Best White Bookshelves — 12 Smart, Minimalist and Editor-Approved Designs

White bookshelves are versatile, timeless, and essentially trend-proof. Find your perfect option now with our high-quality Livingetc edit

a group of white bookshelves on a colorful background
(Image credit: Article, Room and Board, Urban Outfitters, Crate and Barrel)

A great bookshelf is a lot of things — it's spacious, it's stylish, it both blends in and stands out, but above all, it's versatile. That's what makes a white bookshelves so great; they can really do it all, including the versatility and blending, thanks to their goes-with-everything color.

We here at Livingetc (well, specifically style editor Brigid Kennedy) have been on a quest to collate the very best bookshelves to buy right now, and, given our passion for minimalist colors, absolutely had to give a white bookshelf edit a try. We dug through hundreds of listings from some of the very best home decor websites and are pretty pleased with the end product: a highly shoppable, digestible, and variety-packed round-up of bookshelves that would please even the pickiest of decorators.

Take a peek below — you'll love what you see.

The Livingetc edit of the best white bookshelves

Livingetc knows design. We spend hours testing and comparing the latest products, bringing only our edit of the very best to you. Find out more about how we review.

How should I style a bookshelf?

When it's time to style your new bookshelf, Keira Schultz, owner and principal designer at KSDesigns LLC, has a few great starter tips. 'For timeless bookshelf styling, keep it simple and thoughtfully curated by using your favorite books along with ceramics, candles, and items that you cherish sprinkled in to create vignettes,' she told Livingetc.

Try also adding a 'few books upright followed by a couple of books lying flat with spines facing outward, then add a couple of objects playing with scale.' Keep things balanced by alternating the placement of 'stacked books between the sides and middle of the shelves.'  

Ultimately, 'a bookshelf styled with books and items that have meaning and bring joy are the ones that make a space feel personal while adding visual interest to a space,' Keira concluded.


Brigid Kennedy
Style Editor

Brigid Kennedy is a style editor at Livingetc.com, where she is responsible for obsessively combing the internet for the best and most stylish deals on home decor and more. She was previously a story editor at TheWeek.com, where she covered both U.S. politics and culture. She describes her design style as colorful and clean, and in her free time enjoys reading, watching movies, and curating impossibly niche playlists on Spotify. She lives in New York.