shelves included items such as a crock, beaded plates and mugs, a cutting board, wooden utensils, tobacco baskets, a galvanized bucket, a farmhouse stool, a watering can, boxwood and sage plants, a milk bottle vase, a cotton wreath, and a wire basket.
More posts you may enjoy:
- Beautiful Farmhouse Sinks + Farmhouse Faucets
- Farmhouse Style for the Everyday Home
- 12 Beautiful Farmhouse Chandeliers for Your Home
- Gorgeous Farmhouse Bedding to Add to Your Room
- Farmhouse Ceiling Fans We Love!