UK Edition
How to win Instagram with the perfect 'shelfie'
If any word sums up the spirit of our age, it’s ‘selfie’. Each day, almost 100 million selfies are taken, and we spend an hour a week snapping or editing them. But we’re not just focusing on our faces: we’re also photographing our food, and our possessions. Enter: the ‘shelfie’.
Where selfies are pictures of people themselves, shelfies are arguably an expression of self in so many different ways. And the phenomenon is on the rise. A search for the term on Instagram comes up with over a million hits. Whether it’s snapping books arranged by colour, beauty products in the bathroom or simply your favourite personal objects, the shelfie is here to stay.
People underestimate the impact that having favourite objects in sight can have on their happiness levels. Shelfies can be filled with beautiful pieces and sentimental trinkets you have collected over the years, and are a constant reminder of great memories and new good times in the making. Here are some tips to help you create yours.
Create some drama
A colour-organised shelfie is simple to do (see picture, above). Neutral backgrounds give you an easy palette to work with, but you may want to give your shelfie a different mood. A built-in bookcase lends itself to being painted a different colour at the back of each shelf, or you could use wallpaper or wrapping paper. Here, an eclectic collection of blue objects is set off beautifully against yellow shelves.
Function and form
Your living space is where you spend the most time, so the shelving you have there, and how you arrange it, is crucial. Aim for functionality and flexibility – chances are you’ll be sharing your living space with someone else, so it has to cover a wide range of needs and house a multitude of objects. A modular system such as this String unit (below)) enables you to allocate specific spaces to different people.
Zen Zone
Whether they’re bedside tables or floating shelves, the spaces next to your bed can be a little bit of shelfie heaven; a water jug and a pile of books makes for a simple and functional arrangement. Here, a leaning ladder-style shelving unit injects order and serenity, with ample space for bedside essentials, oxygenating plants, beautiful bowls and storage baskets.
All made up
Don’t forget your bathroom: beauty products come in pretty packaging, so put them on display. This beauty shelfie is colour-themed and aesthetically pleasing (it contains beautiful objects, such as the brass jug and brush pot, as well as beauty products). Examine the shelves, and you’ll see that it speaks volumes about the person who put it together.
Style your kitchen
Every type of shelving has a part to play in the kitchen, whether to keep things out of sight or to parade them for all the world to see. ‘Zoning’ helps to keep function at the forefront of the shelfie’s purpose. This wooden shelf, floating above the countertop and close to the hob, keeps cups, ground coffee and a milk jug within grabbing distance of the kettle and cafetière.
Child's play
There’s no doubt about it: kids accumulate a lot of stuff, so when you’re looking to organise their spaces, good shelving counts. The right units can motivate them to put their toys away, help them maximise their space, and look stylish in the process. This round hanging shelf turns a storage solution into a plaything, for creating ‘scenes’ with toys.
Achieve balance
Traditional interiors tend to be symmetrical, as we are instinctively comforted by a sense of order, but for shelfie art, asymmetrical balance is less contrived and lends a feeling of dynamism. A successful shelfie includes objects of different shapes, heights and textures, with something, maybe colour or material, to unite them. A ‘hero’ object, such as the artwork here, acts as a focal point.
Work it
A workspace is a valued addition to the modern home, and it needs effective shelf solutions to be functional. But they also offer the chance to produce a stylish, shelfieable space. Often, the little bits and pieces are hard to organise without your desk area seeming cluttered. This Vitra unit (below) turns stationery storage into a work of art.
‘Shelfie: Clutter-Clearing Ideas for Stylish Shelf Art’ by Martha Roberts (Mitchell Beazley, £12.99), is out now