Help me style this bookcase please!

[Deleted]

Ok ladies, I need some help.  This Billy bookcase is in my LR and I use it to display decorative items.  Books are stored on another bookshelf elsewhere.  I've seen a lot of photos on Pinterest about styling bookcases and while overall I like how it looks I just feel like it needs a little tweaking (I know, leave it up to Pinterest to make you feel inferior!).  It's a dark toned wood and I do have some dark books and other accessories on it, so over time I added in some white and lighter tones.  I did notice on Pinterest that a well styled bookcase has layers comprised of a variety of sizes, shapes, textures, colors, etc.  What can I do to style this bookcase better?  What would you add to or subtract from it?  I have additional decorative items that I can pull from other areas of the house that are of similar sizes, shapes, colors, etc. to what is already there.  The whited out portion is one of those date established signs with our last name on it, so I covered that up. The sign is dark wood like the bookcase so it kind of blends in. 

I apologize for the lighting and bad photo quality.  I did not feel like pulling out my regular camera to take just one photo. 

[heygrey]

it looks a little crowded to me. i'd start by taking off 1/3 of what's there and then tweaking the arrangement.

[TBM]

It is really hard to see the photo, but from what I can tell you have too much of the same height going on. Put a couple of the small frames with a tall one, and make the stacks of books different heights, with some shelves having the books vertically and other shelves stacked.

Maybe group some of the like things together...same colors in a grouping or a couple of groupings on separate shelves, or similar items, like a collection.

The other thing is to vary the placement on the shelves a bit. Right now it seems like you have a lot of left, middle, right placement, where varying it might be more interesting. I would put the established sign on the left of that shelf, then put a grouping of a couple of items with varying heights on the right.

[boiler717]

Great suggestions so far! I'd also change the height of your shelves so they aren't all the same. You can put some of your taller items on shelves with more space.