What about using some nice coordinating deep wicker baskets to store away useful items, such as dvd's or even kitchen pantry or other items that you don't use everyday. Larger nice looking 'collectible' types of items could go on the lower shelves so people don't see into the baskets. Or, put a layer of books pushed to the back and lean artwork or framed photos in front of them.

What about nice matching boxes or baskets? I have an open closet in my room, so I have two of these (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10154563) on my top shelf so I can throw in all the little stuff and still have it look tidy. You could have linens, sweaters, out-of-season clothes, or even books in the boxes/baskets and it will still look sharp from the front.

Maybe the first question is, do you want this to be stuff you need handy or stuff that can sit for awhile? Because if it's "handy", make it something like linens or dishes, but if it's "sit" it could be your holiday ornaments or whatever, and the items will help dictate the storage for them.

Baskets! Organize your books by subject or alphabetically by author and sort neatly into baskets that fit well on the shelves and with your decor.

If you have more than books to store, maybe leave a shelf or two open for displaying some of your art or favorite pieces.

Also love your desk idea!

Get some big baskets for odds and ends?

If the shelves are removable, this would make a great space for a desk area with a stool and a small space to pay bills etc. The key would be to keep it uncluttered and very organized. You could insert a glass shelf in place of the white wooden one for a desktop and on the shelves above use the depth for storage baskets filled with items you need, but don't access often like Christmas decorations. Try creating small vignettes in front of the baskets and you'll have a nice unified look but with visual interest from your personal touches.

Another alternative would be to cover the front with a curtain in a pattern that coordinates with your decor, and behind the curtain you can use it as storage without having to worry about how clean and organized it is all the time.

If you don't need the storage, take the top two shelves out and put in a pretty vase, or aquarium and use the space as an alcove to show off something possibly sticking an LED battery light to the top.

I would remove the shelves and hang a simple Elfa rail from the top. You could probably get a good 3 or 4 shelves up top (in several depth options) and then use their desk shelf near the bottom to serve as your desk. The shelves are nice, but you could have both.

do you have a coat closet or enough shoe storage space? it might be a nice place to hang 2 bars for extra coats/jackets or as-is for boots/etc.
i would love to have the problem of too much storage, so you know you're very lucky.

I would absolutely store things that you don't need everyday behind things like books and pictures in baskets and boxes.

Otherwise or in addition would huge huge slide in baskets for every other shelf and you could store so many things in there! It would absolutely be worth the cost of some pricy baskets.

Turn it into a bar. Put in a low bar cabinet, hang a mirror or an artwork above it, and install lighting on the ceiling if you can. Perfect for a living room and by the entryway.

You could also paint the entire inside of one of the shelving spaces so it would become a showcase for pottery/art/etc. The depth would come to life.

I love the idea of a bar or a desk!

I have lots of lovely glassware. Vases, stemware, glass bowls, etc. In this space I'd stage them in vignettes. Tall things in back, artfully arranged rather than in static rows. Do you have a collection of something? My brother in law would place a cowboy hat on each one.

I have built ins in my living room that are really deep like that and i use the ones that are at eye level for dvd/book storage and then i put sculptures or flower arrangements and a few of my husband's "prized action figures" in front of them. for the rest i use baskets for pretty storage.

You could put attractive baskets/boxes of items to be stored shoved to the very back and have your books in front of them. You could take LESS attractive boxes or vessels and cover them in some cool wallpaper to make a uniform backdrop for your books.

Small Tube TV?
Stereo components?
A Bar setup?
Collectibles?
Storage in Baskets or Decorative Boxes?

I would turn it into a gilded cage and keep three monkeys there.

First, I'd paint it something more dramatic than white. Maybe chocolate brown. Than hang artwork on each of the three side walls with a spot/touch light under each shelf. Than you could put a single stack of books (or two) on one nook, maybe a beautiful bowl on another (whatever you collect). Then the basket idea on the very bottom floor shelf. You could make it five distinct vignettes!

I think a desk would be functional and you would still have storage on the upper shelves. Since the hardwood floor runs into the knook I think a desk would fit oh so well.

When you say doubling up books, do you mean behind each other or with the second row on a sort of "step" so you can still see them? Like this" http://chezlarsson.com/myblog/2008/08/organizing-expe.html - or you could use the same system but put ornaments on the back shelf (so you'd have a row of books with a row of knick nacks sort of on top.

If not, everyone else's ideas of baskets, coat storage or a little desk nook (I'd use one of the shelves as my desk top if possible) are great.

If you want to use it for storage, think about what you need to store first and then how to make this space work for it (with a curtain or baskets or a hanging rod).

If you don't need storage, I wonder if it gets enough light to fill it with plants?

Like edmarch, I was also going to suggest a bar, though I don't think you would need cabinet necessarily - maybe line the shelves in some fun removable wallpaper and then have glassware on the top two shelves, the next shelf could be a bar "counter" with bar tools and a couple commonly used spirits and glasses for styling and convenience. Rest of booze on the shelf below that. Not sure what you'd put on the floor in that case, though.

Alternatively, I like the idea of putting books in front of baskets/bins that store uncommonly used items, or putting the books in the back and styling in front of them with decorative objects.

I don't know if I like the idea of putting a small desk in there, mostly because I think unless it fit perfectly, it would look like you tried to shove a desk in a tiny closet. Could you build something custom that would slide in there and look more like it was built-in, or could you just remove the bottom shelf and use the second one for the desk top? I would also worry about any electronics. You wouldn't be able to put a lamp or anything in there that needed to plug in since there's no outlets.

Weighing in:
yes ~ small desk, remove one shelf
yes ~ big square beautiful baskets for storage
yes ~ if no desk, hang beautiful piece of fabric or tapestry to hide the whole thing then store whatever you like
That's just me.

Paint or wallpaper on that back wall behind the shelves could look fantastic.

Check out some examples... I love the top one especially:

http://www.porterhousedesigns.com/colorsizzle/color-behind-the-shelves

You can put books in them, double-deep, if you put a little shelf half the depth and a few inches high in the back. The books on that shelf will stand above the front row and you can see their titles. This works really well only with books of like sizes, but that's not difficult.

@potpie - I would turn it into a gilded cage and keep three monkeys there.

Big smiles. Thanks.

If the shelves are removable, you don't have to keep them the same length. Just take them out, get some pieces cut that are the same width, but just as deep as you want. Then, they could easily turn into display shelves for books and things.

Love the bar or desk idea. If you go with the bar, make a double purpose shelf and undermount some wine racks. It'd be super cute!

Save one deep shelf for big books that otherwise stick out. Are the shelves deep enough that you could put a one-drawer file cabinet on a shelf? That would be a handy way to corral magazines or sheet music.

We have a shelf unit with super deep shelves. We store DVDs on it, and stash all manner of random stuff behind the DVDs. Mostly we store boxes from electronics and camera gear (those pesky things way increase the resale value and make them worth keeping). You don't see the boxes behind the DVDs, but our shelves are much more closely spaced than yours. Still, you could use the same principle with large books or magazines in magazine boxes....

We had shelves like that in my first house growing up - used it to store board games in the front and longer-term linen and towel storage behind them.

I think that would look really weird as a bar or a towel closet, but that's just me. Shelves like that ARE meant to house books- and I totally understand your hesitancy to double up. I have a shelf like that in my home, and it took me ages to realize how to utilize it to the fullest potential. Now, it seems so obvious.

Store unsightly or seldom used things towards the back of the shelves- this is fine because there is a back on the built ins. Things you might need, but aren't ever exactly where to put- extra cables, Christmas decorations, winter clothes in the summertime, etc. towards the back of these shelves. This is great for my home, because we are a little short on closet space. Then, store books at the front of the shelves just as you would if they weren't so deep. To get to the goods in the back, just remove two or three books and viola, instant access. It will look great, I promise, just try it.

I like to use pretty baskets or containers that fit the depth. Great way to hide "junk" in a nice way. This allows full use of the total space available with easy access. I don't like storing items behind a row of books because things get dusty VERY quickly. Ick!

Another option is to remove lower three shelves and hang a rod. Use for clothing storage/coat closet if you are lacking one. Then simply hang a pretty curtain floor to ceiling or just below the bottom of the top shelf to hide the closet.

Replace the wooden shelves with ones made of tempered or laminated glass. Fill it with barware and glass serving pieces. Try lighting it from below.

Ashleyjo stole my comment - cut those shelves down to the depth you want. mxjohnson stole my other comment - replace some or all of them with glass. I'd leave the bottom one deep and use a deep basket there and below, then perhaps graduate them as they go up. The shelves, not the baskets.

I would not leave as is and do all matchy-matchy baskets the whole thing. Dated. But two large baskets on the bottom and first shelf would give you great storage, then start displaying and layering.

I too have deep shelves. My books line the back and I put decor items in the front.

A combination of all the above suggestions! Paint the walls an awesome color to make the shelves pop, take the shelves and get them cut down at your Home Improvement store (or go to their glass/acrylic section and have them cut those into shelves) and then also put in your desk! I don't know where your outlets are though, so you would need one of those for your laptop/lamp. Then either cover it all with an awesome hung fabric or only hang it high enough to cover the desk area and leave your pretty display shelves showing!

The deep shelves sound like the perfect depth for board game boxes. A bar would be perfect, too!

I hate the idea of baskets, but that's just me. They just end up being clutter holders for crap you forget about and never use again. The exception would be if you already have some stuff in storage, you could use prettier storage bins here to free up your closet space.

- First to make it prettier! Take out the shelves, wallpaper / paint / stencil the inside. Since you have an apartment - you can get temporary stencils for them! Put shelves back in (or you can leave some/all out depending on what you want).

- Create a pretty vignette: Perhaps remove the top shelf, hang something big and bold and pretty from the ceiling, and place some decorative items on the next shelf from the top. Great place for plants if you have enough light.

- Looks like it's close enough to the entrance to be a convenient location to store scarves, gloves, hats, leg warmers, umbrellas, etc, stuff that you'd need right before going out. Place in wicker baskets. This system works great for me and hubby - we don't have to go back to the bedroom to grab stuff after stepping outside and realizing it's cold / raining!

- If I had this I'd put kitty cat beds in the lower bottom shelves but that's cause I have cats.. may not apply to you!

I like Annabelvita's and Therese Z's "stepped" book shelf idea.

Or, if you had the time and inclination, build rectangular boxes with translucent plastic tops. Light them from within with LEDs/christmas lights (you get the idea) and run all the power cords down a notch you cut into the back of the existing shelves.

The boxes would take up the back space of the deep shelves, pushing your books closer to the front edge and creating a lighted display space above and behind the books. The lighted boxes don't have to be as tall as the books.

Put in a false back and use the space behind for "secret stuff" and the front for books.

Tons of Great Ideas here.. if you really need storage.. the kind you dont want to look at!

Curtains or a sliding door/panel/mirror

I was thinking the stepped idea too. I do that in my kitchen cabinets and it's great to easily see what is in the back. you could then store the books on the higher back shelf and still have a nice display area in the front of each shelf. You could get really fancy building boxes, or just get some wood the depth of what you want and cut to length to fit in. stack the pieces to create different heights depending on what you are putting in each shelf.

You can always have a closet for towels and sheets and add a little curtain. With white walls, some color from a curtain might be nice.

veslabeachgirl summed up what I was thinking very concisely! Thanks!

We had this same problem and my husband built a fake back wall so we could use the space for books. Very easy if you are handy. You can also use the space behind the fake wall as a secret safe. Kinda cool!

bodicegoddess (aka: sister), I totally forgot about that!

I have similar shelves in my new place and I will be using them for kitchen stuff like jars, mugs, glasses.