You could see if you could get matching doors yet for the cabinetry and fill the space in with doors. Or you could do doors with wire or glass front if you can't get a matching style so they would coordinate.

I looked on Pinterest for ideas - every room seems to have either doors or baskets on shelves. I was wondering if there was anything else? I am OK with open shelves for game storage, but DH wants doors. I don't like the idea of doors because then stuff gets forgotten in there.

Will you be using the fireplace and is it wood-burning? You could store a lot of wood in that space. And it would be useful, too.

How about a good sound system? Add a shelf for audio components and storage for CDs/tapes/vinyl.

A couple of very large baskets to hold throws.

Or just a couple of very large baskets to fill up the space.

I'm kind of with your DH on the doors--I'd rather look at doors than the visual jumble of a bunch of game boxes. But maybe if you show him some pictures of games in neat, tidy bins, he'd see that open shelving can look okay? Although I have to admit I would not like to have to haul 5 games out of a bin to get to the one on the bottom.

Or maybe you can do the open shelving with the games, but put a low folding screen in front of them? Or position a chair or some other piece of furniture so that the view of the games is blocked from the rest of the room?

Camian - that's a great idea about the firewood. We tend to store it outside though, because of the bugs.

The sound system idea is also spot-on; we are thinking of replacing our current one to fit on a bookshelf, or use current system (on shelf in that cabinet space) with new wireless speakers. This room has been a real challenge. Our sectional doesn't work here; it only fits with the wallspace of the DR - so we put it there. The 12 x 13 formal LR is going to be the DR - and I have a separate thread open for lighting ideas. We have ordered a couch and chair for this room, and will use it as a library/reading room/game room/adult conversation area.

Thanks for the ideas!

Yeah... I would never store wood indoors. That is seriously asking for a bug problem!

I was also suggesting a place for wood storage as it would look so nice there. My parents in law store woods inside the whole winter and never had any bug problems.

Otherwise it can be a places for books as you said you are planning to make it a sitting/reading area.

I would store wood there. We store wood inside. We clean it well before we stack it in or out. No bug trouble, and no mud, slush, snow, trouble cuz the heat is available without going out.

But, a shelf would be nice, with a lot of books and maybe some decor to dress up the sound system set up (they are small these days so won't need an entire entertainment center shelf).

We are now in agreement on an open shelf in that lower area, with stereo above and games below (in baskets?). I'm thinking of painting the interior of the shelved area black.

We removed the wine storage insert, and will display CDs, tankards and our scotch collection up there. When our new furniture arrives this week, we'll decide on a color to paint the rear of the upper display area. It's coming together.

Update: We removed the insert, had new shelves made, painted, and are still debating how to store/hide games. Much better now than it was!

Honestly, I'd rather see your CDs and DVDs stored on the lower shelves. The bookcase is lovely and seeing rows and rows of plastic don't do it any justice. It could be made to be an interesting focal point but as it is now, the entire thing looks like one big unattractive storage unit. CDs and DVDs really shouldn't be 'displayable' items.

Very nice. Personally, I'd add doors of some kind because I would want to hide the contents, but they don't have to be the same as the existing doors. Maybe sliders, or something with a different insert other than wood?

Thanks for the input. It is a work in progress. The CD/DVD display ain't cute ;) but I love having easy access to CDs now (last house, they were scattered and hard to access). The DVDs will move as soon as we figure out storage in the DR-turned-tv room. I found a corner tv stand at Ikea, and am still looking for DVD storage that will look nice and be accessible for DD9.

This is the other view of the room.

I think if you put the CDs in pretty baskets, you would have easy access to them without having them on display. If you could find another place for the games, I'd still put them on the lower shelves and put something decorative and interesting on the upper shelves. With the games stacked on the lower shelves, to me, it emphasizes that doors are missing.

Interesting how we see things in different ways. The room as it is seems like a happy place to me - with things ready to go for good family times and with comfortable places to sit and read.

This is a decorating forum and I was just giving my decorating opinion. I don't recall the OP asking how to make the room a happy place.

k9arlene,

It was definitely not my intention to offend you, or even to disagree with you. I do not have a decorating gene - and therefore read the threads here in the hope of learning something. It struck me that I would have said the built-in looks very good as it now is, but you could see a way that it might be better.

As for my comment about it seeming like a happy place - the OP did write about her intended use for the space and it seemed to me that the space reflects that use well. So although my word choice may not have been the best I was responding to some of what the OP said.

I think you can tweak the room a little....Love your storage/bookcase/display units. Will all three fit on one wall? If the units will fit on one wall, you have the ideal place for your chair and lamp....flat against the wall. If the three units do not fit on one wall, put two together (you have a globe on the fireplace cabinet and probably don't need the standing one between the units) and move the units to the corner....put the lone one on the wall you have it but push it to the same corner. Will look like three units going around a corner. Otherwise, I think I would put your pretty figures chair on the left side of the display unit with the nice floor lamp behind it. How about a coffee table or ottoman to put your feet on. Love the colors in your room. As far as the shelves next to the fireplace, I do think doors on the bottom would make it more attractive and give it substance.

grandmaof3: Thanks! We have angled the chair because of the room dimensions/opening from kitchen, and because DH likes it that way. I'm pretty happy with the spaced out shelf units. They look a bit intimidating when lined up together; I think it might unbalance the room. The shelves worked well in our last house; we are determined to find a way to make them work here too :)

As to doors on the lower part of the built-in: hmmmmm.... still mulling over what would work. I am more into open shelves than doors, so I am inclined to leave it for now. I was thinking of painting the interior black to disguise the jumble of wire, etc., or maybe a screen type door rather than a solid...