Today, I’m showing you how decorate the West Elm Parsons Tower in two different ways. One is in my own dining room the other is in my mom’s bedroom.

Bookcases can be a great feature in any room. They’re an opportunity to showcase your interests and personality through books, art and curated items from traveling. There are times can also run the risk of having them look cluttered and end up being the catch-all. I’ve received many of emails from readers asking about tips for styling a bookcase.

Since my Parsons Tower is in our dining room, I decided that it would be a place to showcase my Astier collection, artwork, and a much needed bar for our apartment. At first, I wasn’t sure about having a bar on a bookcase, but once I set it up I couldn’t believe how well it worked. With my tower I also used the top for displaying items. You can even see a roll of wallpaper on the top level – I’m hope to find a use for soon.

On to Parsons Tower in my mom’s bedroom. She wanted it to be minimal like the rest of her house. She has an amazing collection of books, blankets, and treasures she collected from traveling. As we started putting her tower together, we wanted to keep in the brown and white tones she has in her home. She also recently picked up photos from Bly that needed a place to live so we incorporated them into the Parsons Tower.

Now that you’ve seen our bookcases I want to give you a guide to styling your own:

1. Books: Mix it up – instead of going vertical, stack books horizontally. It will create a graphic feel and alternating stacks between vertical and horizontal can create a more relaxed.

2. Incorporating Art: Having framed artwork adds another element to your bookcase. They can be propped up on shelves or can be leaned to create a layered effect.

3.Vary Scale and Height: Rather than simply lining items up on a bookshelf try, to create small groupings that combine similar items in different sizes, colors and textures.

4. Creating Vignettes: When you are looking at your bookshelf create little moments with items – a bowl of treasures or necklaces, a grouping of vases, layering art, stacking books with a few items on top. Imagine if someone was taking a photo of that little grouping and if it would look good.

I hope you enjoy another installment of One item. Two spaces. I’m thrilled with the way each Parsons Tower turned out. It was such a pleasure working with West Elm on this project.

Photos of Caitlin Flemming’s home by Bess Friday 

Photos of Julie Goebel’s home by Caitlin Flemming