Staging Bookshelves: A How-to in beautifying and decluttering!

Bookshelves are great for storing items and are very useful; however, if not used properly, they can become huge eye-sores!  But, who says a bookshelf has to be completely functional?! They can be pretty + functional with a little TLC :)  For months, my mom had been asking me to declutter her built in bookshelves {and for months, I have been begging her to give them a face lift by painting them a cream color, but she is not ready for a drastic change like that so, I will take what I can get! :) }. Little did she know, this "small" project of re-doing her bookshelves would turn into completely updating her house! Oops! She of all people should know that if you give me an inch, I will take a mile :) But, I will post all of the details on that transformation later!  For now, I will leave you with some simple steps and pointers on how to declutter and stage a bookshelf!

1. Take everything off of the bookshelf.

       Take off everything from you bookshelf and make 3 piles: keep, throw away and give away. Going from completely cluttered to absolutely nothing is a huge difference! It may be tempting to leave the bookshelf completely empty once everything is gone :) but, hang in there! It will look great in no time!

2. "Shop" your house.

       Take a look around your house for any picture frames or nick-nacks that you like and think may look good displayed on your bookshelf. You may have seen this concept on pinterest or other blogs but it is such a great way to incorporate items you already have and give them a fresh spin just by putting them in a different room! Plus, it can save you a lot of money!

3. Take the paper spines off of your books.

      The difference is amazing! Books are so much prettier without the ugly covers on them which will make your bookshelves look less cluttered and more put together.

4. Vary the arrangement of your books but be careful not to put too many books back on the shelf.

5.  Add some greenery and fun picture frames.

6. Paint or wallpaper the back of the bookshelf.

        I had suggested this idea to my mom and she considered it, but didn't want to go that extra mile {I guess I had taken too many extra miles already ;) }.  But this is an excellent way to create some depth and contrast for your bookshelves.  AND if you are too cautious to take a leap of faith and paint or wall paper them, you can cover foam board or cardboard with fabric or wrapping paper for a less permanent update!  Check out this blog post here on painting bookshelf backgrounds.



Enjoy!

Sarah