I have to respectfully disagree with the analogy of a book group discussion and someone asking for advice IRL. Book clubs are meant to encourage lively debate. If a friend showed me a picture IRL and said "I love this look - how would you go about creating it?" I would not give my opinion on the idea - she told me she loved it - what purpose does it serve for me to tell her I think it makes it look like she isn't a reader or that it looks contrived? I think it is far easier for people to voice opinions and disregard feelings when a question is posed online. THe OP expressed her own love for a certain look and a few other posters felt compelled to tell her the reasons it was a bad idea - why? I think it is unkind and unnecessary and represents a lack of concern for other people's POV. I often do things that are outside the box so I am used to people at least raising their eyebrows a bit at my choices at times - but I could care less. It just seemed obvious in the response from the OP that she was influenced by other people's opinions about her taste and it made her question herself. That bothered me.

loribee and Connie, thank you for the kind words. Connie, I just spent some lovely time on your blog, totally captivated by your new kittens and your roses. (I'm a new native gardening.) I love seeing what people have done with customizing other pieces but we're just not DIY folks at all. Hubby has ZERO interest and my abilities are limited. So mostly we either have to buy ready to go or pay someone to do things. One other reason to replace these is that I can then move some of them into my office which has shorter shelves and into hubby's office which also has shorter shelves. We need a lot of bookspace. les - no, the store won't come out here and it's not custom as in them building various sizes. Plus the store is an hour away. The fitting is pretty basic - I have 67" on one side of the fireplace and 73" on the other. All bookcases are 12" deep and there is 33" and 46" wide one to be used. So 12" + 46" = 58 with 9" left on one side and 15" left on the other because of course the fireplace isn't in the middle of the wall. :) Those gaps are too wide on either side of the fireplace to look decent and if I use these cases, I can't really make something to fit the small space and match. If I use the pine ones I have more widths to choose from, 24, 30, 36, 48 so I could do a 24 and 30 on one side and 30 and 30 on the other side which, when I add in the 12" depth for the cases from the other wall, gives me an inch to spare. But I need to figure out the heat registers and look at the case bottoms better today to see if we can cut the fronts for registers or mount them on bases of some kind. I tell you, I'm exhausted by all of this. Watching them demo the ceramic tile for the wood floor is going to be a piece of cake after this. :) The other think you might consider, and I dont know for sure what would be cheaper, would be to have the bookcases made of stain-grade plywood, or paint grade that you do in a deep black brown, or a white to match the fireplace. I spent another couple of hours looking at the various manufacturers on the stores website and found a couple of entertainment units that should work. I'll ask about them when we go today. Hubby is picky. We need something for the TV, no problem, but then the 4 components (DVD, TiVo, subwoofer and CD player) need a space that is open on both the front and the back. He won't use glass or cloth doors and wants an open back. (We'll just cut what we need from the back if it doesn't come open.) But like I said, I think there are a few pieces that would work and the handyman came by last night and said that he could do the bridge stuff I wanted. It's the heat registers to solve now. And can I just say again, thank you to all of you who read and comment and hold hands through this process? I don't have anyone local here to bounce this stuff around with so I really, really appreciate it.

Allison, good to know you also feel that way about the trim over the entertainment center. I will do a mock-up. I guess my one question would be, if I were to decorate the ledge above that white trim (the trim is the forward edge of a ledge that goes back about 3 feet and the full length of that wall) would it still be good to have it all one color? I don't know that I would decorate the ledge. I've been on the lookout for something to put up there but in almost 4 years, I haven't found anything yet. I just wonder because it defines a change in levels.

Thanks all. I guess I'm not quite ready yet, am I? Naturally, the 32" and 36" are in two different lines so I can't mix them, although I think one can be custom sized (or I could keep looking). If I do a custom size order, I can just go ahead and fill the wall. And...there are different depths. Would it be weird to have the one (ones?) in the middle be extra deep, breakfront style? I'd like the extra depth but I have a light switch to consider. :) It's very possible that they will be moved at some point. I've been told that I have a bad habit of rearranging furniture (and then telling the spouse to redo all the media hookups heh heh). Nosocc, I tried to make IKEA work for me. I really did! But it would have to be painted and I have too many unfinished projects. (I actually kinda enjoy the assembly part.) The wood species/colors on Billy just don't work with what we have. Psst, isn't that Billy and not Hemnes? See? I've been looking! The styling on Hemnes is too contemporary? Modern? Current? Pottery Barnish? Anyway, not neutral (like Billy) enough to slip in to my used furniture mix.