So you have things in your home that you love and want to show off, but you aren’t quite sure how to display them, or how to get that professional touch stylists and designers seem to get. Well, here’s how to get that perfect vignette when styling your shelves and bookcases. What’s a vignette, you ask? It’s a fancy word for an arrangement or grouping of objects.

Tell your story. The most important thing to remember when styling things like bookcases or shelves is that it should tell your story and be filled with things you love.

If you stick to choosing things you love, a certain theme should start to appear — even if your style is eclectic.

Work with varying textures. Just like your interior space, make sure you mix up the textures when you are styling a shelf. If you work with only the same textures, you’ll get a flat, dull-looking interior or vignette.

Work with negative space. You don’t need to fill every nook with things. Empty space allows the eye to rest and focus on the important things you want to show off. It also allows your arrangements to “breathe” and not look so cluttered.

Use the vertical wall space. If you are styling a shelf, console, bookcase or the like, work with the wall space behind it. This will help you get the height and vertical lines happening. Try affixing mirrors or artwork to the wall behind the vignette or grouping of objects. If you can’t attach them to the wall, just lean them against it.

Same, same but different. So you collect bottles, or glassware, or have a lot of the same item — that’s OK. Repetition is a little designer trick we like to use to get an overall effect and add impact. Style your objects together in groupings. Just remember the other tricks and tips when arranging them.

You will soon discover your own personal decorating style and just go with that. There really are no rules, just guidelines. It is your home, after all, and your shelf, so style it up.

Explore our pinterest board for more inspirations. Get more ideas for your projects and find functional, stylish and sizable lighting choices.