diff --git a/doc/source/10min.rst b/doc/source/10min.rst
index ef6b2d6ef2c90..0a23f490e6628 100644
--- a/doc/source/10min.rst
+++ b/doc/source/10min.rst
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
    np.random.seed(123456)
    np.set_printoptions(precision=4, suppress=True)
    import matplotlib
-   matplotlib.style.use('ggplot')
+   # matplotlib.style.use('default')
    pd.options.display.max_rows = 15
 
    #### portions of this were borrowed from the
diff --git a/doc/source/computation.rst b/doc/source/computation.rst
index 23699393958cf..97472ca4dd938 100644
--- a/doc/source/computation.rst
+++ b/doc/source/computation.rst
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
    np.set_printoptions(precision=4, suppress=True)
    import pandas as pd
    import matplotlib
-   matplotlib.style.use('ggplot')
+   # matplotlib.style.use('default')
    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
    plt.close('all')
    pd.options.display.max_rows=15
diff --git a/doc/source/cookbook.rst b/doc/source/cookbook.rst
index 5bb3ba75fe51b..f13e5e67de07e 100644
--- a/doc/source/cookbook.rst
+++ b/doc/source/cookbook.rst
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
    pd.options.display.max_rows=15
 
    import matplotlib
-   matplotlib.style.use('ggplot')
+   # matplotlib.style.use('default')
 
    np.set_printoptions(precision=4, suppress=True)
 
diff --git a/doc/source/dsintro.rst b/doc/source/dsintro.rst
index ec0a1c7a00bf7..e5c7637ddb499 100644
--- a/doc/source/dsintro.rst
+++ b/doc/source/dsintro.rst
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
    pd.options.display.max_rows = 15
 
    import matplotlib
-   matplotlib.style.use('ggplot')
+   # matplotlib.style.use('default')
    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
    plt.close('all')
 
diff --git a/doc/source/gotchas.rst b/doc/source/gotchas.rst
index 9e6f98923fca6..8ae830d7fd76b 100644
--- a/doc/source/gotchas.rst
+++ b/doc/source/gotchas.rst
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
    import pandas as pd
    pd.options.display.max_rows = 15
    import matplotlib
-   matplotlib.style.use('ggplot')
+   # matplotlib.style.use('default')
    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
    plt.close('all')
 
diff --git a/doc/source/groupby.rst b/doc/source/groupby.rst
index e1231b9a4a200..ddc7d7fcd2ff1 100644
--- a/doc/source/groupby.rst
+++ b/doc/source/groupby.rst
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
    import pandas as pd
    pd.options.display.max_rows = 15
    import matplotlib
-   matplotlib.style.use('ggplot')
+   # matplotlib.style.use('default')
    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
    plt.close('all')
    from collections import OrderedDict
diff --git a/doc/source/missing_data.rst b/doc/source/missing_data.rst
index 65b411ccd4af2..1fffb2963b7ca 100644
--- a/doc/source/missing_data.rst
+++ b/doc/source/missing_data.rst
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
    import pandas as pd
    pd.options.display.max_rows=15
    import matplotlib
-   matplotlib.style.use('ggplot')
+   # matplotlib.style.use('default')
    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 
 .. _missing_data:
diff --git a/doc/source/visualization.rst b/doc/source/visualization.rst
index b5a261e3acac5..bed83758ee2ff 100644
--- a/doc/source/visualization.rst
+++ b/doc/source/visualization.rst
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
    np.set_printoptions(precision=4, suppress=True)
    pd.options.display.max_rows = 15
    import matplotlib
-   matplotlib.style.use('ggplot')
+   # matplotlib.style.use('default')
    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
    plt.close('all')
 
@@ -24,13 +24,6 @@ We use the standard convention for referencing the matplotlib API:
 
    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 
-The plots in this document are made using matplotlib's ``ggplot`` style (new in version 1.4):
-
-.. code-block:: python
-
-   import matplotlib
-   matplotlib.style.use('ggplot')
-
 We provide the basics in pandas to easily create decent looking plots.
 See the :ref:`ecosystem <ecosystem.visualization>` section for visualization
 libraries that go beyond the basics documented here.
@@ -134,7 +127,7 @@ For example, a bar plot can be created the following way:
    plt.figure();
 
    @savefig bar_plot_ex.png
-   df.iloc[5].plot(kind='bar'); plt.axhline(0, color='k')
+   df.iloc[5].plot(kind='bar');
 
 .. versionadded:: 0.17.0
 
@@ -154,7 +147,7 @@ and :ref:`DataFrame.boxplot() <visualization.box>` methods, which use a separate
 
 Finally, there are several :ref:`plotting functions <visualization.tools>` in ``pandas.plotting``
 that take a :class:`Series` or :class:`DataFrame` as an argument. These
-include
+include:
 
 * :ref:`Scatter Matrix <visualization.scatter_matrix>`
 * :ref:`Andrews Curves <visualization.andrews_curves>`
@@ -1049,6 +1042,21 @@ be colored differently.
 Plot Formatting
 ---------------
 
+Setting the plot style
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+From version 1.5 and up, matplotlib offers a range of preconfigured plotting styles. Setting the
+style can be used to easily give plots the general look that you want.
+Setting the style is as easy as calling ``matplotlib.style.use(my_plot_style)`` before
+creating your plot. For example you could do ``matplotlib.style.use('ggplot')`` for ggplot-style
+plots.
+
+You can see the various available style names at ``matplotlib.style.available`` and it's very
+easy to try them out.
+
+General plot style arguments
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
 Most plotting methods have a set of keyword arguments that control the
 layout and formatting of the returned plot: