Pronounced: /eɪtɑːˈʒɛər/. Also called: open shelving unit, display tower, whatnot shelf. An étagère is a freestanding or wall-mounted piece of furniture made of open shelves, designed to display objects rather than hide them. Where a bookcase is built around storage and a sideboard around containment, an étagère is built around the air between its shelves. In organic modern interiors, it does the quiet work of giving a room vertical structure without closing it in. ## Origin & history The étagère emerged in mid-eighteenth century France, during the reign of Louis XV. French households of the period were collecting porcelain, small bronzes, books, and curiosities at a faster clip than their cabinets could hold, and a new piece of furniture arrived to display them. The word itself comes from the French étage, meaning a floor or tier, and the form was essentially a stack of shelves on slender legs. You can read more on the form's furniture history at Britannica. By the nineteenth century the étagère had crossed into English drawing rooms under the friendlier name "whatnot," referring to the catchall jumble of objects it tended to hold. Victorian versions grew taller, more ornamented, and often corner-shaped. The twentieth century stripped the form back down: brass and glass library towers in the 1970s, lacquered modular shelving in the 1980s, and in the last decade, the warm-wood and travertine étagères that anchor so many organic modern rooms. ## How it's used today In an organic modern home, the étagère earns its keep by carrying weight visually without adding bulk. A pair of slim étagères flanking a fireplace can do what a wall of millwork would do, with a fraction of the commitment. A single tall étagère can fill the awkward stretch of wall next to a doorway, or square off the corner of an open-plan living room. The piece works because it lets light and wall color move through it. It also pairs naturally with the rest of the organic modern furniture vocabulary. An étagère next to an armoire softens the armoire's mass. A low étagère over a plinth builds a quiet display moment in an entryway. And styled as an alternative to a gallery wall, an étagère gives art and objects somewhere to live in three dimensions rather than one. A word on scale. The most common mistake with étagères is buying one that's too short for the wall. A piece under six feet tall in a nine-foot room will read as a side table with ambitions. When in doubt, go taller and narrower than you think. ## How to style it - Style in odd numbers. Group objects on each shelf in ones, threes, or fives. Even pairs read as symmetrical and stiff. - Vary the heights within a shelf. A tall vessel, a stack of books laid flat, and a small sculpture is a more interesting trio than three objects of similar size. - Leave roughly a third of each shelf empty. Negative space is doing as much work as the objects. - Repeat one material across shelves. A thread of ceramic, brass, or bouclé running top to bottom holds the piece together. - Anchor the bottom shelf with weight. Stacked art books, a heavy stoneware bowl, or a covered basket gives the eye a place to land. - Mix horizontal and vertical books. Some upright, some stacked flat with an object on top. - Edit ruthlessly after styling. Style it, photograph it, remove a quarter of what you put on, and look again the next morning. ## Common variations ## FAQ What's the difference between an étagère and a bookcase? Where should I put an étagère? How tall should an étagère be? How do I keep my étagère from looking cluttered? Can I use an étagère in a small space?