I would do something totally different. Those niches beside the fireplace are deep and look cluttery now; they'll look even more so once you get the bookcase filled and another piece there besides.

Where exactly is the vent that can't be occluded? Can you put something with legs that goes the full width of the niches?

It also looks like there is plenty of room for a Christmas tree without moving the bookcase out, so you could opt for built ins.

Sorry, but what you have done just doesn't do your room justice.

The book shelf on book shelf on the left - not looking good.

The piece on the right is too short. I would put it somewhere else.

If it's in the budget, have someone come in and give you a quote on building

the shelves and maybe drawers to put your cd's in. Probably will be less than what the builder was going to charge.

I would put the dvd's in baskets on the new shelves. That way you are looking at attractive baskets and not messy looking dvd's. Take everything else out and just have the two new bookcases flanking the fireplace.

grover, your so cleaver.

@Angel 18432 The left is just what we have had up temporarily. It isn't the plan at all. I just put everything in that corner to move the new bookshelf in.

@groveraxle The second picture is what I'm going for once we get the second identical bookshelf, which is being sent to us. I'm just trying to decide about the DVD tower. The vents are on the bottom of each side of the fireplace....not visible in the picture...so we do have to leave that space open, which will work with a shallow DVD tower. Possibly this one from IKEA:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90277145/#/50277147

Not sure if this is your style, or in your budget. You'd get a lot of storage and also have a nice uncluttered look.

Are you getting 2 of the DVD towers for each side of FP? I see no reason they won't work if you have both sides equal. Also the towers should not be taller than the bookcases. If they are not the same height, then get ones that are a little shorter.

Yes, susan2494, we would have the same on both sides....two bookshelves and two towers as we aren't doing built ins right now. I've just been wondering about the height, so thank you for your opinion.

Regarding grover's second pic, I kind of like the bookshelves with the framed art over the fireplace. From my screen it looks like a good blend. I would, however, remove everything else from the mantel.

I think those DVD towers are a mistake. I'd find another place to put the DVDs. A stack of them on each side of the fireplace is going to ruin your focal point.

Thank you groveraxle! That picture definitely puts it into perspective.

Personally I would get the matching shelf, put one on either side of the fireplace (centred in each nook) and find a different home for the DVDs. The shelving units alone would look really nice, but I just don't see how you could get DVD towers in there as well and still have it looking good.

My suggestion would be to set up both the shelving units on their own, pack away all the DVDs and any other excess stuff for a wee while, and see if you like the way it looks. Once you have filled the shelves and rearranged them to your liking, you'll be able to get a better idea of what else you need to fit in the room and how you might be able to do that. Perhaps you will have space in the shelves for some nice boxes or baskets to store your DVDs, or maybe you could get a coffee table with storage drawers, for example. Maybe there is room on the wall beside where you were standing to take this photo ( in the corner beside the sofa - assuming that is the end of the room), to fit a slim bookcase for your DVDs (attach it to the wall and paint it the same colour as the walls). Or you could stack some nice boxes or similar beside the sofa, which could also be used as a side table (or even a small chest of drawers). I think there will be several possibilities which would give you a more pleasing end result than DVD towers beside the shelving units.

Built ins would have been a better option. Second choice would be matching cabinets only, without the DVD towers.

Any DVD towers should not be higher than the matching cabinets they're being placed beside -- they should be the same height or only slightly shorter. If you could use your matching cabinets for the DVDs, you'd have a much less cluttered look.

You appear to have a stairway landing on the left with protruding trim and that needs to be taken into consideration with regard to height and/or depth and width of anything placed there.

You might also consider storage ottomans and/or end tables for some of the DVDs.

Yes, it is so annoying when living our lives gets in the way of our décor :>)