How To Make A Dark Shelf Unit Stand Out With Some Simple Styling Adjustments

Whether you inherited deeply hued built-ins from a previous tenant or homeowner, or you purchased your bookshelves in an era when dark colors were trending, you might, one day, get the urge to brighten them up a bit. Even just the changing of the seasons can inspire you to seek a lighter look. You can always spray paint the shelves for a fast and fabulous makeover with no sanding required, but that is a fairly high-effort commitment when you might want a more temporary fix. Decor whims and calendar months being what they are, those midnight shades might even become attractive once more in the time it takes to apply a second coat.

Simply finding a new way to decorate those bookshelves instead can change the functional piece of furniture's whole mood. When you can't quite lift the color itself, shifting or introducing a few key elements will go a long way toward making it seem like you did. And you can likely make some of these changes with things you already have around the house.

Spoiler alert: pale colors reflect light, which brightens up their surrounding areas. So introducing whites, creams, and ivories on down to more eye-catching colors will, of course, make your dark shelves appear a bit brighter. Although it can be divisive, color coordination is one of the most creative ways to decorate a bookshelf. You needn't necessarily launch into full rainbow mode, but you can consider arranging books all in the same lighter color family like orange or yellow all in a single row at eye level for some streamlined contrast.

If you can spare the space, objets d'art spaced here and there among those tomes also provide plenty of opportunities to shy away from the dark side. Something like a white stone bust could be quietly elegant or fun and kitschy in this case, depending on the rest of the room's personality. Mirrored finishes throw even more of that reflected light, so shiny objects in silver or gold finishes will likewise bring in some shine. You can also consider lining the back of the shelves with a more luminous contact paper or even temporary wallpaper so that any exposed surface area has a bit more of a glint.

If you are going to introduce reflective items to amplify whatever natural or lamp light you've got, keep those pieces as close to the outer edge of the shelves as you can while still maintaining aesthetic intentionality. Arrange something like a mirror any further back, and you won't reflect much more than the farthest, shaded recess of the shelf itself. The closer to light sources it's positioned, the more light it will be able to reflect.

You also don't want to make the cupboard look too bare. It might seem like a decent enough idea to leave some shelves empty, theoretically creating a bit of airiness via negative space, but in this case it'll just look like you never finished moving in. On the opposite end of the spectrum, don't crowd your shelves, either. Jam in a bunch of knick knacks, and you risk ending up with shelves that look too busy and still too dark. A slightly larger, light-colored piece will have a better effect than a bunch of smaller ones clustered together.