Styling These Bookshelves For a Modern Organic Look

You know how it is, when you take the Christmas decorations down, the house can feel a little empty. Well, in this case, the bookshelves were going to be empty.

And this homeowner wanted suggestions on how to fill them. :-)

My blog contains affiliate links. Any purchases, at no additional charge to you, render me a small percentage, are most appreciated and make this blog possible. :-)

This homeowner had moved to this home recently and had gotten rid of decor she had at her previous home. She wanted to start with something new and didn’t know what to put on the shelves on this modern fireplace / tv wall.

It looks like she has some tall space there between the shelves, so we don’t have to worry about height really. In fact, we will need some tall items to help fill the shelves.

Let’s start with a tall sculpture, one that would work well on the bottom shelf.

The dark finish will stand out nicely against the white back and the shape is definitely organic. At 23” high and 10” wide, it will have a substantial look in the bookcase. I love Arteriors for their quality products and high end design.

Next, let’s go for some books. I do love a nice large book stack and these two will fit in nicely here. I’m just picking all new here to give her ideas, she could go out and search for something similar in local thrift stores or consignment shops.

I do like the dark, warm color palette here though. (Click on the images below to get a link to the sources on the books.)

I always like a box or two on a bookshelf, sitting on top of books sometimes. These two decorative boxes have an interesting textural look with their woven horn material and fit the modern organic look we are going for.

Petrified wood on a stand is another go-to and will be something interesting on top of a book stack. At 12” high it will work well there.

Next, let’s look at the top shelf. It should be vertical elements that will be grouped together overlapping each other for a simpler look. Vases work well in this situation.

The face vase is very on trend now and has height and a color that works well with the fireplace tile. It’s called a “people pot” and is 17” high.

The bulbous gray sculpted vase has that modern organic style with its asymmetrical look.

The smaller sunburst metal vase finishes out the combination. It’s brass tone adds warmth and contrast with the two gray vases.

This bulbous warm toned glass vase fills in nicely and at 13.5” tall is a good size.

Lastly, I like some kind of vase on the fireplace mantel, beside the tv or even sitting on the hearth. These are tall but are small in diameter so they have room to sit on those surfaces. I like these brass tone vases, to contrast with the gray tile.

The tall one is 27”, same as the tall sculpture on the shelf. :-)

I kind of eyeballed the scale of these items in the bookcase, so the exact sizes might not be accurate, but they’re close. :-)

I love how it all looks together.

Need more bookshelf styling content? I have plenty to peruse, below.

This blogpost was thoughtfully written by me, Carla Aston, and not by AI, ghostwriters, or guest posters.