Whenever I speak with designers about decor, trends, and styles that they feel are outdated, the floating shelf comes up a lot. With trends moving towards more characterful, personality-filled spaces, the very 2010s look of a floating shelf decorated with a stack of minimal frames and blah artwork, posed next to a carefully curated tower of books, does sound a bit tired.
However, I've noticed an increasing amount of ever-so-stylish kitchens that include floating shelves as a way to display crockery and decor, often instead of kitchen cabinets. Recently, I spied just the look in the kitchen of Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes, which offers a powerful counter-argument: this shelving idea isn't dead – it's simply where it's used and how it's styled that makes it feel relevant in 2025.
