6 Tips for Beautifully Styled Shelves/Shelving Decor Round Up

If you follow me on Instagram, then you know that last week I appeared on Studio 5, a local lifestyle program which airs on our NBC affiliate, KSL 5. When the producer of the show contacted me, she asked me if I would be willing to share my tips for styling bookcases like a pro. I, of course, said "YES!". I have to admit, I was a nervous wreck leading up to the taping of the show. I have never loved being in front of the camera, and the thought of thousands of people watching me was terrifying! I am happy to report that it went pretty well. I still can't watch the segment without cringing a little, but I don't know if I'll ever be fully confidant in my abilities in front of the camera.

I want to give a huge shout out to Brooke Walker, the host of Studio 5, and the entire team at KSL and Studio 5. They were incredibly helpful, gracious and encouraging. They put my nerves at ease and made me feel so comfortable. Thank you to you all! It was so nice meeting you. I had so much fun on set!

Since the show only airs here in Utah, I have included the clip of my segment below.




To recap, here are my 6 Tips for Beautifully Styled Shelves:

1. Break up the Placement of Books - Place your books both vertically and horizontally throughout your shelving, to break up lines. You can also color coordinate your books to maintain a cohesive look or turn bindings inward to create a neutral palette.

2. Use Decorative Objects - Use decorative objects to create interest in your shelving landscape. Decorative objects can be anything from vases to boxes, sculptures to bookends and beyond. Again, choose a color palette for the pieces that works with the decor of the room the shelving is in.

3. Incorporate Personal Items - You want your space to feel like it belongs to you! Fill your bookshelves with items that have meaning, weather they be pictures of your family or pieces you have collected in your travels. Adding a little piece of you to your shelves will make them that much more beautiful!

4. Use Natural Elements - Bring the outdoors in with potted plants and flowers, or add some driftwood or geodes to your shelves. These natural elements enhance the landscape of your shelving by providing a piece of nature's beauty to look at.

5. Use Art - Placing pieces of art in your shelves is a great way to create a focal point. You can place the art inside the shelving or mount it on the face frame of the shelving.

6. Give your Shelves a Pop - Use paint or wallpaper to back your shelves and really make them stand out. You can go with a soft, subtle solid hue, with a dark, moody color or with a bright color and graphic pattern. Either way, using this tip will help your shelving truly shine!

I hope you have found the tips above helpful! To get you started on the road to beautiful, Pinterest worthy shelving, I have curated 16 Home Decor Items for Beautifully Styled Shelves. Oh, and since the Holidays are upon us, I'll mention that the items below also make fantastic gifts for the Home Decor Enthusiast in your life. :)

Click the corresponding number below for item source information.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16

Happy shelf styling, friends! 

Megan's (Honey We're Home) Nursery Design for the One Room Challenge

A few months ago, I received a super sweet email from my friend, the talented and beautiful Megan, who is the face behind the blog, Honey We're Home. Megan explained that she was taking part in the One Room Challenge and that the room she wanted to make over for the challenge was her son's toddler room. She explained that was expecting her second child and that she wanted to create a nursery for her new baby! I was thrilled for her, but even more thrilled that she requested that I help her design the nursery. I immediately said, "YES!" I don't have the opportunity to design nurseries very often, but I love creating special places babies and their families. It was a bonus to be working with a friend, who I have long respected and admired.

When Megan first contacted me, she was early in her pregnancy and did not know the gender of her baby. We knew that a few weeks before the One Room Challenge reveal, she would be able to find out if she was having a boy or a girl. We agreed that it would be best for me to design a gender neutral nursery to get the started and then make changes and tweaks to the design after Megan found out the gender. Megan had a very strong feeling she was going to have a girl, so even though I knew the Nursery design would be suitable for a boy or a girl, the design board leaned a bit more feminine.

If you are not familiar with the One Room Challenge, you can read more about it here, but in essence a group of Designers and Bloggers are asked to makeover a room of their choice in just 6 weeks. The participants are also given a list of wonderful sponsors, which they can choose to partner with for everything in their rooms from furniture to accessories and even paint. As a result, Megan sent me over a list of sponsors that had signed on and asked me to use as many products as possible in the design from those sponsors. As new sponsors were added, Megan and I could work on changing up the design a little, if needed.

Here is the initial design board that I came up with....

I was so glad when Megan let me know that she absolutely loved it!! 

Megan started by ordering the major pieces for the room. She had the room painted and had custom built ins made for the space. She told me from the beginning that the built ins would be part of the design, since she plans to eventually use the room as her office. 

A few short weeks later, Megan found out that she is indeed having a girl! Talk about Mother's intuition! We decided to tweak the design by eliminating some of the navy and adding more lavender in the space. Over the next few weeks we exchanged numerous text, phone calls and emails. I sent Megan over new options for art, lighting, rugs and pillows, which were all sourced from the ORC sponsors. The process was so smooth and seamless. Megan was a complete joy to work with and never failed to tell me how appreciative she was for my help. She did an incredible job pulling the space together...while in the throws of pregnancy, no less! I wish I could have been there with her to see the room come to life, but that wasn't possible because we live in different states! 

When Megan sent me a picture of the room the night before the One Room Challenge, I teared up when I saw it. Not only was it beautiful, but the thought of my friend, bringing her baby girl home to this new room, really pulled at my heartstrings. 

Here is the result of my collaboration with Megan. I think we made a pretty fabulous team!!

Photo Credit: Honey We're Home

Photo Credit: Honey We're Home

Photo Credit: Honey We're Home

You can see more of Megan's finished nursery and read more about her experience participating in the One Room challenge on her blog. 

A huge thanks to Megan for asking me to help design this special place in her home!! I can't wait to see a picture of her baby girl in her new nursery!

SHOP THIS ROOM

(You can shop this room and my design board by clicking on the product images below)

Sita Montgomery Interiors: My Home - Basement Makeover Reveal

Hello! I'm pleased to be sharing the recently completed make over of my basement family room with you today. If you've been keeping up with me here on the blog or on Instagram, you know that my husband and I have spent a good portion of the year making changes to our home. Making over the family room in my basement was on of those changes. When we moved into our home, we decided to limit our expenses by just putting some of our older furniture, from our previous home, in the basement. After all, this would be the space that our family would lounge and watch tv in and that our kids would play and entertain their friends in, and we didn't want to have to "worry" about the furniture. I used the furniture I had and added some other inexpensive pieces from Target and Homegoods to finish the space off. I even created my own DIY art for over the fireplace. :) 

The space looked good and functioned well, but as we started to make changes in other areas of our home, I felt the basement family room no longer felt cohesive with the rest of our home. My husband and I agreed that it was time to update the space. We also felt that since our children are now a bit older, we could safely invest in some quality pieces that we could keep for a long time. We sold or donated everything that was previously in the space, including our beloved sectional that we had for 13 years. 

My goals in designing the family room were simple:

1. Keep it comfortable

2. Keep it cohesive with the style of the rest of the house 

3. Make it function well for our family

I am happy to say that I feel the redesigned space delivers on all 3 fronts! Take a look...

The new neutral color palette helps keep the look and style of the basement family room cohesive with the rest of our home.

The new sectional and leather ottoman were key in keeping this space comfortable and kid friendly. 

2 new armchairs, placed adjacent to the main seating area, create the opportunity for extra seating.

The new ottoman from Bernhardt marries beauty and functionality with it's durable leather upholstery and sleek metal base.

The new rug is an indoor/outdoor rug, which makes it incredibly easy to clean, despite being a lighter color. 

The new abstract art pieces over the fireplace compliments the space perfectly.

As soon as I saw these Studio McGee pillows, I knew I would use them in my space.

Placing on the TV on the short wall provides it with the perfect spot for viewing, but allows it to be inconspicuous...which the designer in me loves! ;)

This sectional for Down to Earth home is ever bit as comfortable as it is beautiful!

My whole family loves how the basement family room looks and we continue to spend countless hours gathered in the space. I'll be sharing the full reveal of the basement kitchen later this week. I hope you will come back to check it out!

PS - If you would like to see what the basement looked like before, you can go here. 

SHOP THIS ROOM

(click on the images below)

15 Statement Making Light Fixtures

As promised, today I am back with a round up of some of my favorite statement making light fixtures. In my last post, I shared my philosophy on lighting in design. I truly believe that the light fixtures you choose for your space can either enhance it or take away from it. I encourage all my clients to leave ample room in their budgets for the right lighting. Over and over again I have seen the benefits of them doing so.

Since sourcing light fixtures can sometimes be difficult, I decided to do a round-up of 15 Statement Making Light Fixtures, which will surely help elevate the lighting and look in your home. Links to all the fixtures can be found at the bottom of the post. :)

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15

Sita Montgomery Interiors: My Home - Lighting Update

I'm back today to share another little change we have made to our home as part of our #smihomeupdates2015. If you have been following me on Instagram or are regular reader of blog, you have already seen many of the changes we have made to our home this year. A few weeks ago, I shared a little peak of my new island pendant light. Today I'm sharing pictures of all the new lighting fixtures we have added to the great room area of our home. 

I loved so many of the light fixtures the builder put in our home, but there were also a few I really didn't love. I had the builder switch a few of them out before we closed on the house, but as we started making changes to our home this year, I knew that I wanted to switch up the lighting to be more cohesive with the style the home had taken on with my designs. 

I truly believe that good lighting is one of the best investments you can make in your home. I always encourage my clients to leave plenty of room in their budgets for statement making lighting. I have never had a client regret doing so. The lighting changes I made in my home have really transformed the space. The great room feels much more cohesive now. Take a look.

 These gorgeous pendants are perfect in my kitchen. The picture does not do them justice! I also switched out my brushed nickel cabinet hardware for antique brass. This really helped bring the kitchen and the lighting together.

The fixture above my stairwell was replaced by this beautiful piece. I'm sure many of you are familiar  with this pendant light and have seen it many times before, but there is a reason it is so widely loved. It is a showstopper in every space I've ever seen it in, and hanging in my stairwell is no exception!

This 9 light chandelier from Hudson Valley has been on my radar since the first time I saw it. I knew it would be the perfect light for over my round dining table. Again, it is so much more gorgeous in person!

The new fixtures blend seamlessly with the pendant light that I already had in my entry. 

I am so pleased with how all the new lighting looks in my home. It truly has helped transform the look of my main floor. A huge thank you to Lighting Design, who helped me with selecting and ordering the new lighting for my kitchen. They were so helpful and professional. They also happen to have an incredible selection of lighting for every space in your home, that will also fit every budget. Lighting Design is a great resource for your lighting needs. You can go visit one of their showrooms or on the web at lightingdesign.com.

Later this week, I'll be sharing a round up of my favorite statement making lighting in a variety of finishes and price points, so be sure to check back. You won't want to miss it!