If you own a home chances are you have one of these… a bookcase or shelves to display items on. Arranging a bookcase is actually an art form, which focuses on colors, balance and space.

Take a look at your display cases and shelves around your home do they look cluttered? Are they filled with items smaller than a softball, collectibles or knick knacks, if so you’re going to want to prepare your shelves for maximum visual impact with these home staging tips.
What do I mean by this? We want your shelves to have a purpose and display the lifestyle potential buyers will have in this home. Here’s what you need to do:
Take one room at a time and remove all items from the shelves, determine if any of these shelves can become a functional space, like a wine bar, coffee bar or desk. Then shop around your home and look to see if you can use items throughout your house to display on the shelves.
Next, if your bookcase’s paint is peeling, or the shelves need an update try painting the unit to make this a positive feature in the room. You can also add temporary wallpaper like this that is peel and stick or fabric and foam board on shelves backs to draw in the buyer’s eyes.
Ok if you have any paperback books you want to pack those away along with any book covers from hardbound spines. This way your books will provide a cleaner appearance on the shelf.
Determine what’s going back on the shelf based on your rooms theme, the design style (so is it contemporary or traditional) and the lifestyle your promoting, also pay close attention to the season your in when selling your home.
Experiment with the symmetry of the items your placing on the shelf. Create variety by playing with the visual height, weight, and texture of items being used. We don’t want everything to look the same.
For example, start with a large piece and work around that. Add something with movement on one side and something with visual weight on the other side. You also want to layer your decor to add varying heights. Stand back to look at the shelf and make sure its visual appealing.
When you’re working with more than one shelf in the same area look at the composition of the entire display case. Add a combination of books, decorative items, functional spaces and some empty spaces for the eye to rest.
The entire space should tell a story, look uncluttered and there should be balance between the items on the shelves. Try it out on your shelves and send us a picture on our Facebook Fan Page. Also if you have any questions or comments about how to decorate your shelves make sure to leave it in the comment box below. As wells go check out our website toritoth.com for more tips on how to stage your home for sale.