Bookshelves 101

Make sure your bookshelves are as interesting as the titles you've so carefully collected.

» From Southern Accents

Stephen Karlisch

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Beautiful Homes, Gracious Living, A Sense of Place

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Dressing Bookcases

Grand bookcases can be humbled by a bad arrangement, while humble ones become grand with thoughtful accessorizing. There is no one rule for dressing bookcases--each needs a custom treatment.

That said, designer Charlie Birdsong has a few guidelines for making sure your shelves have decorative, as well as literary, appeal.

Tip: Use a tapestry of textures. Incorporate ceramics and leather or wood and silver. Be sure that the small items aren't so small that you can't see them, and keep the presentation of a collection from being so scattershot that it makes no sense.

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