Or even better, books were the pages are glued together. - nosoccermom Oh yeah! Years ago Spouse and I stayed at the only hotel in a small market town in East Anglia in England. The ground floor of the hotel had a combination dining room-parlor-pub-lounge area, part of which had built-in bookcases filled with old leather bound books, the kind with fancy gilt on the spines. Being a huge reader and book lover, I was sipping my pint while scanning the shelves, and saw a book I wanted to examine further. When I removed it from the shelf, it was more like 2/3 of a book. The shelves were extremely shallow, so the hotel proprietors had cut down the books to fit the shelves! And by "cut down" I mean sawed off!

Oh, I enjoyed this thread! I have to add that the only room without books & bookcases is my bathroom & that's because it's too humid! The dining room I'd love to turn into a "library" but haven't managed to yet. Mine are sort of organized by topics within a bookcases. The two in the dining room hold all the field guides for birds, butterflies, wildflowers etc. Then there are two in the living room with (mostly) gardening. My bedroom has a row of shelves built specifically to hold paperbacks(double stacked)These are mostly beloved books that are read again and again. The breakfast room (who thought of a room just to eat breakfast in?) has two small shelves of series (mysteries)Oh and another shelf of cookbooks! The back bedroom holds all of my late mothers books-complete Agatha Christie & several other mystery series that I read occasionally. Then there are several miscellaneous (sp?) bookshelves scatteried where ever there is room-one of those tacky metal ones from college is in the hallway below where I hang my coats! Oh the livingroom has another one for dictionaries & other reference books. And after my mother passed away in 2005 I started a library at the facility where I work with mentally challenged adults-so I could clear space on the bookshelves (and I had a bad case of insomnia)Like most posters I can lay my hands on a book fairly quickly-of course some of them have been in the same place for 50 years so... Hope this is not too much information! I got a real laugh out of this as not all my close friends are readers & don't understand why I need all these books! Susan

I was also thinking you could take a couple of the matching book sets you have (like the one on the bottom shelf to the far right) and put them on the top with decroative book ends. That would give you more space on the shelves to spread things out and add some decorative elements. Below the bench I would look for some baskets to use for the small thin childrens books or storage of non-book items. Also note in the photo that I posted above that one shelf has the books laying down with a clock on top. This is a nice break to the eye and adds alot in interest to the shelves. Not every book has to sit up and down.

Start by removing everything, including what's behind the doors, giving the cabinet a good cleaning and inspection to see if it needs to be painted or repaired. Consider changing the hardware for a lighter, beachy look. Think about using luan or foam core to cut inserts for the back of the openings, so you can paint or paper them and change the vibe at will. Sort photos, decor and books into labeled boxes or categorized piles/stacks. Then reduce the items in the categories again, separating the sentimental items from the generic ones. Next, go to the sentimental categories and work through them. What is important about this item, was it a gift that means something, what is it that attaches you to the item, does it really need to be displayed or is it just a special keepsake? The items that you must keep, but don't need to look at or display daily, can be kept behind the doors. Work through the generic items in a similar way. For me, I would first decide how hard it is to keep the item clean. In my case, the topiary, the basket and the birdcage would have to go because they're intricate and are hard to clean dust-catchers. This may be a good time to analyze items in the rest of the home. Some may need to be used in this cabinet (or not.) Anyway, spring cleaning is good for the soul. When you put the cabinet back together use 1/3 books, 1/3 large decor and 1/3 open space. Don't line up items like soldiers, but layer them. Photos can be used but should be in different sizes so you can layer them for interest; trios of a large one behind two smaller ones is good. Don't put photo groupings on the same level of shelf, but mix them up, still keeping them low enough to be seen, and limit them to two or three groupings. Books can stand, lean or stack to support other decor items. You can wrap books in other paper to change their look. Decor should be large enough to be identified from the seating without having to approach the cabinet. Small photos will be better if put on tables in the room for closer inspection. Keep the top clear until you've staged the rest. One large item might be sufficient. You can also light the shelves with LEDs it you think that helps draw the eye to the shelves instead of the top.