The bookcases here in our study are constantly getting "uglified" by DH piling things up on them, so I don't have any decent pictures. But, we have a LOT of books and they're not matched sets we've bought for their looks, but books we read and love. I do like to take the dust jackets off of them when I can, though. I also like to intersperse a line of books with a short stack. I tend to try and keep any knicknacks in there large enough to make a visual impact. I think it's important to vary the visual weight from shelf to shelf if you're going to add in a lot of other objects. I also like using good, low wattage small lamps, small framed pictures and paintings on easels or just propped up, pots with or without greenery. I never use real greenery on a bookshelf, though. The chance of water damage to books concerns me too much. We're serious book lovers here! Here's a view of just one of the four in the study here that's semi-decent to show. Please keep in mind that these are bookcases we use for our books, art, photos, music and, in the study, things DH wants to store close to where he works. These are definitely NOT staged for pictures! If you look close enough, you'll see the dust ;^P And here's one small corner of our living room where I was able to squeeze in a bookcase. I keep some of DH's family photos here along with small group of Western paintings. Not as many books here at the moment, but see how I've tried to balance the weight on the second and third shelves? On the second shelf, the weight is on the left with the run of books. On the third shelf, the weight is on the right with the old oak radio, while the first (top) and fourth shelves have a solid weighted look to them across the entire shelves. Here's a small bookcase the houses some of our really old books. Again, I've varied the weight of each shelf from one side to the other. Sorry about the crummy pic, though.

I have too many books to be able to do what you are advising your client but I totally agree with you that it does make a bookshelf look nicer. My bookcases are in the back room where we have our home office, hardly anyone who visits sees that room so I don't worry about the shelves. My living room is a different matter, where all rooms converge I have a small, narrow secretary. It's impossible to walk into my house without seeing this piece of furniture so I do place more importance on how the shelves look. You asked about books and I'm showing you shelves of DVDs but that shouldn't matter, same idea. I used to have all the shelves packed with DVDs but it looked boring and didn't do this little secretary justice. So I selected just the boxed sets and those that were part of collections and the rest went into albums. For fun I put my tea cups on the same shelf with my Jane Austen movies so there is a relation between them. I see now that there is merit to thinning out a *book* collection and putting some away in order to replace them with other loved items you have. I stop and look at the shelves now, never did that before. Bookshelves are more interesting to look at when there are other things on it than just books. And with more breathing room you see the individual books, there isn't that same feeling of packed in clutter. Only when there are too few books (and too few accessories) do I question why the person bothered to buy or build the bookshelf to begin with. p.s...since you're a designer, if you see anything wrong in the way I've arranged things by all means let me know and I'll move them around!

Oh, I enjoyed this thread! I have to add that the only room without books & bookcases is my bathroom & that's because it's too humid! The dining room I'd love to turn into a "library" but haven't managed to yet. Mine are sort of organized by topics within a bookcases. The two in the dining room hold all the field guides for birds, butterflies, wildflowers etc. Then there are two in the living room with (mostly) gardening. My bedroom has a row of shelves built specifically to hold paperbacks(double stacked)These are mostly beloved books that are read again and again. The breakfast room (who thought of a room just to eat breakfast in?) has two small shelves of series (mysteries)Oh and another shelf of cookbooks! The back bedroom holds all of my late mothers books-complete Agatha Christie & several other mystery series that I read occasionally. Then there are several miscellaneous (sp?) bookshelves scatteried where ever there is room-one of those tacky metal ones from college is in the hallway below where I hang my coats! Oh the livingroom has another one for dictionaries & other reference books. And after my mother passed away in 2005 I started a library at the facility where I work with mentally challenged adults-so I could clear space on the bookshelves (and I had a bad case of insomnia)Like most posters I can lay my hands on a book fairly quickly-of course some of them have been in the same place for 50 years so... Hope this is not too much information! I got a real laugh out of this as not all my close friends are readers & don't understand why I need all these books! Susan

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.