After moving into my own apartment, I have faced many challenges trying to make my place look up to par with what I had in mind—it could be nothing less than chic and stylish. I also faced the challenge of living in a studio apartment; so every little thing that entered into my space had to somehow relate to another object or piece of furniture either by color, texture, style… you name it. I knew I wanted to include a bookshelf in my apartment, but realizing that I collected more magazines than actual books (yes, I’m that person) I had to figure out how I could make the shelves look appealing and fit with my space. Really awesome bookshelves are color coordinated by the color of the books, but since I lack in the book department, I had to get a little creative since a lot of magazines (at least that I collect) have white spines.

I am a Pinterest addict, and was inspired by so many pins that I knew exactly what I could do to make a bookshelf work in my studio apartment. Here are 4 different things that I learned through the process:

1. Color coordination is a must. If I actually owned millions of books I would totally color coordinate them, but since I own mostly magazines I’m not able to do that. Therefore, I had to substitute art/accent pieces to bring in pops of color that worked with one another…which brings me to number 2:

2. Including art/accent pieces is essential. You do not want the shelves looking cluttered. Stack some books and throw a cute fedora hat on top, or even a colorful pair of heels.

3. Not every shelf needs a book. I incorporated some picture frames and little findings that I had around my apartment. There are so many little things I own that I did not realize could actually work together until I placed them next to one another!

4. Add some interest by having some books standing and others lying down. This will add interest to each shelf, allowing each one to be unique.

I’m so happy with the outcome of my bookshelf! I’m pretty sure I’m going to be rearranging and adding different accents in there, but that’s just my craziness of always changing things. I hope this will inspire you to make your bookshelf, or any little shelf space for that matter, look awesome!