What will be on the bookcase shelves? If it is all books, you may not see much of the inside, but if you are showcasing objects, you could paint the inside a contrasting color or use paper or fabric. The deco mags are full of this. I go to the bookstore and read them all. (And buy very few!)

Yes, people do this very often. Unless it is jampacked with books, its a very nice look IMHO. We had bookcases painted chocolate brown. We changed it to grey green. It all depends on what you are putting in them and the rest of the room. I don't think it is necessarily casual or formal.

Although I have had push-back on this from clients, I encourage it. It gives depth & personality as well as shows over objects...especially if the shelves are glass & the bookcases are lighted. If not, lighter colors do better.

~Jeana

I have built ins around my fireplace and once I decide on wall color - the inside of the shelves will definately be painted or wall papered. I have been seeing this in alot of magazines and decorator books. Why not get some tissue paper or colored paper and set it there temporarily - just too see if you like it..THat's my plan

I would love to get the back part mirrored but I don't have glass shelves so it doesn't seem worth the expense

My neighbor has wallpaper on the back of her white bookcases and I just love it. The wall paper complements the wall color in the rest of the room.

I love the look and would paint mine in a heart beat - but - mine have those gawdawful metal standards. They are great for the infinite adjustments, but u-g-l-y and paint isn't going to change that!

Itltrot, we have a similar setup in the living room looking into the dining room. I've thought about painting the back of the bookcases, but the shelves are fixed and I hate painting so I doubt it'll ever happen. Not loving the color those bloggers chose.

I painted the back of my bookcases the same color as the wall. I was afraid the wall would be too stark if it were all white and I think the wall color softens it a bit. I got the idea from a photo I saw here - I think it was a new build, but I didn't bookmark it.

I didn't have it in my old house but am planning on doing exactly this in my new one! I think it looks best when the color is on the "softer" side.

I did in our last house. The library was smallish to begin with, and three sides of the room were lined with cabinets on bottom and bookshelves on top. The wall color was BM golden straw and the inside of the shelves was a custom Chinese red. It was a fabulous look, I think you'd be happy with it.

Our den has a lot of dark wood, including bookshelves. I do not want to paint over the stained wood, but I need a way for my accessories to not get lost in those dark bookshelves (the accessories are dark blue.) So I am planning on doing something to the back walls of the bookcase, something that I can remove. Wallpaper maybe, need to figure out how to get it to stick to the wall and still be removable.

I think it looks really nice. I change my mind too much and couldn't bring myself to paint the actual wood so I painted posterboard and cut it to size.

This is an older pic. I've since done some rearranging to the shelves.
{{!gwi}}

I wanted to add that I just used painters tape on the back of the posterboard.

Before I made this change, everything blended into to the dark wood.

I did resize my photo but it looks huge.. I apologize.

For those of you who want to put a fake backing in so you don't ruin the wood (or wood look) and are wondering what you can use to attach it, you might want to try the 3M Command poster-hanging strips. I have had good luck with 3M Command products.

Sheesharee, that looks marvelous--- what a good idea!

Sheesharee great idea about the poster board thanks I am going to steal that idea on my antique QS oak piece!!!
I have a built-in china cab that i used removable wallpaper on, it was an easy changable solution too. Mine is probally more formal looking with the paper but it added a lot of depth to the piece. This is a old pic right after i did it it has since been filter out please pardon the clutter:).

Thank you!

I was thinking of other ways to attach posterboard to the back and you could even use that putty stuff. I bought mine from Lowes. That would probably work better than painters tape, ha. I'll admit a dab of hot glue in the corners also crossed my mind but it may not be a great idea. :)

Back to the putty stuff, my hutch doesn't have grooves for plates but I stand them up and use putty to attach them to the back. It works well.

If you're fearful of not liking it then go with Scarlett's idea of using paper or fabric. Fabric can be attached with starch and easily removed. Paper could be tacked up with double sided removable tape for easy removal.

Thank you all for your replies. Great ideas and options.
Annkathryn, the photo you posted is almost an exact replica of what I am dealing with on one wall of the room I am working on! There is a fireplace with built ins on either side - but too much white. I do love the look. Actually the paint color of that room is what I am trying to find for that room. I take it that you don't/wouldn't know the wall color. Please post it if you do.

Hi maisoui, I'll post the other end of the room below. The wall color is SW Restrained Gold and the cabinets are Linen White, which are the same colors I used in my kitchen. I used SW Ivoire in my hallway and SW Navajo White in the powder room, which you can sort of see through the FR door. All those colors are on the same color strip. The SW link below looks very beige on my monitor.

Here is a link that might be useful: SW Restrained Gold

sheesharee -- did you find that the poster board warped at all from the moisture when you painted it?

Sashamommy - Good point. It did a little bit. When it was completely dry I carefully rolled it the opposite direction and that fixed it. After a quick look at mine, some of the corner edges aren't attached with the tape anymore. I think if you used something stronger, like the putty, it would be good. Another thing with the posterboard, you have to be careful not to put a bunch of bends/dents in it.

I am planning on painting an old china cabinet and want to do something to the inside back like discussed here.
I am making the china cab a glossy black. I am thinking of silver fabric on some sort of panels that I can push into place.
I absolutely love the deep color on the back of the white built ins that were in the blogger's photos so now I have to find something else to work on to get a similar effect. I love how it makes the white whiter and the light objects positively pop.

I went to Staples and checked out the poster board, they are not big enough for my shelves. But they actually had a larger piece of foam core that would be big enough, and probably would not warp with painting. I think I might attach tiny knobs to the front to pull it out if I ever want to change it so I don't have to dig it out of the shelf with a butter knife and possibly ruin it. Then I could just paint over it with a different color and re-use.

I haven't painted, but I have used fabric covered foam core. If it's cut correctly, it doesn't need any sort of stickum on the back. Pressure alone holds it very well.

Here's a picture (albeit bad) of a hutch top I turned into a book/display case by framing it out and putting fabric in the back to cover the mirrors. I had to duct tape foam core pieces together to make them large enough. Then I simply wrapped them with fabric that I taped on the back and shoved them in there.

Nice tip! I'll give it a try ;)

Yes! Go for it - I'm about to do it in my new studio - thinking of doing a bold color. Got some ideas from Houzz on how to make it look just right!

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/quick-fix-update-bookshelves-with-a-coat-of-color-stsetivw-vs~154542-Fix--Update-Bookshelves-With-a-Coat-of-Color