driftwood side-table- sophiashines

In my house, we have several partial height walls that have ledges at the top. Currently, I have all of mine bare because they are a challenge to decorate. I have seen many people use fake plants and collections of one thing or another but they always kind of look too much like a display shelf in a store or a contrived window display.

If I am going to put something on top of these partial height walls I want it to make a statement.. something simple, something easy to view from that angle, and something that wont look cluttery or messy. I am thinking one or two cool, somewhat bold pieces at separate ends of the ledge will do the trick.

Vintage Window- emilyhatch

I am thinking of trying some pieces in my living room that are classic, like a rustic step stool. I want to keep my decor in line with the other decor in the room so I am going to stick with rustic pieces but in sea-toned colors.  I was also thinking of getting an old chest and hoisting it up on my ledge space. Behind the chest an old window just leaning against the wall could start to create the rustic scene. (Of course, in California we have to think about earthquakes so don’t forget to properly secure heavy things).

sailor's chest- laczoart

Another item I was thinking would look cool up on the ledge space would be multiple stacks of colorful books at differing heights. The space could almost become a remnant of an old home library.

Vintage Tangerine Decorative book stack- thebotanicalbee

To add to this rustic travel and library concept, something that would be cool would be a short wooden ladder. I think all of these items are big enough to be seen from below and they all add to the whimsical nature I want to bring into the room. I will have to admit though, this ledge space is definitely a hard design problem, does anyone else have any ledge space decor ideas?

distressed green display ladder- antiquesurveyor