I have too many books to be able to do what you are advising your client but I totally agree with you that it does make a bookshelf look nicer. My bookcases are in the back room where we have our home office, hardly anyone who visits sees that room so I don't worry about the shelves. My living room is a different matter, where all rooms converge I have a small, narrow secretary. It's impossible to walk into my house without seeing this piece of furniture so I do place more importance on how the shelves look. You asked about books and I'm showing you shelves of DVDs but that shouldn't matter, same idea. I used to have all the shelves packed with DVDs but it looked boring and didn't do this little secretary justice. So I selected just the boxed sets and those that were part of collections and the rest went into albums. For fun I put my tea cups on the same shelf with my Jane Austen movies so there is a relation between them. I see now that there is merit to thinning out a *book* collection and putting some away in order to replace them with other loved items you have. I stop and look at the shelves now, never did that before. Bookshelves are more interesting to look at when there are other things on it than just books. And with more breathing room you see the individual books, there isn't that same feeling of packed in clutter. Only when there are too few books (and too few accessories) do I question why the person bothered to buy or build the bookshelf to begin with. p.s...since you're a designer, if you see anything wrong in the way I've arranged things by all means let me know and I'll move them around!

I agree with the posters who suggest you price out the bookselves with out outside source. I live in a Hovnanian Townhouse we bought new 3 years ago. We only spent 4K at their design center. We took mostly standards and changed them quickly after settlement, even the kitchen. For the same amount of money we would have spent with the builder, we did more. It has made our house unique umongst the rest of the cookie cutters. An example is the builder wanted 12K for HW floors on the 1st floor. We did our MBR, GBR and 1st floor including powder room for 9K.

More great ideas - thank you! Newhomebuilder, I'd love to see your updated shelves if you wouldn't mind posting pictures. I see what everyone is saying about using primarily books and adding little accents here and there and unmatted, smaller photos. I also like other suggestions to use some larger objects so it's not too cluttered or random. I've edited the shelves down a bit. All but one item in the police collection went in DH's office and my Bell glass jars found a nice place on my dining hutch where they seem to complement my green milk glass. I'm definitely not one to just buy home decor items just to fill up space so I won't rush out to buy anything all at once. Most of the ones I do have I found while antique shopping or they were handed down to me and new things aren't as appealing to me as old. For now, I'll leave most of the pictures up and replace them with more books as time goes on. I like the idea of using the matted framed pictures as a display on the wall (love ttodd's picture wall) or on pictures shelves down the hallway. Lord knows I go up and down that hallway several times a day since the laundry and kids' rooms are at the other end! I'll have plenty of opportunities to enjoy seeing them :-D

In our area, there are several annual book sales which take place over the summer which are organized for various charities. You can fill an entire bag of books for $5, as many as you can fit in the bag, if you go the last day of the sale. You could get many books for your end spaces if you have something similar in your area. I tilt my books and I also stack them laying down on some shelves to add interest. I do have some that are hidden but the books are mostly decorative anyway so it doesn't bother me (I do all my reading on a Kindle now where I can store hundreds of books)