shelves shift

I just bought this pair of Italian fish at the Lauritzen Gardens Antique & Garden Show. They are from Nufangle Antiques in Kansas City. I can't quite decide if they are going to stay in this spot or not. 

I love the fish, but do they make the wall look washed out?  

This fireplace is made of cement, and I painted it to resemble limestone. (Hopefully you all thought it was limestone!) I used to love the color, but now I think it looks yellow? I think it desperately needs dark grey. I've met with Andy Moore about re-painting the fireplace. We'll see how that goes. 

I noticed something else when I hung the fish.. I didn't like the darker colored books on the shelves. In fact, I didn't like some of the vignettes on the shelves at all. Another project began...

 I took out all the black books on the shelves...

And started moving things around...

So here are the shelves before the switch, with the dark-colored books still in place...

And here they are after the removal of the darker books, and a few things rearranged...

I don't mind the empty spaces!

Much lighter and happier!  Not so serious...

I have other options for the space over the fireplace. I'm waiting for something to be framed, one option. I've always wanted a sunburst mirror, another option. As far as the painting of the fireplace, I'm on a waitlist. Always a process...