Bookcase Love

Photo by Justin Bernhaut, design by Annsley McAleer, featured in Domino, via Flickr

Now that I am the proud owner of some fantastic built-in bookcases, I'm trying to wrap my brain around how to decorate them. Our living room doesn't have many surfaces on which to display photos and knick-knacks (of which I have many), so I know our bookcases will be a display space as much as a space to hold reading material.

Although the items we will display will be personal, I like studying photos like this one above to narrow in on what appeals to me as far as color contrast, arrangement, etc. This photo is one of my favorite bookcase examples so far (not to mention that I LOVE the chairs and the lucite end tables) - I like how colorful the displayed items are but the look stays subtly uniform by the emphasis of a turquoise and red color palette, created with well-placed accent pieces in these tones. 

So, although this bookcase appears to be a hodge-podge of items, it is quite pleasing to my eye because of its subtle color balance - making it feel less "messy". Am I over-thinking this bookcase? Maybe. But I like it.

I'm going to have fun arranging our bookcases. And since they provide non-permanent display space, if I tire of a look (which has been known to happen), I can change it in a snap.