10 Tips to Help You Style Floating Shelves Like a Property Stylist

Blank walls can make an apartment or home feel like something's missing. But most of the time, choosing what to put on the wall can feel overwhelming. Fortunately, floating shelves are an effortless and fun way to add depth, colour and style to any space.

Whether you're renting or selling, styling your home in different ways can evoke emotions such as feelings of happiness, calmness and inspiration. If you notice that your home is starting to feel a bit drab, floating shelves can turn empty spaces into something special. 

To make the most of your space and avoid the 'design overwhelm', the team at Spatial Property Styling are sharing ten tips to help you style floating shelves like a property stylist.

Evaluate Space 

Before you start decorating your floating shelves, it's important to evaluate the space. You'll want to start with the room itself and then the space on the shelves. For example, suppose you're styling long floating shelves in the kitchen. In that case, you'll want to openly display items according to use and the amount of room on the shelf. In doing so, you can mix dishes with other things like photos, herbs and cookbooks. 

Group strategically 

Next, you'll want to group your items strategically to avoid making the shelves look too similar. An easy tip to help you visualise how to group the items is to imagine a line down the middle of your floating shelves. The objects should cross that line to break up any symmetry. For example, if you place one item at one end, you can layer it with another, filling the space enough to cross the centre and feel balanced. 

Prioritise Balance

Prioritising balance is especially important if you're styling more than one open shelf. You should visualise each shelf on its own and as a pair. Ultimately, the shelves should complement each other and be able to stand on their own. Another easy way to make sure the shelves have balance is by embracing negative space. Negative space helps draw the eye from one element to the next and prevents the room from feeling cluttered. 

Break up tones and textures 

When you're styling open shelves throughout your home, you'll want to add pieces with tones and textures that break up the space. For example, instead of having only framed photos on a shelf, you might add one framed print, a stack of books, a small ceramic bowl and a plant. These items combine various textures and colours that create an exciting curation of objects. 

A playful mixture of styles and textures

Mix styles 

Not only is it best to break up tones and textures, but it's also recommended to mix styles. You can do this by mixing statement pieces with more practical items, such as a sculpture next to some books or a framed photo next to some greenery. Another great way to mix styles is by mixing modern and vintage pieces. These juxtapositions give your floating shelves visual depth, even if they're small. 

Add greenery 

Plants and greenery are such a great element to bring into any room. Not only do they add a pop of colour, but they’re excellent fillers. Depending on the size of your shelf, it's best to choose plants that are in proportion to the largest and smallest items you choose to style. You'll also want to think about how much sunlight the space gets, the weight the shelf can handle, and the colour of the pottery. 

Greenery is uplifting in the kitchens too

Use an accent colour 

If you're finishing off the design of a room with floating shelves, don't be afraid to pull the room's accent colour using items on the shelf. This can be really subtle such as a photograph or book. You can also use something more obvious such as a statement piece like a painting or a sculpture. It also helps to pull the accent colour using different textures to add variety. 

Anchor below the shelf 

Depending on where you hang your floating shelf, don't forget to anchor it below with a statement object. The anchor helps to avoid them looking like they're floating in the middle of nowhere. For example, if you have floating shelves in the office, you might place your desk underneath, or if you're using them in the living room, you might place large wicker baskets below as extra storage. 

Can't go wrong with a neutral colour combination

Don’t go overboard with family photos 

Try not to go overboard with family photos, especially when styling your home in preparation to sell. These are great here and there if you want to add a framed photo as an item, but too many and the overall look might not come together as you imagined. If you're staying in your home and keen to get some family photos up, print a few of your favourites and create a photo collage. 

Plants are always a great addition to shelf decor

Embrace trial and error 

When you're styling floating shelves, it's all about trial and error. You might have to add, rearrange and remove items more than once until you finally feel like the style and design are exactly what you want. If at some point you feel like the room could use a refresh, you can swap and rearrange items on your floating shelves until it feels like a completely new design. 

Dark tones with a lighter coloured furnishing and shelf decor

Styling your home to sell 

Styling floating shelves is one part of the interior design process when styling your home to sell. During the process, it’s important to design from the buyer's perspective – less is more. However, if you'd like to leave the styling up to the professionals, we’re here to help. 

The Spatial Property Styling team has over 12 years of experience styling properties in Sydney. We offer partial styling, keeping some of your furniture and providing the rest from our collection. We also provide complete styling for your furnishings. 

We'd be happy to assist with any questions you may have. Get in touch with us for a Free Property Styling Quote tailored to your property, or speak with one of our expert stylists at (02) 9417 7193.