Styling Kids Bookshelves

styling kids bookshelves with colors

We recently moved Lizzie into her new big kid room to make room for Maggie. We had to de-convert the ensuite bathroom to make a designated room without a bathroom for Lizzie. And with the small construction job we needed to add a closet to the room. We decided to go with a California Closet for the room.

The customization and high-quality finishes were something we valued. While we gained a ton a closet space for her room, we also gained bookshelves. The entire space was built to grow with Lizzie and change and she gets older. For now, though I need to style the book shelves in an age-appropriate way.

It’s taken me months to style her bookshelves. I like to try out a lot of different options and collect small pieces over time to create a cohesive look. I also want the items to be personal and have meaning for Lizzie. While I love buying things at Target or Home Goods, I also want to use things we have, that she loves. It was a bit of a challenge to create her book shelves, but I put a plan together and the finished product it adorable.

Styling Kids Bookshelves – Pick A Theme

styling kids bookshelves with storage items and toys

I’m a planner, I have a spreadsheet for everything, so naturally I had to come up with a good plan for the kids bookshelves. The easiest piece to pick out is the color scheme, that creates a base for all the jollifiers I will place on the shelves. For Lizzie I went with gold and purple, she loves purple and I thought gold was a good color to grow into. Her nursery was silver based and I wanted to switch it up.

In terms of a theme, I didn’t stick to one concept. I wanted the items on the shelves to be kid focused and have an imaginative aspect to it. In addition I wanted the items to represent her personality and things she loves to do.

I listed out all the things that Lizzie loves, which include;

Reading
Unicorns
Traveling
Stuffed Animals

And then I married that list with a list of things I needed such as;

Storage
Easy Access to daily items like creams, hair tools
Kleenex
Clean aesthetic

I then gathered a few things I had around the house and filled in the rest by finding things online. There was a ton of trial and error in putting this together and it was fun creating it.

Tips For Styling Kids Bookshelves

Styling kids bookshelves can seem pretty overwhelming whether you have a vision or not and if you have an eye for decorating or not. Here are a few tips that will help you get started to and create a styled bookshelf perfect for you.

Pick a theme and color that are within your reach. If you like muted colors go with it. This isn’t the time to pick a whole new color to add to your house.
Have at least one personalized item on the shelf with your kids name on it. They will get a huge kick out of it.
Books are a must have, it’s a book shelf after all. You can display the book or use it as a stand to elevate other pieces to display.
Add family photos of your child with their grandparents or aunts and uncles.
Create different heights within each shelf. You don’t want everything to be the same height, alternating heights will give the shelves depth and character.
Let your child help pick out items. They don’t have to pick out everything, but having them pick out a couple things will give them a sense of being involved in making big decisions.