This piece really does have presence in your room. Your whole room revolves around it, and that is a good thing. It works for you! What color would you paint the back? The wall color? An accent color? Could you paint a piece of tag board and prop it behind a few areas and see how you like it? Once the brush hits the wood, there is no turning back, so I want you to be sure.

Is there any way the black table at the bottom of the stairs could move to the far side of the other couch? The lamp rather blocks your stairs and you do have the red floor lamp already at the other end, which works with the tall wall right there. Could the black square pic on the first step of stairs then go behind that couch instead of two pics put together? Just thoughts for you to consider, too.

I love the feel in this room and those windows are sooooooo nice to have! I love the pops of red!!!

I haven't a clue abbyjean...perhaps a matte black, charcoal grey or a light olive green

I feel like the black would be......harsh.....in this room as that would be a lot of black right there. Same thing with gray. Now, the olive green has my attention. If you had more black.....like the railing.....then I could see black as an option. Right now, you have a light and airy feeling going on.

I am wondering if I would like the two art on the very top better propped in a cubicle. Are they adjustable or do they fit over the tv? And THOSE pieces on top.

they are gone now...instead 2 very large movie posters

Amy!!!!!!!! Great idea!

I would go buy some red giftwrap. Hobby Lobby has it out and use tape and put up a red backdrop behind the shelves. If you like it great if not rip it down.

Removable, temporary wallpaper could be simple and quick to do. Then it comes off when you're tired of it.

decoenthusiaste said it first. :) Here is removable/reusable wallpaper.

We have built ins that are painted black in the back and white outside. Love them! It was a little scary making that decision in building our home but once we saw it we loved it! Whitney Blair builders houzz will bring up our pics. There is also a home on his page that has red on the built ins . Seeing this might help in your decision. Good luck!

I have used the scrapbook pages to tape and glue in the back of my bookshelves. It has worked like a charm. I have used black and white stripes and florals. There a hundreds of kinds of paper - just be sure to get enough for your project all at once. You don't want to go back for more paper and it be discontinued! Good luck!

If you paint the backs of those shelves and leave the rest oak they will look like open bookshelves. I would paint them your trim colour, only then would I consider painting the backs an accent colour.

I second Maria Kilam's suggestion.

Paint the whole unit with a semi-gloss white to match your trim color. It will maintain the light, airy feeling of the room, emphasize its built-in nature, and give better coherence to the room. Let the accessories bring accent colors into the room.

The white will coordinate nicely with the window trim, door, and white stair railings and make the built-in cabinets seem less like an afterthought.

I agree with painting the same as your trim in white. To add a little punch , install a linen grasscloth wallcovering only to the back of the bookcase. It will add depth and texture.

Haven't read the other comments (short of time, sorry) so perhaps I'm repeating, but still: I'd paint the back of the cabinets the same colour as your wall and the rest of it (off) white. And perhaps hang two sliding doors in front of the side cabinets to make it look less busy.
Lots of ideas in this ideabook, follow the link under the pic:
https://www.houzz.com/magazine/barn-doors-slide-into-style-stsetivw-vs~1622742

Love the idea of the sliding doors!! :)

I would change in a step by step way.

Firstly, change the back with the Amy Wax (foam inserts), decoenthusiaste (wallpaper) or hazelruth (scrapbook paper) suggestion. I would start with the wall colour to create the shelves look as suggested by Maria Killam.

Take the opportunity to rearrange the books, vases and shelves. Would it be better to have all the books in one column?

Take a photo and compare to your before photo from above.

If you are still not happy then paint as suggested by dlbconductor.

If you want to add doors (see carolins suggestion above), instead of the full length option which would block the view of your items, you could have cupboard doors on the lowest part only. [houzz=[houzz=]

Hmm.... had a bit more time now to think about it some more and you could also paint the back of your cabinets red. As your chair and other accents. That would be fun and tie things together beautifully.

I really appreciate everyone's advice. The only thing holding me back from painting the entire unit is this (and it's so hard to show in photos!) the house is totally open downstairs from front door to back sliders to pool from kitchen to great room where unit is from first floor with catwalk to loft and 3 of the bedrooms (there are 2 more bedrooms downstairs) so it's big and open with other woods (cabinets in kitchen, wood fireplace surround dining room furniture etc. to balance the wood of unit, which btw is lovely quality and downstairs paint colors are saddle, gold-ish and lots of a lighter tan. I think maybe painting the entire like white trim might lose any warmth of the other earth tones. Then again, I could just be a chicken!

You could paint it the same colour as the wall this will high light the items on the shelves, the wall paper on the back of some of the shelves is great also, great room!

I like Amy's suggesting, but warn that foam core tends to warp when painted.
(Sadly, I learnt that lesson through experience and disappointing results)
Otherwise, I like the idea of painting something to insert into the cubes, or using reusable wall paper.
Good luck and have fun!

I like the idea of leaving the wood as it picks up on the wood in your staircase which is in the same room. I do like the ideas offered by many to change the back of the shelves by any of the non-permanent ideas offered.

ohhhhhhh....also forgot to say, we are in south-ish Florida with lots of windows and way too much sun. It's not a beach house nor is that beachy theme my thing, so earth tones and autumnal accent colors in brick reds and oranges just for some pop help to keep me sane and feeling cool I am native New England girl transplanted to the south and sand. Maybe that's why I'm so conflicted about the "wood."

You have a beautiful home! Love the red and yellows! Maybe you are just bored and looking for something to change.

I'm with Amy, non-permanent changes. I think red or red-orange, whatever the chairs are would work wonders.

abbyjean, have you been talking to my husband?

Trust me........I have walked the walk here and yes, it does drive my husband crazy, too! There are just times when things feel off or something and I know I need to make a change........so I start moving things around and looking for things to buy. OH,my! Drives me crazy, too!!!

I think the whole unit needs paint. Its way too busy and I couldn't focus on the rest of the room.

I have a similar open-shelf unit in my house (antique white) and have contemplated the same idea (but not decided). I've considered metallic sheets as a sort of wallpaper. Home Depot or Lowes sell some with the look/texture of old fashioned tin ceilings. If that is too busy, metallic paint could be an option -- subtle but still offering some contrast and visual interest.

You have a beautiful home! This unit could work either way. I think it looks fine the way it is now, but if you want change I would go for it.

Maybe try removing everything from your shelves and adding larger, brightly colored, single objects back in. It will give you a different look. Large vases, sculptures, boxes as a base for a smaller object.

You can also cover the foam core insets with fabric....less messy than paint and easy to change.

To keep foam core from warping, you have to paint both sides.

Did a sloppy (VERY sloppy) paint job for you to give you sort of an idea:

The shelves look cluttered to me. I would see if some of the shelves could be removed to make it less symmetrical. Then I would use them to showcase larger objet d'art. And I would clear everything off the top. No need to the eye to wander up there.

Here. I've already started.

There are many kinds of boards you can use .. And I like the idea that you can change them when you feel inspired. If some of the cubicles belong to a specific family member they can paint the back ( board) of their cubicle. There are so many possibilities ! You can even wallpaper the back of the cubicles in the boards and change it whenever you want... And you can go back to the wood anytime.. Still my first choice!

No one has mentioned stain. You could start off lightly and build it up to match the kitchen cabinets or more toward a burnt umber tone. Staining the stair rails to match would pull it all together.
Looking at the painted versions by @carolins I would prefer to see them say wood color / stain.
Love the idea of putting temporary color in the back - forget foam core and ask Home Depot to cut you thin pieces of wood that you can easily slip in and out to change up the look. You can then use fabrics, temporary wall paper what ever you hear desires and easily change it up when you want.
I think @groveraxle has a good idea too to open up the cubicles into odd shapes and less clutter on the shelves.

Add (sliding or glass) doors to the outer two parts? (note: just read carolins had the same idea)

Maybe add fitted cardboard panels with paint or wallpaper on them, so you can change them once in a while without the fuss of painting the backs?

Please use a light color. Only use black when you paint the cabinets white and have a pretty collection to show off.