Bookshelves are easy to overlook at Christmas, but they’re often the biggest display space in a family room. With a few swaps, everyday shelves can feel as festive as the tree.
These eight ideas come from real homes decorated by bloggers. Each one shows what they did, why it works, and how to try it with things you probably already own.
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1. Turn Books Page Side Out and Swap in Holiday Pieces
Darleen of Darling Darleen usually styles her family room bookshelves with a coastal look. For Christmas she kept most of the items but swapped out the spring and summer pieces, and turned her books page side out for a clean white finish. Little paper Christmas houses and snow globes took the place of everyday accents.
Why it works: Page-side-out books quiet a busy shelf, so the holiday pieces stand out. She says most of what she used was leftover Christmas decor, and the project took her under an hour.
Try it: Pull any non-holiday decorations and replace them with one eye-catching holiday piece per shelf, like a small house, a reindeer figurine or a snow globe.
2. Group Bottle Brush Trees in Threes
Darleen also used extra bottle brush trees from her Christmas box. She groups them in threes in varying heights and places them on a stack of books or beside a photo, vase or figurine.
Why it works: Odd-numbered groups in different heights look natural, and bottle brush trees are budget friendly.
Try it: A mixed-size set like these 9 mini bottle brush trees gives you three groups of three to spread across several shelves.
3. Flip Books Around to Let One Color Pop
Katherine Budreau’s piano room bookshelves are blue, so she chose blue Christmas decor. Her books are usually color coded and facing forward, but for the holidays she flipped them all around to minimize the color backdrop, and she flips them back when the decorations come down.
Why it works: The neutral backdrop of flipped books lets pops of blue stand out. Most of her decor is simply ornaments dotted around at various heights and sizes.
Try it: Pick a Christmas color that matches your shelves or walls rather than fighting them. She added tree-shaped pieces at the back of the shelves for height.
4. Fill Bowls With Ornaments
Katherine calls this her favorite trick: put a bunch of ornaments in bowls. It looks great and is easy to put together.
Why it works: A bowl of ornaments fills a shelf with color and shine in seconds, and it holds ornaments you didn’t fit on the tree.
Try it: Darleen suggests the same idea: a cluster of solid glass ornaments in a bowl, clear vase or tray. Choose two or three shades so the bowl looks planned.
5. Use Red and White Against Dark Wood
Megan of Never Without Navy has a family room with little surface space other than the bookshelves, so they became the focal point. Because the wood is very dark, she knew white and red would stand out. She filled glass containers with ornaments and red and white candy, and made sure the books on display were only red and white.
Why it works: She finds that keeping shelves as monochromatic as possible usually works well. She also suggests not hesitating to “shelve” items that don’t fit, tucking them in cabinets for the season.
Try it: Instead of a wreath, she used pinecones, branches, white aspen trees and a collection of Christmas trees in different sizes and textures.
6. Display a Christmas Village on the Shelves
An Organized Season displayed a DIY Christmas village she made a few years ago on her bookshelves. White and gold houses spread across several shelves, mixed with white serving pieces.
Why it works: Spreading one collection across several shelves ties the whole bookcase together.
Try it: Space the houses out at different levels instead of lining them up on one shelf, and leave a few books in place so it still reads as a bookcase.
7. Fill a Thrifted Sleigh With Gold Ornaments
She found a small sleigh at a thrift store for just $1, spray-painted it white, and filled it with gold ornaments.
Why it works: A container shaped like something festive, like a sleigh, a basket or a tray, turns loose ornaments into a finished vignette.
Try it: Look for small sleighs, baskets or bowls at thrift stores, and give them a coat of paint to match your color scheme.
8. Wrap a Mirror Between Bookcases in Garland
In the farmhouse library at Sugar Maple Farmhouse, bookshelves Kevin built in 2023 flank a mirror. She used two pieces of larger garland and tucked in other elements to create a full look, then added simple ball ornaments in colors that coordinate with the tree, some fairy lights and a bow.
Why it works: The garland frames the space between the bookcases, so the shelves and mirror read as one festive wall.
Try it: Her tip is to buy oversized hair bows for decor, since they come with a clip attached and you don’t have to tie a perfect bow. Battery fairy lights such as this 6-pack with a timer can be tucked into garland without running cords.
Quick Tips for Christmas Bookshelves
- Clear off non-holiday items first and store them in cabinets or bins for the season.
- Neutralize the books by turning them page side out or spine in, or show only books in your Christmas colors.
- Stick to one or two colors for a calm, polished look.
- Add height with tree shapes at the back of the shelves.
- Use bowls, jars and trays to hold ornaments and small pieces together.
- Place fragile glass ornaments on higher shelves if you have small children or pets.
Start with one shelf, a bowl of ornaments or a group of three trees, and build from there. A few small changes are all it takes to make your bookshelves feel like Christmas.
