A bit of good news: You don't have to revamp a whole room to add visual interest to your space. One of my favorite design tricks is to change up the backs of bookshelves with a bold paint color. Take a look at these spaces:
BEFORE: These are handsome bookshelves, but they don't exactly serve as a strong design element in the room. And I bet you couldn't care less what's on those shelves because you can't actually see what's on them.
AFTER: I used dark navy paint, Benjamin Moore Hale Navy, to draw a viewer's eye in and give enough contrast to make the obects on the shelves interesting.
And here's another example:
BEFORE: Lovely but a bit dull.
AFTER: We used a finishing technique by a local finisher, using a base coat of Benjamin Moore, Chili Pepper, and a glaze applied with a tint of Rasberry Pudding. The living room in this house is long; painting the backs of the bookshelves helps the human eye find an easy and interesting place to rest.