A good rule of thumb for decorating bookshelves is 1/3 books (wouldn't be a bookcase without a few), 1/3 other items, and 1/3 empty space.

Add some books, and remove the clear glass pieces as they just disappear into the background which makes the shelves look emptier than they are.

Are you decorating it for your own use, or are you staging it for sale? (I ask because most people use the word “stage” when they’re talking about getting their house ready to sell.) Depending on your answer, the help you will receive might be different. Do you have any books?

Tova- Are you selling this home? OR Is this styling of the bookcase for yourself?

Add plants- give it life w/ greenery (faux stems okay for vases)

Add books- if you want to fill shelf for Selling -neutral wrap books in same color brown paper or paper that emphasizes your accent color. Don't distract home buyers w/ titles of your interests of romance novels. Don't tempt thieves w/ rare copies of old books. Old textbooks/ encyclopedias- could be covered- work great in this way.

If staging for resale, keep some family photos, but remove any group family wedding pictures. Model homes do have some photos of people- children, & grandparents in bookshelves, hallways, on night stands & office desks, but they are kept to very very few.

read: https://threebearshomestaging.com/2017/06/22/how-to-stage-a-bookshelf/

Are you selling? If so, pick out the five dark colored things and arrange them symmetrically. Put everything else away. Then add three lush, live plants on the console top. Change them out when they start to fade. Don't use fake plants.

Junco- until we know the purpose for "staging" Resale? Personal?

if resale, neutral books are fine. You don't want to distract shoppers w/ book titles. No paperbacks -they show wear to easily & looks cheap! (Subliminal messaging to buyer) Any pics of vacation places- Hawaii- ok too. (message- you can afford this home & go on nice vacations too)

I disagree, why bother at all? A book is a book. Let it be itself. For staging, I would use real books and leave out the family pictures.

I think "keep, replace and change around" tells us that the home is not on the market. Group items in threes, keep decor pieces large enough to be identified from across the room. Keep family pix to two grouping of three on different shelf levels.

The built-in needs color, depth, different heights, and texture to add interest. I agree that the clear glass items are lost. I'd tuck those away. What are your accent colors for the room? Add pots w/ faux plant? If you add books, arrange them in groups by spine color or different stacks. Add depth by placing some larger items behind the others as below:

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Here's a good story with some great examples of nicely curated bookshelves.

[Tips for a Perfectly Decorated Bookshelf[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/13-tips-for-a-perfectly-decorated-bookshelf-stsetivw-vs~69281551)

If you want to keep your clear glass objects on display, consider
covering the back of the shelf with a darker color so they will pop.
You can paint or cover with paper.

And don't forget that you can post artwork to the shelf fronts so it suspends between shelves.

If you want the "look" of tova's last picture, you would be better off covering the back of your shelves with burlap and then displaying some angular/architectural items in front.

Stop hiding your books!!!!!

Ah, so you are not selling. In that case, buy some battery operated, motion-activated LED lights (5 for $20). Put them on the shelves with the glass items. They will light up when you walk by, showing off the glass.

Whoever “staged” the unit in k haus’s last photo should be shot. I just can’t abide that.

You can pick up beautiful colored glass from Home Goods these days that is not expensive at all. Mix that up with natural fibers as shown above and books............stuff you love.

Getting shelves right is one of the most difficult and tricky things to do - keep trying and send us pictures of your progress!

Instead of so many bottles/vases, do you have any wooden boxes (humidor, jewelry box) or nut cracker bowl or any small interesting small glass or wood puzzles/games?

Few things say "I don't like books" more than turning the spines inward and the pages out (where the paper will catch dust, dirt, and odors much more than if it were placed properly), so that we don't know if we are going for the poetry collection or the tome on bird anatomy. What an idiotic idea.

With a "bookshelf" the size of yours, it screams for a few books at least. I think the smaller examples, with no books, work due to their size. They appear more like a china cabinet so are easily dressed as such. Back in the day as a teen, I tore my parents' two chest high bookshelves apart. Organised them by height/style/colors of books. They were ALL books. That alone made a huge difference in the calmness of the room. I don't agree bookshelves can't be ALL BOOKS, but that isn't the issue for you. I think your belongings rather make this decision for you. Do you have a collection to showcase? Family photos that should be celebrated? A collection of books? All/some/both, in the end, it isn't content it is how it is organized. I am guessing the shelf with the spines hidden was more about their lack of color need, or perhaps the titles are not for public viewing..but it is a very shocking look and one I don't appreciate.

There are a few things I would look at for this. 1) Where is this in the home to determine if there is any function that this needs to have. (Does the large open counter top space need to be made into a make shift bar area, for example). 2) What is the style of the home (traditional, casual, etc.) and 3) I would determine a color palette for the book shelf based on the color palette of the house. 4) Then I would get items that look good and make sense. (Do not start putting things like candles and plants on this. And do not put up framed personal pictures). I can tell you right now you're going to need a couple of pieces that are bigger than what you have that will fill the entire nook by themselves. You can't have the entire book case made up of little small items like you have now.

The bottom part of the unit -- are those doors or just decorative panels? Their complete "blankness" is contributing to the empty feel of the piece. If those are doors, I'd add some hardware.

I've found this blog post, from designer Laurel Bern, helpful,

how to style a bookcase {even if you don’t read}

This photo from her post reminded me of your unit and the way you have it styled so far,

But notice the use of color and larger pieces, as others above have suggested. And also that the back of the unit is not solid white -- there are panels, either actual ones or trompe l'oeil (painted to fool the eye). It adds some much-needed texture and pattern, especially with the white pieces. And notice that most of the white pieces either have a bit of color, or an interesting shape, or the benefit of size (either one large piece or two smaller ones functioning as one unit).

Even tho I like the picture above, I usually prefer the heavier visual weight items on the lower shelves: meaning I would have put the two brown baskets on the upper shelf on the bottom shelf.