How a Simple Bookshelf Turned Into One of My Favorite Corners at Home

For the longest time, my bookshelf in the living room held only one thing: books. Rows and rows of them, packed tightly together without a single breath of space in between.

It wasn’t ugly, but it wasn’t inspiring either. Whenever guests visited, their eyes passed right over it, and even I sometimes forgot it was there unless I needed to pull out a cookbook or one of my daughters’ storybooks.

It wasn’t until one quiet morning, after I finished folding laundry and sat down with a cup of tea, that I realized something needed to change. The bookshelf felt like an overlooked corner.

And since our home carries so many soft white and cream tones, I knew the shelf had the potential to become a place of personality instead of just storage.

That same afternoon, while waiting in the car for Daniel to pick up the girls from their after-school club, I flipped through an issue of Bohemian Living Quarterly (Spring 2021 edition) – a magazine I had picked up on a whim at a thrift shop.

One of the articles was written by a designer named Marina Eloise, who shared her approach to arranging bookshelves in a relaxed boho style.

The moment I saw the photos, filled with woven textures, soft curves, earthy tones, and unexpected little treasures mixed among the books, it matched the atmosphere I had been building in our home for years without even realizing it.

Starting With What I Already Had

I pulled everything off including every book, every small object, every forgotten bookmark tucked among the pages. The empty shelves reminded me of freshly primed canvas.

The books, once removed from their tight formation, seemed softer than before.

There were classics Daniel had read in college, novels I carried through two moves, picture books worn from the girls’ little hands, and even a travel guide for Italy we bought long before parenthood changed our vacations.

Finding the Rhythm of Boho Style (And Why It Worked for Me)

What I loved most about Marina Eloise’s article was the way she described boho design: “A space that breathes freely, and invites curiosity without asking for permission.”

Boho style suits our home because it embraces ease with earthy colors, soft edges, natural textures, pieces that feel collected rather than purchased for a single purpose.

Our white-cream living room already has that quiet warmth, and the bookshelf felt like the perfect place to echo it. So I began grouping items in a way that felt balanced but not rigid:

Books stacked vertically and horizontally
A few cream-colored ceramics I already owned
The small woven basket the girls used to collect seashells
A trailing pothos plant that had outgrown its original spot near the kitchen window
A piece of driftwood we found at the beach two summers ago
A small framed photo from our trip to the mountains

Arranging the Bookshelves With Intention, Not Perfection

I arranged the shelves slowly over the course of a morning. Instead of stuffing every book back in, I started asking questions I had never asked before:

Does this shelf feel too heavy on one side?
Does the color of these book spines add warmth or distract from it?
Can I let a little empty space stay empty?

For the first time, I allowed softness into the design. A stack of books laid flat became a pedestal for a small ceramic bowl. A cluster of novels sat beside the woven basket, their muted colors blending gently into the cream tones around them.

The pothos plant, with its long vines, flowed down two shelves, giving the structure a sense of movement I didn’t know it needed.

The boho style taught me that a bookshelf doesn’t have to follow rules. It just needs balance.

Finally, I Finished My Project

By the afternoon, Daniel walked through the living room and paused, noticing the change immediately. “It feels lighter,” he said, brushing his hand over the woven basket. “Almost like the shelf is breathing for the first time.”

He was right. The bookshelf no longer looked like a rectangular block taking up visual space. Instead, it felt like a part of the room, blending naturally into our white-cream palette while quietly showcasing little pieces of our life.