I am not sure what you would do with the space under the stairs, to me it looks a bit odd. I think I would rather see it drywalled in.

I like the idea of the china cabinet in your library filled with figures. I agree dishes and glass wear wouldnt feel right. What about putting your books in there?

Let's see:

I vote to split the difference -- mix the figurines AND some of the books in both of the cabinets in the photos. Looks good and makes sense for both cabinets AND the rooms. You could try piling a few of the books on top of each cabinet and try a couple of figurines up there too.

Could SOME of the books be piled vertically on top of the new bookcases in the library? Add the odd bit of blue-and-white china up there too.

As for the Lost-Space-Under-the-Stairs -- just for NOW -- could you make odd piles of the books under there? (very eccentric .... LOL!)

How about asking your carpenter to fit that space with custom shelves for books OR how about creating some shelves and door(s) to stash extra china/serving pieces???

Thanks roseabbey and teacats. I love getting all sorts of ideas to get my mind churning. Eventually I will likely have a door made for under the stairs with storage behind but that will be $$$ I don't have to spend right now.

Putting books in the china cabinet is no good for me. The books I have left are books I need to use all the time and will be stored all together. When you have 10,000 books in the house, they are organized by categories so I can find what I need easily. And putting books on tops of the new cabinets in the library is worse because I'm only 5 feet tall, I already can't reach the highest shelf. :)

Once I get to the actual decorating part of the house there will be blue and white everywhere! I love my blue and white. :)

Just a thought -- IF the china cabinet in the office has never pleased you AND you need to have those books at hand -- perhaps you could put the ONE of the oak bookshelves in your office? Or maybe both?

And again -- JUST for NOW -- pile the books in that space Under-the-Stairs. :)

And yes -- I still vote for moving the china out of the second cabinet -- and placing the figurines in there! :)

Teacats, that was my plan, to put a bookcase in my office where the china cabinet is. (Not sure if it will be one of the oak ones or one of the ones to match the other bookcases in the room. I have to see which will hold more.) My bigger concern is if it would look funny to have those figurines in the library...if I'm being too cutesy? Your vote seems to be that it would be okay and that helps. haha

Right now all the leftover books are shoved under a chest and around the couch in the library. So they're out of the way for the moment. :)

If you are not able to hire someone to build a bookcase at the moment, see if you can find one of those stair step bookcases (maybe Hobby Lobby). I have seen them around.

If that doesn't suit you, just put a nice green plant under the stairs for now. Change it up with the season to flowers or dried things for the fall.

Or...
A small ottoman for extra seating elsewhere in the
house.

A small low table with magazines or knick knacks.

Tall candle sticks in various heights.

oh newhomebuilder, thanks for pointing out the obvious for me. A giant fern can go there. I normally have plants all over the house but a bunch of them died when they got blocked from care during the renovations. I have a perfect little bench for it to sit on.

Love the idea of candlesticks in theory but the dog would use them for a bowling alley. hahaha

Here's a nice looking wood step ladder for reaching the higher shelves in the new library!

((just teasing!!!!!! )))

LOL!!

Here is a link that might be useful: wood step ladder for the library

I've been downsizing books, nik-naks, clothing--just about everything, for several years now to make room for the things that I LOVE only!

I give things away but have had sales, too! What a wonderful feeling, a place for everything and everything in its place is my goal/vision.

It's an amazing thing to have space in closets/cupboards and on shelves.
Would this be an option? Just a thought.

That angled area under the stairs would be a perfect place for a built-in wine rack. They can be super easy to make, there's lots of online directions. Or have a friend make one for you! Something like in the link below, but fill the whole area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Under stair wine storage

I always thought this was a neat idea. Could be used for books - hidden storage.

oh teacats, you made me giggle. I used to think I really wanted a library ladder until I realized how impractical it would be for all the browsing I do.

catkin, thank you for your thoughts. I've downsized a lot in mylife, not always by choice, so I'm not at that point. My husband and I have been building our home up by filling it with the things we love, and the things we love to have around us.

nanny, yes, those are some useful looking shelves. Thank you for sharing.

Until you enclose the space under the stairs with doors, do you have oversized books that do not fit on shelves? I mean really oversized books:

For the figurines, honestly I think they need to be treated as an "art installation" or a statement piece instead of scattered around like a bunch of tchochkes. I would put them all together but in something simple like this CD case from IKEA (or if it takes more than one, ok) maybe, if there is room the could be inserted between bookcases or something.
{{!gwi}}

Is there enough room under the stairs to install a wine cooler and a wine rack for the wines you don�t want in the cooler?

Now I am going to ask a question, and it might sound mean, but it is really just meant to prompt more thinking. Do all those figurines really mean something to you, enough that they ALL have to be on display at the same time? If they do, that is great.

But I know that I collected Precious Moments for a long time, and only ones that were meaningful to me. Now, I only have a few out all the time, and others I rotate in and out depending on the season, etc. Sometimes I think we after a while we stop really seeing those kinds of collections, and they just stay around because, well, they have always been there.

I think your dog would love a bed there. Animals love spaces like that where they can look out.
Dee

Thank you, Palimpsest. I always appreciate your thoughts. I planned the library shelves to handle my oversized books so I think I'm good there. I'm leaning toward the plant under the stairs. I have a mirror that I don't like on the wall that I think would fit under there with a plant in front of it. Something to try at least.

As for the figurines, it was never my intention to scatter them and I don't plan on buying something else to put them in. I have two china cabinets. The figurines are all in one china cabinet in my office and I am thinking about moving them to another cabinet that's in the library. That's all. This is one of those weird areas that will make some people will roll their eyes. Oh well. :)

Dee, we tried her dog bed there before we put her toys there but she's so tall that she kept bumping her head. :) Plus that's not a room we hang out in so she wouldn't stay in there. She wants to be where we are.

Les, there might be enough room for a cooler but we had one of those and sold it. Just not important enough for us. There's another fridge in the garage that does just as well for the wine and we have an antique sideboard in the dining room that holds all the other booze and wine.

I appreciate the way you phrased the question of the figurines. Thank you. For me, yes, I love them all. I'm writer and a reader and that's what they are all. They make me smile when I look at them.

I almost didn't post the figurines question because I know those sorts of things are hot buttons for people. Oh well. Ultimately I will have the cabinet built for them in my office above the filing cabinet but that is a project for down the road when there is more money to spend. For now I was just contemplating moving them to get room for another bookcase.

If I don't put them in the library china cabinet then I have a china cabinet in the library that needs something in it because I'm not fond of the look of the china in there. And I've tried selling the cabinet but no takers and no, there is no where else in the house it can go. :)

I actually think that a collection that is meaningful should be embraced, and a dedicated shelf for them will be great. For things like this that are not all "fine" collectibles, I don't really agree with displaying them in rotation and having only a few out. These aren't competing pieces of elaborate Lladro High Porcelain, they are, in essence, mixed quality tchochkes that were not collected for their quality, but for their meaning. And for me, the "banality" for lack of a better word, of the individual piece is overcome by the volume or number of pieces. My wall of Keane prints would only be a piece of 60s kitsch if there were one print, and my collection of fairly generic danish modern candlesticks might not be worth keeping out if I had 6...but I have 6 Dozen, so they are all out, all the time. I actually think this is one of the instances where a collection is diminished is if is used as a decorative element mixed in with a group of things balanced by size and interspersed on bookshelves. (My least favorite statement about bookshelves is 1/3 books, 1/3 decorative objects and 1/3 space). I like 99 % books some things crammed in front of them, maybe, and 1% space to get my finger in for the book. This collection should be considered exactly what it is, a collection of a specific type of object, and if its display seems museum like rather than purely decorative,,,so be it.