Jason and Kylie Kelce avoid the bookcase styling mistake that ruins a room – and their dove gray shelves redefine chic

It's often said that storage should double as a design feature in your living room, and nothing embodies this ideology like a bookshelf. Often, designers and celebrities alike turn to these shelves to introduce bolder colors (especially in neutral spaces) and display items that feel personal to them – but there's a key to getting it right.

Thankfully, Jason and Kylie Kelce have accidentally set the blueprint. In styling their dove gray living room bookshelves, they avoided a common mistake and left space between each object to allow their shelves to breathe. While there are some books (placed both vertically and horizontally), the shelves display decorative vases and ceramics that feel curated, but not overdone.

As a book lover, it's easy to fill your shelves with as many hardbacks as possible (trust me, I understand). However, the Kelce’s shelves remind us of just how impactful some space can be.

Overcrowding is one of the biggest bookshelf styling mistakes you can make, and it has an impact on your living room as a whole. So, when in doubt, return to this space as the perfect starting point.

Shop the Kelce-inspired bookshelf styling edit

Kylie's shelves make the case for a more minimalist display, but designers emphasize the importance of this decorating trick.

'The most common mistake people make when organizing their bookshelf is packing all of their books in without any space. A little bit of negative space makes them look better, about a quarter of the space on the shelf should be filled with other items,' comments Dan Mazzarini, the principal and creative director at BHDM.

To further improve your shelves, Dan recommends investing in a pair of stunning bookends, much like these from mango onyx pieces from Net-a-Porter.

'I recommend using beautiful bookends, ceramics, or other gifts you want to display to add some variety and dimension,' he says.

If the only option is to fill your shelves, he has a trick for that, too. 'If you have so many books that you have no choice but to fill your shelves, color coding them gives the best effect,' Dan suggests. It's a lot of work to color code, but the results are beautiful.