Entertainment Unit Decorating Ideas

When I get bored with my decor I usually hit Houzz or Pinterest to gather some inspiration before I start changing things up.  When it was time to rearrange the family room I moved the furniture around, but wasn't sure how to freshen up the bookshelf / entertainment unit.  Looking at other people's ideas helped me, so I thought I would share what I came up with.

I shared some tips for choosing items for shelves a few years ago here: Shelf Decor 101

This time I stuck with those rules, but wanted to go with a more symmetrical look.  Here is what I started with:

Not bad, but I just wanted a change. Over time I tend to accumulate things and add and add until the original vision is cluttered.  Sometimes I just need to take everything off and start over.

Here is how I rearranged things:

I used items I already had around the house and tried to pair things up by either using the same item on each side or the same scale on each side.

I moved dividers so that the shelves were the same height on both sides then anchored the unit by using the same black and white urn on both bottom shelves (I took them off my mantle).  On the next shelf I used two like-sized items, on the next shelf I used books and two different bookends.  The center shelves hold all my oversized books, pages facing out so they look the same color. 

The row of balls are just Christmas ornament mosaic balls with the hooks removed.

Finally, I started with one large piece of wall decor I took from the wall of my office and placed it in the center.  A TJ Maxx bowl in a bent plate stand in the center really shows up against the dark background.

I started arranging similar items out from the center in a symmetrical way.  It was lucky that I had an old family violin and he had an old family ukelele to showcase on top.  The urn and fake grass in a pot were a similar size so I put them on the ends.

I hope one of these photos gives you some inspiration for your next spruce up!

Shelf Decor 101

Now, I'm not an expert, but I do mess around with the decor in my own home quite a bit. I was sitting around looking at my stuff last week and felt smothered, stifled by all the stuff! I wanted some empty spaces, some clean lines (fewer objects to dust around) and realized the overstuffed decor on the shelves of my media unit was overwhelming!

I decided to remove everything and start over with a clean slate. Then replaced each item intentionally.



While deciding what to put back on and what to get rid of I tried to follow these rules:

* Scale - I tried to use items that filled up at least 2/3's of the shelf in height.
Lots of little items don't equal one large item. I had many smaller things bunched up on the shelves, reasoning that they equaled one big item. They didn't.

* Limit yourself - 3 items or less per shelf, but not every shelf! I counted grouped books as one item and because one shelf was long I grouped 4 small balls.

* Be unique - look at each shelf as an individual. If I had books on one shelf, I tried not to put books on the one beside it for example.

* Line 'em up - the balls lined up are just glass mosaic Christmas balls that I pulled the loop out of the top and turned upside down. Each red bowl is too small alone, but matched up they fit perfectly.



* Books - If you have books that don't match, pull of the dust covers! Or, turn them spine side in so the white pages create a contrast. The stack of books on the left is a random assortment of travel, art, and wine books that didn't match at all!

* Contrast - I tried to take away some of the dark items and replace them with lighter objects that would show up against the black shelves. Sometimes all I had to do was move items out to the edge of the shelf to be seen.

* Top it off - Treat an open top like a large shelf. This is the perfect spot for large items, like framed art, that won't fit anyplace else. Create dimension by pulling some items forward and letting others lean against the wall. Remember lots of heights - don't line things up like soldiers.



Don't forget to come back tomorrow to Teach me Stuff for Tutorial Tuesday!

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