How to style a shelf without filling it

A shelf looks crowded long before it is full. These five rules are the ones stylists return to, and none of them needs anything you do not already own.

1. Start by taking everything off

It is much easier to build an arrangement than to edit one. Clear the shelf, wipe it down and bring things back one at a time. Whatever has not earned a place by the end goes somewhere else.

2. Work in odd numbers

Groups of three or five read as a composition; pairs read as a pair. A vase, a short stack of books and a small object is a complete group. So is a single large piece with nothing beside it.

3. Vary the height, repeat the material

Put something tall next to something low so the eye has a line to follow. Then hold the group together by repeating one thing: a colour, a finish, or a material such as pale ceramic or dark metal. Variety in height with consistency in material is what makes a shelf look deliberate.

4. Lay some books flat

A horizontal stack of three or four books breaks up a row of spines and makes a plinth for a smaller object. Bookends let you stop a row wherever you like, which is how you create the empty space in rule five.

5. Leave a third of it empty

Empty shelf is not wasted shelf. As a rough guide, aim for about one third of each shelf to be clear. The pieces you keep will look more considered, and you will have somewhere to put the next thing you find.

A quick test

Step back to the doorway and half-close your eyes. If you see two or three clear shapes, you are finished. If you see a band of clutter, take one thing away from each group and look again.