How to Style Farmhouse Shelves

Over the next couple months we are going to be revealing our office and guest room makeovers. Mike has built beautiful furniture pieces for both rooms and I can’t wait for you to see his creations. Along the way I’ll be sharing some of the smaller projects, like these farmhouse shelves, that help bring the rooms together.

These shelves  have been in my office for awhile, but as we were updating the room I realized they needed a decor refresh to fit our farmhouse style.

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Mike built these for very little money, less than $10 per shelf. I asked for the ledge so I could use them for gallery shelves and not have to use any holes for pictures.

This is how I styled the shelves when we first hung them up.

Then one day I had an *aha* moment and realized I simply needed to lighten up all of my decor and add some Fixer Upper style pieces. I tried to reuse what I could, which made the project pretty simple. Here are some ideas on how to style your farmhouse shelves.

Family Pictures

Family photos are really the best anchor piece for any shelving gallery. Gather pics of  your loved ones and get them into frames. In my case I had them but I didn’t love the black decor anymore, which led me to the next step.

White Accessories

White is the foundation of modern farmhouse decor. White siding, white shiplap, white dishes and white furniture.  I loved the picture frames I had and didn’t want to spend a ton of money on new ones so I decided to paint the frames white instead. I got this little jar of chalk paint at Michaels.

I took all of the pics out and lightly sanded the frames so that any gloss was removed from them.

Then I painted them. Here’s a tip. Paint the front of the frames. Yes, that’s the back of the frame I painted. Hey, nobody’s perfect. 🙂 Once they were dry, I lightly sanded them to make them look aged.

Letters

I’ve always loved my home sign so I just painted it with the same chalk paint and then distressed the letters to look older. Letters like these are always available at stores like Homegoods, Michael’s and Hobby Lobby.  These were just a couple dollars a piece. You could also use your family’s monogram. You can order a similar Home Sign here.

Vintage Style Clocks

My husband makes fun of my clock obsession but I can’t help myself! I didn’t dare paint the black clock, because I couldn’t remove the glass, so I found this cute new one at Hobby Lobby. Here’s a similar one from Amazon.

Galvanized Metal and Greenery

I found these great little galvanized tins at Hobby Lobby and added some faux greenery to them.  I love the look of distressed metal with foliage in it. (We have allergies in our family but by all means if you have a green thumb use real plants!) Amazon has a great selection of galvanized tins here.

Inspirational Signs

Fixer Upper fans know that Jo-Jo loves her inspirational signs. Most of these are also from Hobby Lobby. You could use printables as well, which would be cheaper.

Arranging the decorations is all about your personal taste. When it comes to symmetry we have a divided family. Some of us don’t love symmetry and some of us lose our minds if things are uneven. Whatever you love, go with it!

Here is the final result. I love how it turned out! The distressed white really gave it the farmhouse feel I was going for,  and all of the other pieces just helped add to it. Since my new desk is also chippy white, these decorations help bring the look  of the office together.

 

(I can’t believe all of my boys in the pics are now grown men! )

There are many other things you can add to farmhouse shelves. On Fixer Upper, Jo-Jo loves to use these shelves in kitchens with white dishes. In bathrooms she adds white towels and vintage apothecary items.  What would you add to your farmhouse shelves? Drop a comment below!

 

Check out all the gorgeous farmhouse style clocks I love here!