Emma Raducanu Uses This Unique Storage System In Her Home

If anyone should be expected to have a trophy collection, it’s Emma Raducanu. The tennis professional (known as the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade in 1977) made a name for herself in the sporting world at the age of 21. With her success comes the inevitable trophies she’s picked up along the way.

Instead of storing her achievements behind closed doors, Raducanu has tapped into one of the most overused (yet controversial) living room storage ideas we can choose from – open shelving – transforming her space into a celebration of her life and accomplishments. In addition to the aforementioned trophies, Raducanu has decked out her shelves with photo frames, books, trinket boxes, and a fragrance diffuser that is sure to fill her room with scent, alongside the burning incense that is also spotted on her bottom shelf.

The upside to storage like Raducanu’s is also its biggest downside: These shelves leave everything open and exposed, meaning open-shelving mistakes are common. But with a little sorting and the confidence to incorporate some personal items (whether they’re trophies, photos, or mementos from our travels), we can replicate Raducanu’s storage in a way that’s uniquely our own. The secret to success, though, is in the curation, as storage expert (and marketing director at String Furniture) Bo Hellberg explains.

“The style of open shelving depends on your personal style. Some people prefer a mix, while others choose a more uniform look where everything fits together perfectly. Experiment with your style and don’t overload the shelves,” Hellberg advises.

As mentioned earlier, Hellberg recommends prioritizing objects that pay homage to our lives, as Raducanu demonstrates. “We believe that our shelves should reflect our personalities and display the objects that we have collected throughout our lives,” he says.

“When it comes to decorating my own shelves, I’ve found that choosing a few beautiful pieces to display can have the most decorative impact and be the most sentimental. Many forget that storage can be part of home decor, and that by displaying and decorating our items, we can combine function with decoration.”

Alternatively, we can bring a curated aesthetic to our living room by coordinating the colors of the items we display. “Coordinating different colors on your shelves is another easy and effortless way to make these pieces pop and tie a room together decoratively.”

Colorful house San Jose

(Photo credit: Vivian Johnson)

While popular (and inevitably celebrity-approved), open shelving has a controversial reputation. You might think that having everything on display can sometimes feel impractical, especially in a space as social as the living room. However, Hellberg says the result is worth the risk.

“One of the downsides people often mention when it comes to open shelving is clutter; however, if you make an effort to maintain some order, you can organize the items in your living room so that they look sleek and tidy,” he explains.

“The biggest advantage of open shelving is that everything is within sight, which means it’s easy to find what you’re looking for and you don’t waste time searching through overflowing drawers.”

For inspiration, we couldn’t do worse than follow Raducanu’s lead. We love how she’s combined both decorative and practical elements with her trophies, and we can do the same with the picks below. We’re particularly fond of the Rituals diffuser, which, while slightly different from Raducanu’s, promises to fill our room with a distinctive, but not overpowering, cotton blossom scent. It’s been tried (and loved) by our in-house tester, so we can invest with confidence.

One last thing to remember is that this look can also be replicated in smaller living rooms. However, it involves a slightly different technique than Raducanu’s.

“If you’re short on space, combine open shelving with storage furniture throughout your living room. This way, you can arrange your open shelving to add character to your living room,” says Hellberg. “Keeping your living room organized and clutter-free will help prevent the space from looking too cluttered, which is important if you’re short on space.”