Tibbrix is right, the moldings would have to come off of the wall in order for the wall to look right with the bookcases in front of it, unless the bookcases are a bit longer than the wall and you have a way of covering the end - where you would see the wall gap behind the bookshelves. You could place a convenient pedestal and narrow tapestry there, I suppose. The only other non-destructive way of using the bookshelves in the dining room is to use them to create a fourth wall. If the three bookshelves are not as long as the opening into the dining room, you can create a secluded - but sunny - space in your home. Simply place the shelves, book side in, as if there was a fourth wall in the room. If you do not like looking at the back of the bookshelves, consider getting stain-grade plywood to attach to the back and stain it to coordinate with the flooring and put a few coats of polyurethane on it. A hanging rug or tapestry or quilt are also possibilities to cover some of the space, or you could make a montage of family photographs or other artwork. Or do artwork on the wall. If you are into any particular genre of music, you can get album cover art to mount. Or posters. Only lack of imagination limits you. Inside your new room, there is no reason to remove the dining table. You can add a pair of comfortable reading chairs with lamps and a side table, yet still have the dining table on the other end of the room. The room looks plenty long enough for the table to go in the other direction. You can also take a leaf out (if the is one to remove) and put it and a couple of chairs in the basement. You can also set two dining chairs in a little conversation area away from the table, maybe around a tea table. Then you may use the dining table as a dining table, or for doing jigsaw puzzles, playing games, or for some less-messy projects that you don't want to have to put away each day. Add a couple of area rugs to define spaces, raise the chandelier if it is too low, and put it on a dimmer if it is not already dimmable. Now the room is more usable and comfy.

Glad to hear your girls like fairy tale characters. The book was rather difficult with a jillion characters to keep track of but maybe someday they will tackle that also. As far as a pic of the room, it doesn't exist except in my mind. Right now it is filled to the ceiling almost with stuff moved out of our kitchen which has been demolished and any furniture now in the room such as a loveseat and coffee table,etc. will be given/donated away. I'm even not absolutely sure of the arrangement in my diagram but so far I'm tending in that direction. May have to close the wall a bit between living room and dining room because I think a little less openness there might add some coziness and also give me room to put a corner cabinet in the dining room that will kind of be hidden but still useful for storage which is what this house has least of. Obviously, I don't have this all together but I do best one step at a time so if I could make up my mind about the bookcases, I think it would help me move on to the next step of deciding the rest of the furniture/room. Even the fireplace is unfinished and covered with cement backer board ready for marble (which we haven't picked out yet) but I think the bookcases because they will be first thing one sees when they enter the room should be decided first. Thoughts? The house though small is quite nice even if I do say so myself - especially once we get the kitchen remodel finished. (Though we also have a big job ahead of us doing the hardwood floors plus other tasks by contractors - this is not diy). The house is 75 years old but as I continue on this journey of remodeling, it seems my tastes have definitely moved from vintage/eclectic to modern/eclectic. Hence the reason for my indecision. I think the builtin bookcases will definitely bring me back from my modern direction. And I've heard it mentioned here that some think builtin bookcases give a room character. We are very fortunate that our house has so much character that it is not a major concern to add more. Though guess it never hurts. (sorry I'm rambling, it is late , will stop here...)

Thanks again for all the ideas. Looking again at the location, I have decided it needs to be either oak, or something totally different, like metal. It will literally touch an oak buffet on one side. I tried putting another 2 small (but not shallow enough to actually use) bookcases there, that are in different finishes, one dark stained pine, and another a cherry laminate shoe organizer, just to see how different finishes looked. Both ended up just looking like I stuck something totally random there. I think I’m too fussy for that. I got excited about that Ikea hack, only to find that the Borghum line is not made any more. I looked through the Ikea catalog, and came up with nothing. I looked at Hobby Lobby yesterday for metal. But it being the Christmas season means they have little furniture on display now. Looked at wall shelves too, figuring many could be set on the floor. But most of these are too shallow and too small.

Several minor design errors have been made throughout our construction process; however, none have resulted in a flaw this visible/significant. While we would have appreciated a little more guidance during the design/selections process, we were the ones ultimately responsible for making several design choices that we now consider "errors" (ex: poor color selection for colored/stamped concrete patio, application of tile of shower ceiling tile in linear fashion as opposed to on-point, etc.). Because of the massive expense required to fix these "errors", we chose to do nothing and now must learn to live with these errors. Had the fix been less expensive, we certainly would have changed them. I therefore am not certain that I see the logic espoused by Lyndee Lee. Replacing the bookcase, while certainly not inexpensive, is much less costly than ripping out and redoing a concrete patio or ceiling shower tile. As the responsibility of this error rests solely on the shoulders of the builder and/or millwork provider, I would think they are contractually obligated to fix their error. Holly: I like the niche idea not divided as shown in your first photo. We do plan on installing crown where the bookcases interface with the ceiling/recess. Some sort of recessed can lighting in the ceiling would also be nice, although I am not sure if this is still possible (rough electrical and drywall have already been completed). We have not asked our super how we are compensated for "design errors." I would be curious as to how this conversation would work and don't recall any specific language regarding such errors in our contract.