Styling: Little Boxes
Everyone loves the look of styled bookcases. They all look so pretty and interesting and give off the vibe that you collected a bunch of items throughout the years and now have an interesting mix to show off. The main problem with styling bookcases is that a lot of times we look around and don’t really have “stuff” that we’ve collected to style the bookcase.
A good mix for styling a bookcase is a mix of leaning photos, vases, small canvas artwork, colorful exposed book spines, candlesticks, and little boxes.
I don’t have wall space in my living room for a big bookcase so I simply have a corner etagere where I house my books and some styling objects. My favorite accessories is actually an old orange box that use to have chocolate truffles in it. Instead of tossing the box when the chocolates were done I kept it for the pop of orange and I’m so happy I did.
Sure you can pick up actual storage boxes to use in styling, but depending on where you pick them they can get pricey. At times you can find inexpensive options at Homegoods, but my local store is hit or miss and I never know what I will find.
I love these new boxes from Ikea:
The set comes with 7 boxes and it is only $3.99. I would sprinkle them throughout a massive bookcase to add some interest. I would probably even hit some with high-gloss poly to give them a lacquered look.
Anyone seen them at your local IKEA yet?
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My living room is one of the rooms that evolved drastically from when we first moved one. Originally I painted the walls chocolate brown and did accents of white, blue and orange. That lasted maybe 2 years.
Our dining room sat empty for months. Okay maybe it was empty for just a handful of weeks and then we couldn’t take it anymore and put in a folding table and plastic outdoor chairs, but in my mind that was still empty.
On the main floor of our house we have a Florida room. Being that it’s a Florida room it is a considered a 3 season room, because there is no heat in the room. The previous owners used it as an indoor patio with outdoor furniture and it looked like this when we moved in.
Agreed, these are great. I have not seen them yet but I love them. Thanks for sharing!
Good idea! I am having trouble styling my bookcase right now…I just can’t seem to get it just right. xoxo
Thanks for the product tip! I’m hoping to head to Ikea this weekend and these boxes in teal are perfect for a new project I’m doing.
abby
I get SO stuck on styling a good coffee table, console, etc. I bought some boxes for adding in height, but still haven’t found the right yin and yang. You should do a Help post on styling accent tables! *Like my subtle approach? 😉
Those boxes are fantastic. I would want to give them some embellishment though. Maybe some fabulous paper flowers decoupaged on or line the inside with a pretty fabric if you were going to leave them open. The price sure can’t be beat. Thanks for sharing!
Such pretty boxes. I recently snagged a great collection of cigar boxes. Some wood, some painted, all beautiful!
Do you have any idea the name of the fabric that is on those chairs? Seriously, love it.
I believe it’s Fireworks by Albert Hadley. One of my favorites as well!
Elephants!! I love those elephants on your pretty shelf…can you tell me where you got them?
Can’t be much help. Got them from a small home store in Sonoma, CA and they have a label on them that says they are from Kenya.
What kind of high gloss poly would you recommend? Thanks!
Oh, and I love the carseat and stroller you picked out!
I’m going to test some out this weekend. Will report back!
bookcase styling is my achilles heel. how about a tutorial??
Love the high gloss idea – very clever!