Styled Bookshelf Details

Yesterday's post was all about my restyled and repainted bookshelves. I gave you lots of tips for styling bookshelves. 

Today, I am sharing the details on the items that I used to style the shelves.

One tip I shared is to repeat elements like the antique brass items here, all from the thrift store. The brass napkin holder works as a photo holder. I am not a huge fan of fake flowers, but these shelves do not get enough light for real plants, so I added a bit of color to a brass pitcher. The thrifted candlestick adds height. Gathering smaller items on a tray or plate helps to create a cleaner look. This little wood, that is clearly not for food (it had 2 stickers and one stamp on the bottom indicating that), is thrifted. The pocket watch was my grandpa's. Mirrors reflect light and are great placed in the back of a bookshelf. This one I made by gluing a round mirror to a thrift store rattan plate charger.

The thrift store wood urn sits on a thrift store book. Behind it is a favorite piece of driftwood. 

I don't like containers to sit empty with no purpose so I put the old anagrams that I previously displayed in a wood bowl in the wood urn. They may make an appearance at holidays to spell out a word or two. 

On the top shelf on the left sits a black pottery bowl (old or not, I am not sure) from a thrift store with the heart shaped rocks we collect on outings and adventures. To help the black bowl stand out a bit, I set it on a thrifted, brass pedestal that clearly held something else at one point.

Because these are bookshelves, I want actual books on them. This stack of old books, a couple leather bound, are all from the thrift store and add great texture and warmth. An antique, oak hand mirror sits next to these old books, against the back of the shelf.

These books are not as old and are ones I had in my library. I like their warm, brown color. The gnome book is from the seventies, so vintage.

The two with tied with cords are from the sixties and are the Leaves of Gold books--a collection of poems, essays, and quotes.

They are nice to have, especially if you need a good quote.

Three favorite pictures of my children sit on a shelf. The square frame with my daughter's picture was very white and so 2005 shabby chic. I painted it green and added some antique gold Rub-n-Buff.

Next to the photos I placed a simple, green, glass vase with moss in it on some old books. I pushed these back a bit because they aren't anything special and the color stands out so they don't need to be in the forefront. 

On the bottom shelf sits more thrift store finds. The trivet was copper, I gave it the antique gold Rub-n-Buff treatment. The pottery dish holds sand from a trip from a beach somewhere (?) and a candle. 

Also on the bottom shelf sits our wedding photo and a picture of my son, daughter-in-law and grandson. These got new frames, well new to me from Goodwill. They help to repeat the wood elements on the shelves. A couple old, green books from my library complete this shelf.

Use items you love, change or paint things to better match your style, repeat elements, add layers, mirrors, and add or delete as needed to create cozy shelves with personality!