Why not mount a black shelf right above the short bookcase that is the full width of what you need (adding the 12+ inches), then add vertical pieces of wide moulding or boards also painted black that would be attached to the outside of the shelf edge, and the edges of the short bookcase and taller bookcases on either side. You could run the cords for the lamps down behind the shelf by leaving a small notch in the horizontal shelf and the front black panels would hide the cords coming down.

les917, you continually amaze me with your responses and solutions. You have such vision! I especially like to read your advice in arranging furniture and accessories, as many times it is something so minor it doesn't even register with me until I read your suggestions and then think, well of course that's how it should be.

Thanks for that creative idea! You donÂt think putting something that appears "solid" in for a width of 6 inches (twice) will look too blocky? (If thatÂs the word I wantÂ). Interrupt the "flow" too much?

I had toyed with the idea of using molding to fill in but had not thought of how to attach it. Hanging it, effectively, from the shelf is a great idea. I donÂt really want to drill into the bookcases themselves in case we want to rearrange them in the future.

I am still hoping to find something like a 6 inch wide vertical CD shelf that will fit in there. I do hope to put a small CD player in the room too. I honestly donÂt have many CDs, but the small-sized niches would be useful too for the many small art objects I have, like pottery and glass paperweights: which are too small to display properly on the larger shelves. That would be my first choice if I can find such a thing in the right size.

Does anyone have an idea of how I could search for a component by size? I tried yesterday, on Google Shopping, using the words "wood CD shelf 6", but most of the 31,000+ hits were not the right kind of thing.

Is there some way to make a more targeted search? Plus many stores may have just what I want, without having the items online. Which stores would carry something like that?

Linnea, I am not sure where you would find a CD shelf that was only 6". I measured my cd cases, and they are almost 6 inches by themselves. Then you have to allow for the thickness of whatever material the unit is constructed with.

Why don't you mount a wall shelf above the lower bookcase, shift the bookcase to one side, and put in some other unit that is 11-12 inches wide, instead of trying to find something so narrow. It could be a wine rack or what about the Billy wall shelf turned vertically?

Have you considered using a medium brown cover panel from the Ikea kitchen section either to make something useful or to use as non-functional filler on either side of your short bookcase? I linked to the biggest panel, which is ~25x80 inches. The panels also come in smaller sizes. It is pretty easy to trim the panels to the desired size and adapt them to different uses.

Here is a link that might be useful: Look for medium brown in the drop-down box.

I was thinking wine as well...look at this one as an idea...if it could be cut into two, you could put one on either side of your short case, use a long shelf as Les suggested, and still be able to run a cord behind. If you like that idea, you might make the shelf deeper as well, to extend over the full length of the wine bottles and serve as a more generous serving surface?
The shelf might be made of a scrap from the granite yard, or a piece of butcher block aged and stained to resemble a winery table, and the wine racks and the wall behind them painted black, which would make them disappear, and disguise any slight differences in the width of the rack and the space?

Sorry...I got carried away!

Here is a link that might be useful: Skinny wine rack

I see what you mean by the actual width of a CD. I have a skinny one made out of cheap wood that is less than 6" wide, I guess I was thinking that most were that width. The cheapie has thin wooden slats to hold the cds. If I did use a couple of those it would take a lot of dressing up before it looked even halfway decent.
The Billy wall shelf WAS on my list of possibilities. Turned on itÂs side, though, at 13 ¾, itÂs an inch too wide. IÂm going on a field trip to Ikea tomorrow to look for other possibilities, and bring a sample shelf with me to check colors in other lines. I plan to stop at Hobby Lobby too.

bronwynsmom, please go ahead! Get carried away! Maybe by brainstorming with all of you IÂll come up with the perfect thing. If I could find a wine rack with solid shelves rather than slats that would be great. The slats make it too obvious that itÂs meant for wine. Given that the room is upstairs, I donÂt think weÂd ever want to store wine there. Gets a little too hot and sunny in the summer. We store our wine in the basement (when itÂs not being used up too quickly to be stored). But that gives me another search term I can use. Possibilities!

When I was redoing my kitchen a few years back I remember looking into a unit that would go horizontally underneath a cabinet that has small niches or cubbies. I think it was called a spice drawer unit. You could order it with or without drawers, or small wicker baskets. I dropped the idea then, because it was really expensive. Maybe I can find one again, without drawers, just shelves.

WHY does every project I start turn out to be so COMPLICATED?!? And itÂs always some stupid little thing that stalls it.

Have you thought about using an ikea filler panel cut down for a backer in the same wood tone and just separating the low bookcase from the high one by 6" on each side, mounting brackets on the outside of the bookshelves and then running glass shelves to span the space? Then for the top, go to a stoneyard and find a remnant and have a top cut to cover the top of the bookcase plus the spaces above the glass shelves. This would make it look more like a real sideboard and less like a short shelf. You could extend the top forward an inch or cut it flush with the bookcase for a more modern look (I'm not sure what you are going for here). You could even mount little lights to the underside to shine down and use it to display stuff. I just suggested glass because then it wouldn't be obvious that the shelves don't match. You could also use solid shelves maybe cut from the side panel if you wanted them to be solid. They would be thinner than a typical shelf but only spanning 6" it should be fine structurally.

Also have you considered reframing that print with a lot less mat for that small space?

I came back from Ikea. No luck! : (

Combed the whole store, even the "As-is" section. I did check out the kitchen section, and while there is a 12 inch wide wall cabinet, the colors there are not close enough to work. The Medium brown in Kitchens is not the same as Billy medium brown. Plus the Billy cases are shallower in depth.

I did score a floor sample big black leather ottoman in the "As-is" section, perfect condition, so it wasn't a wasted trip. If it doesn't look right in the library I'm sure I can find a place for it. Plus no trip to Ikea is wasted when you can have Swedish meatballs for lunch.

Also checked out Hobby Lobby, no dice there either. I'll be out of town for the weekend, I hope some inspiration will strike. My husband asked, "Shall I put all the books on the bookshelves while you're gone?" I think that was code for, "When will this be done?"

The print still has its original mat and frame, c. 1912. It belonged to my grandmother, and I believe it is by a local artist from Denmark where she was born. So I don"t want to re-mat or re-frame it. There is beautiful hand done "lining" with colored ink on the mat. The reason why I want this piece in the room is because it shows a woman reading quietly in front of a window. When I used to see it in my grandmother's house, and then in my parents", it always gave me a great sense of peace.

IÂm back from out of town, still no new ideas. Still stuck. I was hoping the answer would appear to me in a dream. Actually, I DID manage to have a decorating dream, but it was more along the lines of moving all my furniture outside. Hardly helpful.

Any more brainstorms, folks?

I thought of filling in with a decorative patinaed metal grate, but could not find anything like that, either. I see these beautiful verdigris metal pieces that are meant for wall décor, but I have not been able to find anything 6 inches wide, or close enough that I could frame it out in wood. (black or bronze would be great, too: "or any color", she says desperately, "it could always be painted.")

Besides Hobby Lobby, where I have seen the most of those things, where would I look for something like that? If I have to look online, what search terms? Surely not, "painted functionless metal grill thingy"...

I really DONÂT want to have to make up something completely from scratch. Adapt, yes. I have too many incomplete projects as it is.

What about buying a series of the decorative metal floor vent covers and attaching them to a basic wood frame? Those come in a variety of narrow widths and several lengths.

Just as an example, look at the register cover that is 4x14 in this link, and notice the real dimensions. Attaching that to a frame of wood from the back would easily create the 6" wide dimension you seek, and three of them would be about the right height placed end to end.

floor grille