Thanks for posting this. We just re-worked our family room orientation and positioning of our patio door and some windows on our house plans. Your photos helped me visualize what we are trying to achieve. We're looking at adding a window on each side of our patio door that will be in our dining area. I like the looks of yours. Do you mind sharing the dimensions of the windows on each side of your door and those on each side of the fireplace? Thanks!

There are a lot of "it depends" answers given how open-ended your question is, and only you can set those parameters. It depends on what kind of tools you want to use, and how much you want to use each one. I could figure out a way to build a pretty solid bookshelf using only a circular saw and a drill because I hate using a table saw. But if, like many here, your table saw is like your third hand, then your options expand. In addition, do you want to be messing with glue and edging on plywood? Solid wood is far simpler. It depends on what kind of wood you like. Personally I have very strong taste in wood and would pick based on what I like of what's available - wander the aisles at the lumberyard. And some woods are stronger than others, so the decision about what wood to use is connected to your preferred construction method. Warning: some are also heavier! You are definitely looking at a substantial span there, and I too would worry about sag whether you use plywood or solid. The various bookshelves I have that aren't sagging (I didn't build them - and they're no where near your span) either have the shelves nailed to the backing (from behind - this is surprisingly effective even when the backing is only quarter-inch ply - or are at least 3/4 inch thick solid wood. If I have my physics right, foot-wide boards will be stiffer than narrower ones too. But by the way, I find narrower bookshelves far more useful; very few books need a foot of depth. But your dimensions are a bit questionable in more ways than one. This is going to be a honking big piece of furniture that I wouldn't be able to navigate into some of the rooms in my house, much less set up in them. It would solve both your sag issue and their mobility to make two smaller units instead of one big one. Even if it's perfect for you at the proposed size, moving it or selling it will be torture - think transportation. Make two narrower units and they'll fit in any hatchback. The piece you're proposing will only fit in a truck. But whatever size you make, if you stick with that height, make sure you devise a way of fastening your unit(s) to the wall. KarinL

@KitchenLady The biggest problem I had with the LED strips was that the adhesive sucks. They didn't stick AT ALL and kept falling down. I never got to find out if they were any good lighting wise. I ended up getting one of these for each shelf: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071DBM8N2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The pic's a little dark, sorry, but this was the only way I could get the whole light fixture in the frame. So I basically just clipped it to the short side of the shelf. I have 2 of these clip-on lights, one for my violets and one for my succulents. Both seem to light the lights a lot and the violets have actually flowered for the first time in a long time. I'd say these lights are pretty good, so far. Hope that helps! PS ignore that violet in the back. It's pissed about something unrelated to the lights.

That's great you have some help. I was thinking about your office today because I am working on mine and we have a few similarities as far as size and furniture - except I don't have all the great closet space you have! I think once you have the additional furniture in there you can play with where the desk should be. The good thing is you can shuffle it around as much as you need to until you find a look that feels right. If you don't already have some, you should pick up some of those sliders that you place under furniture to help move it around - they make it really easy for one person to move things around to try various configurations. I have several sets and they have been invaluable! In some rooms, we lived with those darn sliders under our furniture for weeks as we tried, lived with, and then changed up where certain pieces of furniture went.