What do you have on your shelves/ mantelpieces/ windowsills?

[parrotonmyshoulder]

We’re having a long (years) overdue sort out/ freshen up.
For many years, any shelves or windowsills have been a magnet for DC putting stuff down, like bits of lego, contents of school bags, books, lumps of blu tac etc. Periodically I clear them and announce that they’re not for just ‘putting stuff on’.
What I actually feel ready for is putting ‘nice things’ on these surfaces. Not too many. But some. However, I don’t have such ‘things’. We have lots of bookshelves full of books, so they’re taken care of.
What do you suggest? Mostly plants?
Photos of shelves or windowsills welcome! Thank you.

Fossils! Interesting stones, feathers and shells (in the hallway above the shoe rack.

Everywhere else - books, candles, photos, pictures, dried flied flowers in interesting vases/bottles, plants, some wooden standing jigsaw puzzle animals and at the moment lots of ivy and Christmas decorations.

This is my home office & where I sit to read etc. I have various bits & bobs on the shelves. I donated most of my books & now when I finish reading one I pass it on to someone else. I don’t want shelves of books piling up again. I would rather look at pretty things or pieces that mean something to me. @

Photos, random stones the DC collected when they were small, Disney and Harry Potter ornaments, Nendroids, candles and a pot of shells.
And dust. Lots of dust.

Read the kon Marie 'magic of tidying' books. They will help the whole family to have a place to put their stuff so you don't end up with shit everywhere (it really works)

The process also helps you to find what you really love and many people either discover that they had the lovely stuff already but it was just hidden, or discover what they really love. We now have a small selection of lovely things on mantelpiece, lots of beautiful plants and a few much loved, random things out (tanging from homemade stuff form when the kids were little to expensive and beautiful vases).

It's a weird kind of magic but it does really work.

Crystal, in all shapes, vases, bowls, large and small, every window sill is covered in the stuff, the sideboard is covered and full, the shelves are full, even the bubble bath is in a crystal decanter, there's a crystal bowl with talc and a puff also. I HATE IT. Don't get me wrong, individually it's nice, really good Waterford etc but it's everywhere. I'm stuck with it because it's my husbands and he won each piece at the sport he competes in, he's mid 50's now and winning this stuff since his late teens, just remembered there's more in both our parents houses. It all means something to him so it's stays but I will not clean it, that's his job. (The dog drinks out of a big Waterford Crystal bowl which does make me smile everyday).

Love the idea of dog drinking from the Waterford Crystal bowl!
Thanks for all the contributions on this thread. I like the variety. At the moment, it’s Christmas things and I’m eying up nice pots for plants. I have a lot of windows and I think houseplants would really work. I don’t tend to kill them either.
Ideally, the windowsills would be full of (real) cats, but that’s not happening for now.

At the moment I've swapped most of my things for Christmas decorations but normally I have pictures, candles, ornaments, fairy lights. My bookcase has mostly books that are hardback and looked after all tatty books are donated. Look on Pinterest for ideas on how to dress your shelves. Shelfies is a good word to search for.

Plants. Apart from the kitchen window sill which has plants & random crap.