How To Decorate Your Fireplace Wall Built-in Bookshelves

These fireplace wall built-in bookshelves got a makeover recently and I’m sharing a bit of the process today. There was a little bit “extra” that went into making this wall more cohesive, balanced and visually pleasing and the homeowner was happy to do some homework before I came to style the shelves.

You are sure to find some takeaways to use for your home’s bookshelves!

The first step in decorating your fireplace wall built-ins is to first look at the whole wall and determine if there are any changes you want to make with the existing look.

I gave this homeowner a little homework and she was happy to get that done before I brought all the goods for styling.

Homework for bookshelf styling

1. Remove all the items there now and the shelves.

2. Paint the inside back and sides in a color to match the fireplace color, a nice taupe will add some warmth and depth to those all white bookcases. It will camouflage the vertical “standards” on each side too. (See pic below.)

3. Re-install the shelves but only 3 shelves per section, evenly spaced vertically. The more shelves we have the more stuff we need for styling. Plus, this way we can do some taller items and create more interesting vignettes with a taller area to work with.

See the dark brass vertical “standards” on the sides of these bookcase sections? These were common in homes about 25 years or older for adjustable shelves. I have some in my house too. carlaaston.com

Shopping for the bookshelf styling

We wanted to do this on a budget since I was asking her to paint the interiors too, so I agreed to a $100 budget for filling these shelves. I would be using what she had and adding to it by shopping at affordable places like consignment and thrift stores.

(Oh, I never turn down an opportunity to go thrifting!)

Did you know one of the best items to find thrifting are books? Yes, nice coffee table books can be found very inexpensively at some thrift stores. They may not be recently published, but most art, travel, garden and design books are pretty timeless.

Many of these I found at a local thrift store for $2 each. I also found some at a local used book store.

Some of the beautiful books found at a local thrift store and consignment store made styling these shelves easy. carlaaston.com

Books are great economical finds at thrift stores and are perfect for styling. carlaaston.com

Smaller sized vases are easy to find too and then sometimes frames. I found this framed print that I used in the bookcase and it was perfect.

A thrift store find was perfect for one of the shelves. carlaaston.com

Here are the shelves with the books installed on the shelves. I spread them out and did more stacking of these as I wanted to top them with objects for height.

You can see in this pic how great the taupe paint color looks inside the sections and how the two shelves look compared to having three. This gives the built-ins a more vertical look and the paint ties in the fireplace color and warms everything up.

That paint color is Sherwin Williams Amazing Gray.

The taupe color within the open bookcases takes these shelves up a notch. Books are stacked and scattered through the bookcase. carlaaston.com

Here’s how the left side turned out. I used her blue plates scattered around the shelves, not all on the top shelf like she had before. While I do something consistent on the top shelf sometimes, I felt like the color would be nice spaced out here.

Plates make great backdrops for objects and add height to a shelf. These are smaller plates but look good on top of the books too.

Sprigs of green and the homeowner’s blue Fiestaware add color to the mix. carlaaston.com

And here’s the right side. Can you see how they painted over those vertical standards and now you don’t even notice them.

Personal items are mixed in with books and new objects for a fresh look. carlaaston.com

She had two little vintage framed art pieces and I told her she could hang them on the back of the bookcase if she wanted. They are really lightweight, so a Command hook would do it.

I added a tall vase and her wood bowl with some bamboo sticks on the hearth and that about did it.

Here’s the finished look.

The bookshelves are now full and styled with a nice mix of objects and books. They add a more personal touch and a comfy vibe to the room. The taupe color in the back of the bookcases brings warmth and ties them to the fireplace. carlaaston.com

I had a cute and very quiet assistant that day. :-)

The upholstery and the pup carried the bookcase’s color scheme over to the seating group. carlaaston.com

The coffee table was right on point. I brought that taupe tray from my styling closet and it was the perfect color as the bookshelf backs.

The coffee table styling echoed the look of the bookcases with the taupe tray and white objects. carlaaston.com

Okay, so in case you didn’t remember, here’s the Before…..

BEFORE - I like the nice white wall, but it is a little too bare and needs some items to fill the shelves. A little more warmth and personality are in order here. carlaaston.com

And the AFTER.

AFTER - The bookshelves are now full and styled with a nice mix of objects and books. They add a more personal touch and a comfy vibe to the room. The taupe color in the back of the bookcases brings warmth and ties them to the fireplace. carlaaston.com

And the photo with the cute pup! :-)

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Here’s another recent bookshelf styling done for a home office.

Here are more tips on how to incorporate personal items and decorate with what you might already have.