I do things very much like you do in your way of dealing with books, Sunny43. I, too, love books, and have many "types" like you do, plus I re-read the favorites, and refer to books all the time as well. I also have a bookcase in my bedroom, plus a large one that I bought from a bookstore in the garage, and three 84" high bookcases I refinished in the livingroom. I, too, would love to have floor to ceiling bookshelves! I would love to have a whole library room just like that. I am thinking of revamping the one in my room, as I don't regularly read those, instead maybe I can put the current reading material on there, that is usually in a pile by my bed, do you think that would work for clearing away the pile by the bed? Then put the books that are now there on the other bookshelves, or in the garage. Speaking of the garage books, do yours get to smelling mildewy or moldy, or musty? Or does it depend on what kind of year round weather you have? When you say you have a built in bookcase in your livingroom, is it built into, attached to, the walls? The reason I ask is because I don't understand something--when I called around for a craftsman to "build in" a bookcase in my house, they all said they would make them on site (at their workshop) and then bring them in. To set in. To me, that's "free standing," as I thought "built-in" meant attached to the wall, thus when you move, you don't take it with you, as it's "built in?" Don't people do that anymore? Oh and I had asked for three, with top shelves and a little area that juts out a bit from the width of the shelves, so you could rest a book or a plant there, then underneath that, two doors with a shelf behind the doors. That was probably 3, 4 years ago and the one man said that would be $6,000 dollars, so I ordered three unfinished ones from the internet and re-finished them myself. Now I am going to order from the same people what they call a "cubby," to put boxes of video tapes and DVD's on. This way, I can set it in a 14" inch area next to the bookcases, and paint it to match! I am happy about that, as it will blend in well. I have a question for you all about that: It is a tall tower with I think six shelves, room enough to put two photo boxes on top of each other per shelf, (you can put 10 VHS tapes in those). You can get understated nice looking ones, (I have some in catalogs) but will that look too much like an office? This furniture website also offers baskets with liners, which probably would look nicer in the livingroom, but they are dust catchers and I would like to have lids, tops, on the containers as well. Also no see-through. Any suggestions? Thank you!

LOL If I am stuck in the past it's the past where bookcases actually held only books! :D Now some people don't even have books but use them to hold decorative objects only. I do know tho, that change can be difficult so be easy on yourself as it may take awhile to think of this room as having a different purpose. If you could move your DD's belongings to her new room and use items from other rooms in your home on the bookshelves it might be easier. I strongly advise using a fair number of books as IMO otherwise it's difficult to have a good looking set of shelves unless one has a collection of, for example, McCoy pottery. If there are too many disparate items and few books it can IMO tend to look cluttered. Also too many small items lead to a cluttered look. You can group a few related smaller items for more impact. To answer your question about the distance between shelves - IMO that depends on the size of items in the bookcase. Arranging items nicely on shelves is all about balance and one needs to take into consideration not only size/mass but also color and shape. I would arrange books of like subject together for ease of finding a book. I'd place them on the shelves with the largest books on or near the bottom shelves, then smaller books further up. Some books can be stacked horizontally. This stack can be used as a riser to hold a decorative object. Fill in spaces between the books with decorative items. It's more personal if you have things that relate to your interests/hobbies. Pictures, either photos of people or framed/unframed art, can be placed on easels or leaned. Plants also give texture and life. Play around with it for awhile and even take pictures to really see. Somehow a picture will show more how something looks than merely looking at it. The term 'merchandising' bookshelves has become a valid decorating term whether we like it or not. :D Used all over the 'net especially on blogs.

Love the size, style and shape of your chandelier! Great choice. Main thing in addition to moving your sofa to 18” from edge of coffee table is to add texture. Pillows and possibly grass cloth in backs of bookshelves. Your coffee table needs styling. A stack of 2-3 coffee table sized books. A large low bowl and a much larger white orchid arrangement plus a sculptural element. Think of the coffee table divided into 4 sections. Set elements accordingly. Bbl

Nice room with a lovely window! I agree - I would not paint them white. If you're feeling crafty you can always cut inexpensive foam board to fit the backs of the shelves and wallpaper or paint them them a nice color that you pull from the room. It could also help to pull out some of the books to get a little more "air" and bring in some larger accessories - ignore the white paint but this is an example of wallpaper in the back and larger accessories mixed in with books: