You can put framed things such as photos, degrees and maybe a piece or two of ceramics. Best wishes!

I guess my first question is do you need all these books IMO way too many and not thought out.

Haha we just ConMaried the room and got rid of quite a lot of books!! Apart from one of the shelves that is still books I bought 2nd hand and need to read before I decide to keep or not, these are all books that either myself, my husband, or our kids want to keep. We all like to read, and we like the idea and feel of a "library" in our home. Its what we planned this room to be almost as soon as we saw it.

The room looks great by the way! think the library is great and assumed you were readers. I am as well and have many book cases throughout my home. Wish I had a room for a library in just one room!

I can't help but wish you had chosen white bookshelves instead of black. In conjunction with the gray-everything-else decor it seems to suck the light out of the room. I would suggest large pottery vases and bowls for a more organic and personal look. Large pieces of colorful art in this room would also be very nice.

Ingrid I know so many people prefer white right now, but I really do love the black. Our kitchen cabinets are black right now too and I have no regrets about not going white. But I did realize I took this picture without the lights on in the room... this is just the natural light through the window on a rainy day. it really doesn't seem to dark to me, but probably could use some more color. My entire house is probably like that, but every time I'm looking for something new I'm drawn to blacks, grays, and blues again! It just always seems to be what I like best. I like some of the other suggestions to and am excited to meet going in this room!

I think you need to draw the eye down, not up. How about a colorful, round ottoman?

*too *too

As I said I like this room and how you have put it together. The dark shelves look best against the other light features and go with the dark chair legs. You have balanced it all well.

houssaon Thank you for the ideas and the picture! I had wondered if it was ok to wall mount pictures above the shelves...I think I like that better then resting on top. I think larger with color in a similar theming and framing would be good too. And I'll definitely have to play with the arrangement now. I had hoped I could find a (very) small table and lamp to fit between the chairs, and possibly adding a tall round or square table something like 24-30" wide with chairs that tuck completely under in the middle of the room for a puzzle table, but haven't found what I'm looking for yet... and don't necessarily want to crowd the room too much.

London Staging and Design, thank you very much. I'm liking where it's headed and having fun getting it the rest of the way there.

I'll probably get drummed out of Houzz by the experts for this, but here is one set of my bookcases - I have failed to follow the "1/3 books, 1/3 decor, 1/3 empty space" rule on the shelves, the "don't put stuff on top" of cabinets mantra, and the "eliminate clutter" principle as well ;)

I think that, if you're going to use that space, "go big, or go home." Don't put little stuff up there.

Spend your money and energy decorating the living level. Piling stuff on the walls above the shelves is just going to emphasize that your living space is not finished.

Buy art, coffee tables, lamps, end tables, curtains/blinds, colorful pillows etc. That is what will make the room look decorated and finished.

After that, you could do a gallery above the bookshelves. But for the time being, your money and energy needs to be spent finishing the living space.

What about commissioning an artist to do several abstract horizontal skyscapes to pull the eye upward. Then add interesting string lights--not fairy lights but something more modern. Small photos don't make sense so high up.

No need to do anything. The bookshelves are fine the way they are. You could build molding up from the top EPF the shelves to the ceiling to make th e look more built in, but other than that let them be. BTW they look great. And frankly, I could not imagine a home with fewer books.

I too have a dedicated library in my home, and the bookcases (on three of the four walls) are filled with books only - love!! On top of my bookcases, I have a few small stacks of related books, laying on their sides (horizontally), spines out and largest on the bottom, and gradually smaller...to form a sort of pyramid shape. I initially put the books there out of necessity, when I ran out of room on the shelves, but like the look very much. Yay books!

Photo by Monogram Decor - Search entryway design ideas

I like what they did at the top of the shelves here. The wide black frames that match the shelving. They also layered them instead of hanging them flat to the wall

I was also thinking you could take a couple of the matching book sets you have (like the one on the bottom shelf to the far right) and put them on the top with decroative book ends. That would give you more space on the shelves to spread things out and add some decorative elements. Below the bench I would look for some baskets to use for the small thin childrens books or storage of non-book items. Also note in the photo that I posted above that one shelf has the books laying down with a clock on top. This is a nice break to the eye and adds alot in interest to the shelves. Not every book has to sit up and down.

You might also play with the idea of moving you lovely chairs to the other side of the room where you can be surrounded by the books something like this:

Photo by Redesign London Limited - Discover living room design ideas

You guys are awesome. Thanks so much for sharing so many quick responses with great ideas!! I've definitely got a lot more great ideas to consider now in finishing up... and I like the idea to finish the liveable space before spending resources on the decorations higher up. It might take me some time, but I'll try to post updates when I make progress. I just hung the map and had the chairs delivered today, so just that progress got me pretty excited to keep working on the space, even if only a little at a time.

What we did, we got IKEA drawers below shelving.One shelving cabinet and two drawers, one drawer below cabinet, and one below window ( in the same row)

Leave the walls above the shelves empty. With all the books, you need a comfortable way to read. I would add an interesting upholstered ottoman for the chairs to share, big enough to add a tray.

This doesn't look like a room where anyone reads.

I added a mirror and found a table we can use as a puzzle, craft or game table in here and we love it... still no decor above the shelving, but the table gets used almost daily (I cleaned a slew of puzzles off of it for this picture).

I probably wouldn't have chosen a high table that blocks the view... And the mirror doesn't add any interest to the space.

Looks like a great and practical space for the family. Best wishes!

I would add a custom seat cushion to the window seat. We had one in our previous library and it was perfect for the grandkids. Go to Calico Corners and find several amazing prints, ask for a sample, and take the samples home. I found my perfect fabric at a decorator’s and her workshop made the cushion. Rainy day reading..... I agree about the mirror-I don’t think it adds anything to the room. Maybe two or three large framed photos of family activities.... Before you decide on the size, use masking tape lightly applied to the wall to try various sizes-8 x10, 16 x 20, etc.