I must say, watching the process from start to finish of our co-founder Lani’s bookshelf has been so rewarding. Lani had an idea in her mind of what she wanted for her space based on the inlay pattern she liked, previous images of bookshelves she loved, and the space she had to work with. That’s the amazing thing about creating a custom piece, the piece can be whatever you want it to be! 

Lani provided the team an initial reference image, decided on the pattern and colour that she wanted, provided the dimensions and once everything had been decided and agreed upon our team started to create her dream piece. Throughout the process they provided her some images so she could see how her piece was progressing. We absolutely loved watching the piece in progress and receiving the images.

Once the piece was completed and ready to ship the team packed it up and sent it on its way! We were all absolutely blown away with how beautiful the piece was when it arrived. Designing your own piece is actually really simple and we can help you throughout the entire process. We had the piece delivered to Lani’s house, and then Jess finished it off by styling it to Lani’s brief. 

Ask any stylist or designer, shelf styling or bookshelf styling is difficult!! You need a combination of different size objects, different textures, books, sometimes greenery and of course you need to be working to your given brief. There are many ways shelves can be styled and there are so many different looks you can go with. I tend to be one extreme or the other - I either go with a minimal considered look taking into account the client's personality and home aesthetic, or I go with the messy homely lived in look. 

When styling Lani’s inlay bookshelf, I pulled colour hues from her existing occasional chair which is a gorgeous green velvet, and she also has a recently renovated sage kitchen. For a home to look well styled and considered, it’s best to use varying tones of the same colour hue throughout the home. Lani has varying shades of green throughout her home and it looks stunning. 

For Lani’s bookshelf, I went with minimal styling and I created interest with different textures and objects. Books create a homely, lived in look and I used varying shades of green with the different vessels and objects on the shelf. I added the vintage glass flower vessel as the pink/purple tones offset the green really well and they are very popular right now!! I tend not to follow trends too closely, but I still like to add one or two pieces which are on trend. The spike vessel adds a lot of interest and the chosen vessels add the opportunity to add some hanging greenery if needed. The end result of this bookshelf is a minimally styled, considered look which Lani loves. 


If you are thinking about creating your own custom piece, or don’t know where to start, please reach out and we can get the process started together. I absolutely love working with customers in creating inlay pieces that are unique to them and their space.