Bookcase Beautification Secrets from Los Angeles

So many people have bookcases in their homes.  Problem is, they are often not sure what to do with them.  Bookcases take up a lot of visual weight/impact in a room and should be treated as the major design element they are–not just random storage.  There is no reason a bookcase can’t be useful AND look beautiful.  Here’s a quick and easy process to get you started.
Step 1:  Take everything OFF every shelf.  Separate things into piles–small objects; small photos/artwork; medium objects/artwork, etc.
Step 2:  Sort your books.  Unless you’re still in college–NO textbooks in any room your guests can get to at a party. NO books that are intended for you and your loved one to share PRIVATELY.  Put them in your closet immediately! Sort by fiction, non fiction, reference books, picture/art books…I don’t know what you’ve got but use some logic to organize.  DON’t put them back in the bookcase yet.
NOTE:  THERE JUST AREN’T THAT MANY HOMES THAT ARE LARGE ENOUGH TO HAVE A ROOM DESIGNATED PURE LIBRARY.  FOR THE OTHER 95% OF US, PLEASE SKIP STEP 3 AND GO DIRECTLY TO STEP 4.
Step 3:  It the room is intended to be pure library–simply put the books back using the new logic sysytem you devised.  Organize each group by color or more likely, by height.  Not all books have to be upright–some can lay flat stacked with verticals on either side or just one side.  Larger books on the bottom.  You’re done.
Step 4:  The most beautiful bookcases are roughly built third-third-third.  One third objects/pictures.  One third books.  One third…are you ready for it:  absolutely nothing.  Yes that’s right–space and air is your friend (and not just in bookcases).  Less is more.  It allows your eye to enjoy every item on every shelf.  One of my favorite things to do is to pack away what I didn’t use on my shelves this time, and six months from now switch items out.  Fresh look, your own stuff–easy smile, minimal effort.
Now start with a shelf at eye level and create a vignette.  Arrange by color and scale of everything you use, or pick a theme.  Let’s say travel.  Take an object that’s a memento of a favorite vacation, a picture of yourself and friends on vacation and some travel books and mix together.  Put the picture on top of a few of the books and an object next to that.  Looks goods or do you need more?  Add one thing at a time and step back at least 6 ft to look at the bookcase at a distance.  Once you are satisfied with that one shelf, pick another at eye level.  A visitor’s eye will judge these two shelves together for balance and visual appeal–so keep the first shelf in mind while you are doing this one.  If the first has very few books and more objects and pictures–do the reverse.  More books, less objects and pictures.
Go up or down a shelf from here, always considering what the previous shelves have on them before arranging the next.  A bright color that you repeat in objects, bookjeckets or pictures/artwork works best in threes.  Three hits of the same color throughout the entire bookcase NOT a single shelf.  Have too much of a single bright color, pack away for the next shelf update.  If the color is subdued or midrange neutral, don’t worry about repetition.
Clustering like objects is also fun on a single shelf.
Keep stepping back.  Is there lots of air?  Is there balance?  When I do a big bookcase I often tweak and tweak and tweak the shelves each time I finish a new shelf.  And then suddenly it just feels right.