Home Decorating Guide: Shelf Decorating

In addition to height, consider depth when decorating shelves. "Stand up trays, pretty plates and pieces of art to use as the backdrop for your arrangement — then work your way out from there," says author and home emporium owner Mary Carol Garrity.

After you've placed the largest, tallest items as anchors at the back of the shelf, "layer smaller, shorter objects in front of them," says designer Nancy Barsotti, ASID fellow. The resulting assemblage will invite viewers to linger a while, discovering new layers in the decorative diorama with each glance.