Home Decorating Guide: Shelf Decorating

Don't relegate photos and art to walls only. Shelves are great display spots, too — and they make it a snap to regularly rotate new pieces into your home gallery. "I love framed art placed casually among books, or even hung or leaned in front of a group of books," designer Megan Samuels says. Other ideas: Hang diminutive pieces on the wall behind open shelves or tack them onto the back of closed shelves so they become part of the vignette.

You can also create a shelf display of nothing but art or photos: Rather than a precise arrangement, lean your collection casually on the shelves, overlapping edges and mixing frame sizes, shapes and styles to keep the eye's interest. "Juxtaposing ornate, antique frames with plainer frames works well" in this context, designer Nancy Barsotti, ASID fellow, says.