Ina Garten’s 5-Step Method to Getting Gorgeously-Arranged Shelves Is So Simple

Your home should be an endless source of inspiration, filled with things you love and use (and love to use!). According to Ina Garten, working in a beautiful kitchen is paramount — and she’s picky about what items get the honor of being on display. In a recent Instagram post, Garten shared two spaces in her kitchen that are styled exactly to her liking and gave a few tips on how to curate an uncluttered display to make your kitchen feel like yours.

“I love working in a kitchen with beautiful things, but I hate anything that’s purely decorative,” Garten wrote in the caption of her post. “If you display dishes and trays that you actually use and love, your kitchen just feels alive.”

She said that she’s inspired by Axel Vervoordt, a Belgian antiques dealer, who has a library lined with gorgeous bookshelves filled with books that he’s actually read. “When you walk in, you just know it’s a library that someone loves,” Garten continued.

“If you’re setting up your own kitchen shelves, you can just move things around until you find the most pleasing arrangement!” she wrote. However, she was also kind enough to share the guidelines she likes to follow.

“Mix old and new. Choose a small color palette. Choose different shapes and heights to sit next to each other. A beautiful plate or platter leaning against the back wall of the shelves can give height to your arrangement. Mix it up with books that you love.”

For Garten, it’s her collection of well-loved cookbooks that she reaches for regularly.

And because the shelves are displaying items Garten uses all the time, they stay clean and clutter-free. There’s nothing worse than having to move five items out of the way just to grab one bowl — so there’s not a knickknack in sight!

Take a page from Garten’s book and improve the flow of your kitchen by displaying the things you love to use. The space will feel lighter and more like you, and will work better for you in the long run.