Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks - I hadn't thought of books there. I'll give that a try.

The shelves are awkwardly huge - oversized for the space. Not sure what the builder was thinking. I actually don't like them and wonder if we can drywall over them at some point.

But I will try books/photos first.

Get a different builder. Or have them change an unasked for and sounds like a useless feature for you.

It was a mostly-finished spec house so we weren't able to change this. I honestly didn't even think much about it until we moved in and started decorating.

Think about what kind of space do you need.
--a desk area and overhead filing
--a closet
--a reading nook

Have a carpenter remove lower shelves and/or hang a door or even a drapes.

My suggestion since it's a new space--live in the house a while b/f making a decision and/or trying to decorate this specific space.

Anonymous wrote:This was the neatest method we found when putting our bookshelves together.

https://stylebyemilyhenderson.com/blog/3-steps-to-styling-out-your-shelves

Thanks! The end photo looks a little too cluttery for me but the process will definitely help.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks - I hadn't thought of books there. I'll give that a try.

The shelves are awkwardly huge - oversized for the space. Not sure what the builder was thinking. I actually don't like them and wonder if we can drywall over them at some point.

But I will try books/photos first.

Get a different builder. Or have them change an unasked for and sounds like a useless feature for you.

It was a mostly-finished spec house so we weren't able to change this. I honestly didn't even think much about it until we moved in and started decorating.

This was the neatest method we found when putting our bookshelves together.

https://stylebyemilyhenderson.com/blog/3-steps-to-styling-out-your-shelves

Anonymous wrote:Thanks - I hadn't thought of books there. I'll give that a try.

The shelves are awkwardly huge - oversized for the space. Not sure what the builder was thinking. I actually don't like them and wonder if we can drywall over them at some point.

But I will try books/photos first.

Get a different builder. Or have them change an unasked for and sounds like a useless feature for you.

Souvenirs from your trips/vacations. Don't have any? Start the next time you go. Makes for great conversation with guests and fun reminder for you.

Thanks - I hadn't thought of books there. I'll give that a try.

The shelves are awkwardly huge - oversized for the space. Not sure what the builder was thinking. I actually don't like them and wonder if we can drywall over them at some point.

But I will try books/photos first.

I would put framed family photos on display along w/some reading books, a few fake (or real!) plants & perhaps some candles in attractive holders.

Books and pictures are the only things on my shelves.

Anything you have that has a theme will work: pitchers of different shapes and sizes, candlestick holders, travel mementos?

Family photos in good frames (all frames that go well with each other)

Don't buy tchotchkes! Use whatever you have -- candles, books, art, pictures, mementos from travels, etc. After you use those, you may want to pick up a couple decor pieces that match or add color. But just filling up shelves with random crap from Home Goods would be meaningless clutter.

Stick the kids artwork in frames. If an 8x10 piece comes home, take it to Kinkos and resize it to 5x7

Try to use what you have books, pottery, pictures, etc.

I have some bookcases I've styled using pics/styling guides from Pinterest.

After seeing creative ways to display books and arrange pieces, I went through decorative stuff I had packed away in my basement and used some of it and bought a few pieces to fill in some gaps.

I think a collection of pitchers sounds like a good start or maybe that's too much for a living room. I could see a pitcher collection in a dining room or kitchen more. But I could see using up to three with other objects.

Our builder put in sizeable display shelves in our living room and I'm stumped about what to put in them. I'm not really a tchotchke person so I don't have things to put there already. A friend said to display "a collection" there, but a collection of what?

Any ideas? How can I fill this area?

An assortment of white pitchers against dark grey painted shelving walls? Too boring?