Make Your Shelves Beautiful With Organised Clutter


How To Make Your Shelves Beautiful With Organised Clutter
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#home

We moved into our first home when I was 5 months pregnant with little A, so I never felt as if I had time to concentrate on making our house our own. We rushed the decorating before we moved in and I've never felt entirely happy with it. Now that A is 18 months and I feel as if we've exited the newborn period relatively unscathed, I've had time on my hands to think about how I want our house to look and have started to add personal touches here & there, starting with the living room.

How To Make Your Shelves Beautiful With Organised Clutter

After plenty of pinning and digging for inspiration, I finally decided to just do it and start by redesigning our shelves. Since we moved in, They've been a dump for DVDs, games and every other knick knack we didn't know what to do with (and some sort of breeding ground for bobby pins!) and eventually I hated looking at them (and it's kind of difficult not to as they're directly above our television). So, I completely emptied them, channeled my inner interior designer and you can see above the final product!

I'm really happy with how they've turned out and as a lover of organised mess (not to be confused with actual mess; one of Archie's favourite things), I think I've managed to hit the balance between 'just the right amount' and 'complete shambles' perfectly. I thought I'd share the items that I've collected over the years that make up our shelves and some tips on getting the final look just right.

How To Make Your Shelves Beautiful With Organised Clutter - Carpe Diem notebook and cement diamonds encased in glass dome with 'you fog my spectacles' print from Etsy UK
Glass Dome

HomeSense // £12.99
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I've wanted one of these for so long (though I had no idea what I was going to display in it), but they're usually so expensive, so when I discovered this one I snapped it up. HomeSense is amazing for quirky home decor for much cheaper prices than you'd find anywhere else.

'Carpe Diem' Journal

Amazon // £10.99
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I bought this notebook a little while ago just because I love collecting pretty things (and hoping they come in handy for the future). It's beautifully illustrated by Kate McDevitt, one of my favourite illustrators, and as I'll never bring myself to write in it, I don't mind it being shown off in our glass dome along with my..

Concrete Diamonds

Pasinga // £12.99
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After spying some gorgeous concrete diamonds via Instagram, I made it my personal mission to discover where they from and after alot of Googling, I finally found some I could purchase from the UK and I love them!

'You Fog My Spectacles' A3 Print

NerdyDirty
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I bought this print a year or two ago but since we moved in, there's been no place for it until now. I'm so glad I dug it out as it's adorable and adds so much character to our shelf. Unfortunately, it's no longer available to buy but was designed by NerdyDirty on Etsy.

How To Make Your Shelves Beautiful With Organised Clutter - Plants, Paperchase Postcards & Wooden Drawers How To Make Your Shelves Beautiful With Organised Clutter - Plants, Paperchase Postcards & Wooden Drawers
'May Your Home Be..' A5 Print

Forever Love
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This cute personalised print (our names and the date we moved in are at the bottom) was a beautiful housewarming gift from my friend, Hollie.

Typography Postcards

Paperchase // £0.60
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I'm addicted to Paperchase and always end up buying cute cards for no apparent reason whatsoever. All of the designs featured in this post are by Paperchase and are super cheap - they really brighten up a shelf (or any area, really).

Wooden Drawers

TK Maxx // £13.99
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When I first started to put my shelf together, it was looking a tad empty so I decided to head out and look for something to fill the space. I searched high & low in TK Maxx but couldn't find anything I particularly liked the look of until I stumbled across these drawers on the way out, and thankfully they look great (and provide storage for knick-knacks & bobby pins).

Plants/Pots

Homebase // various
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I've never kept plants before (besides flowers), but for some reason, I was certain I wanted to add some greenery to our shelves and I'm so happy that I did. I completely winged it at Homebase and came across these two indoor plants and they add so much life to the room and our shelf.

Purple Watering Can

HomeSense // £3.99
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As I intended to keep our plants alive, I had to find the perfect watering can to help do the job (I had no idea how annoying it is to water plants using a glass), and luckily I came across this one at HomeSense that's also pretty enough to sit on the shelf with them.

How To Make Your Shelves Beautiful With Organised Clutter - Morph Bookends, Design books such as Make Your Own Luck by Kate Moross & Framed Print How To Make Your Shelves Beautiful With Organised Clutter - Morph Bookends, Design books such as Make Your Own Luck by Kate Moross & Framed Print
Morph Bookends

Amazon // £49.99
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I've had these bookends for years now and I'm sure I bought them on offer online somewhere. I have a tonne of design books that I love and have had to keep hidden due to Archie's sticky mitts but I've been wanting to put them on display ever since we moved in so this was the perfect chance to be able to do so, using my favourite only bookends.

Design Books
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I've been a graphic designer professionally for around 4/5 years now, but I've loved design since I can remember! I've been collecting books for years and as they're generally too pretty to read (there is such a thing!), I love having them on display. A few of my favourites are Hyperactivitypography by Studio 3 and Make Your Own Luck by Kate Moross (an amazing designer & illustrator), both shown above.

Personalised Family Illustration

Gift
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This gorgeous illustration was given to me as a gift for Christmas last year by Mr J and it was drawn specifically for us. I'm not too sure where he managed to get it but if you're interested, drop me a comment below and I can find out for you.

How To Make Your Shelves Beautiful With Organised Clutter - Janod Rocket toy, Lullaby & Kisses Sweet poetry book and Daily Dishonesty by Lauren Hom How To Make Your Shelves Beautiful With Organised Clutter - Janod Rocket toy, Lullaby & Kisses Sweet poetry book and Daily Dishonesty by Lauren Hom
Other Bits & Bobs

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As you can probably tell, I'm a huge fan of books and reading, so here are another couple of books that I love. Daily Dishonesty is a book by a wonderful illustrator called Lauren Hom and is a collection of the project she undertook illustrating a lie every day for a year, check out the book here.

Lullaby & Kisses Sweet is actually one of A's books (of which I previously reviewed - Lullaby & Kisses Sweet Review) and it's just so cute that I deemed it shelf-worthy (I do let him read it if he wants to) along with his Janod Rocket - Janod make fantastic ecological toys that look good enough to eat display on your shelves!

Tips for styling your shelf..

1. Buy things you love

You don't have to buy everything all at once. Save money when you're out & about by keeping an eye out for cute, quirky buys that you love. Build up your collection and one day it'll come in handy.

2. View from all angles

Your shelves won't always just be looked at from the front; in fact, our shelves will generally be viewed from the right-hand side as that's the entrance to our house, so that's why I've added a few cute postcards (ie. the 'Hello You' one above) facing in that direction.

3. Rearrange, rearrange, rearrange

I can't tell you how many times I've moved things around and on & off our shelves before I finally loved the look of it. If you're not happy with the way something looks, have a play! Eventually you'll find a way of displaying them that you love, it takes time!

I hope you enjoyed my first proper home improvements post as if you're a regular reader, you'll notice Hello Archie has a had a bit of a design overhaul. We've taken the opposite approach to our shelves and gone slightly more minimal - I'd love to know what you think of the changes.

Did you know I'm a graphic designer too? If you're looking for help to brand your business or make your blog beautiful, check out my portfolio!
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