Maybe I should add that this is a basement type room on the water which will flood with the next big hurricane. At that time, we are going to tile the floor and rip up that ugly carpet.

Isn't grass cloth very expensive? It certainly is over here in the UK. Not the sort of thing you want to put into a room you think will flood in the future.

Let me clarify. The worst it has ever flooded was about two feet up the wall. So most of the upper part of the wall will be ok.

Should I just get rid of them entirely. I really need some help. This furniture and stuff if sort of left over from another house. The beautiful hutch is really too big and the tables don't match. Suggestions would be great.

Here is another angle of the same room showing the windows

Personally I would leave the walls white behind the shelves. If you are going to put wallpaper or fabric behind then I think it would look better over the whole wall but then you risk damage.

That is kind of why they still look like they do. I can't decide. I have been here about 9 months and haven't really done anything to this room

A friend has a similar beach house room designed to blow out in the event of a hurricane. She decorated the room using a "large but light" mantra, meaning large furniture and accessories that can easily be moved (not heavy) quickly upstairs in the event of a storm. She has rattan furniture and a limited amount of oversized fun accessories. She figures she can easily remove everything from the room in less than an hour. This doesn't answer your question, but might guide your future choices. If you keep the shelves, I would put some color on the wall with paint which might be easier to replace in the event of a storm than wallpaper or grasscloth. Use what you have now and make good choices going forward. You don't have to wait for a storm to have a great room. Consider painting pieces if you don't love them. Add a large inexpensive indoor/outdoor rug to hide the carpet you aren't fond of and coordinate with your upholstered pieces. That would do a lot to pull the room together. Anytime after the 4th is a great time to find beachy furnishings on sale. Good luck!

Sandy, thanks for the input. The couch was a craig's list piece and so were the little tables. Bad choice in my opinion now. They were inexpensive and I can sell them again. After furnishing the rest of the house, we just threw stuff that was left over in this room. I am now recovered from all that initial cost and am ready to do something to bring this room together. I can't get rid of the center post between the shelves so it really would not serve much purpose to get rid of the shelves. I really would love to come up with more of a tropical feel for this room rather than light and beachy. Warm and tropical with tile on the floor would be nice.

I like your shelves and think they add character to the space. The thing I did notice immediately is that the shelf thickness is too thin so I suggest that you install a wide trim across the front of each shelf to make them look thicker. One last thing, the shelves do stop in an odd place so I would recommend that you add a few to the bottom of each section.

I like your shelf accessories. The tv unit is attractive but too heavy for the space. Even painted white, just too big and in front of a window. Leave the shelves but take out two middle shelves from one side and wall mount the TV. Free up floor space. Use outdoor furniture, light weight, stackable, colourful and durable, esp. for wet weather. This can quickly moved upstairs. Tv up on wall will give you more floor space for furniture , too. We get cyclones in Australia ( same as a hurricane). my furniture criteria for our deck was wet weather durable and can we lift it in storm preparation? Paint wall behind couch a feature colour. Dont waste money on wall paper, the water will ruin it. Is your style Cape Cod neutral or bright tropical or another?

Your shelves remind me of my absolute favorite shelves to house a collection on houzz. Replace the shelves with glass and light them from above. It will look stupendous!

I think the hutch should not be in front of the window- so I would remove the shelves only on the left and place the hutch in that spot. Then I would add trim to all the shelves on the right and crown at the top, painting it all in a cream color. You could paint the back wall behind the shelves grass green, add a chest or console underneath the shelves in a color to match the wood of the hutch. Then you could use Carmel, cream, and grass green for your warm tropical colors. Keep the furniture and tile brown and cream and add pops of the grass green in pillows and window treatments, even a feature wall with grass green paint or wallpaper. Woven wood blinds wood give you a tropical look, then you could add your green or cream to drapery panels along the sides of blinds to soften the look.

I think you should consider TVCoverUps. Framed artwork or panel provides the focal point of the room, until it swings upward to reveal the hidden TV. It is available in automatic and manual lift units and allows for TV tilting hardware. You mentioned getting rid of the hutch, and if you selected the Entertainment Center TVCoverUps- it would eliminate the need for it. It can be built to accomindate AV equipment, speakers, wires, Blu-Ray/DVD and other consoles. Each unit is always built custom to the viewer and space, so it is always best to give us a call.

So we are making progress. What do you think. BTW I know that it is not perfect. We made a measuring mistake. Didn't notice until it was installed. too much work to get it out and repair it. Not that noticeable to most people.

Forgot to say that we are picking up another knob to match the little seahorse knob today.

I would suggest having some bigger objects on the shelves, and grouping the items you have to give more impact to the display. If you want to go whole hog, keep the idea, but replace the shelves with much thicker and prominent shelves so it looks more purposeful and permanent. It's a great area for display

On, I missed the updated picture...I like the update, looks much better. Maybe something on the wall below the shelves to make it look purposeful that the shelves don't go lower?

I am still moving and adding to the items on the shelves. Just used what I had on hand at the moment. Going out today to see what I can find. As for below the shelves. What would you suggest. Do not want built ins that can get destroyed when we have a hurricane.