How To Style Bookshelves For A Coastal Farmhouse Look | See in this post how I decorated my bookshelves for the summer.

Looking for ideas on how to style bookshelves for a coastal farmhouse look? I know there’s not a whole lot of time left. Crazy huh? Has your summer flown by too? It’s kind of bittersweet to see summer end and fall begin to take over. There are several things I would love to hold on to from summer but, I’m also looking forward to crisp days and fall decor.

How I style my bookshelves

Decorating my bookshelves is something I have been enjoying. It makes an impact on our living room when changes occur. This summer, our built-in bookshelves have been home to quite a few of my favorite things.

The shelves can be adjusted or removed to accommodate different sized items in any given section. I’m going to highlight a few things on the shelves as I go along here.

I love the soft hues in the faux green hydrangeas that I have stuck in this little olive bucket that I picked up from Target’s dollar section.

This jar of shells is near and dear to my heart. Our family (as in my parents, sisters, and their families) have always vacationed together. We vacation in the same place that my parents took us as children. The first year we moved to south-central Virginia, we were not able to make the trip.

My sister purchased this beautiful jar, and my nieces and nephews filled it with a little sand, and all kinds of shells from the beach that week. We’re talking kids from two to thirteen. It was such a thoughtful thing for them to do, and it warms my heart and makes me smile every time I look at it.

I had a stash of sand stars I took and put in a vintage Kraft cheese box. I love how vibrant the shells look against the old wood. The writing and design on the box top it off.

Here’s a close up again of all those textures and colors with the aged grain of the wood.

This fern stands out beautifully in front of the white tobacco basket. Can ferns hang out with fall and winter decor? I love this look and would like to keep it around a while longer!

Blue oval bowl with glass with glass spheres sitting on bookshelves

Buoyant glass balls look lovely in this beautiful oval blue bowl. Isn’t that blue amazing?

Wooden beads nestled in front of this planter of faux grass adds a little warmth with the brown and tan hues.

The bookshelf on the opposite side holds our TV. You can see how I went about hiding it in this post. Above the TV, I have my favorite straw baskets for shelf storage. You can find the same ones at Amazon here. On the shelf above the baskets is a piece of driftwood I’ve had for years.

I picked the driftwood up off of a little island we used to frequent with friends for cookouts. We were always out boating together and would stop at this island and grill. It became our “tailgate” island and was quite lovely with a sandy beach where the kids could swim.

We never came across another soul there. Maybe, because wild pigs were on that little island, for that reason, we dubbed it “Pig Island” and often saw pig tracks in the sand. We never ventured too far inland.

Mismatching Bookshelves

One of my favorite things about my bookshelves is that the two sides don’t match. It adds unexpected interest to the room. I love hiding the TV when we’re entertaining and not using it.

How to style bookshelves for a coastal farmhouse look? This is how I did it this summer, and I hope this inspires you as you decorate your home.

This will probably be the last summer post I share for this season. I’m gearing up for fall and looking forward to sharing more on that with y’all.

What are your thoughts on summer coming to an end? Are you ready for fall?

Similar Posts

6 Comments

  1. I absolutely LOVE this! I didn’t know ‘coastal farmhouse’ was a common thing because I feel like people fall either one way or the other – but all of this is exactly what I want in my home!

    1. Kim at Serving Up Southern says:

      Thank you, Meredith! I’m not really sure how common it is, but I love both styles and decided that I could surely bring the two together. I’m a firm believer that our homes should be decorated with things we love creating a space we love to be in. I’m glad it brought you some inspiration.

  2. Love your bookshelf styling, especially the starfish in the vintage box… so pretty! My little place is evolving into a coastal/farmhouse/cottage style. I’ve followed you on Pinterest/IG… And I’m linking on Share Your Style. I appreciate that your blog is active and you are sharing posts, too! ;-) Look forward to getting to know you!

    1. Kim at Serving Up Southern says:

      Thank you, Julie! And thanks for following! I have followed you as well. It’s funny… I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to share any posts on SYS, but I noticed a couple of other cohosts did, so I went for it. ;) I look forward to getting to know you as well!

  3. Hi Kim, your mismatched bookshelves are styled so pretty and I love the vintage touches. I’m sharing your post on Tuesday Turn About this week.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *