What would you do with this?

[Homedesign123]

This area of home has a tendency to become a bit of a dumping ground and it drives me bonkers, I think it needs the back wall decorating. at the moment the whole room kitchen included is just plain white and I think the wall where the tv is needs wallpaper or something. What would you do with it?

It becomes a bit of a dumping ground because it's a bit blah and I'm hoping if it's a bit more more wow I'll want to keep it that way

the kitchen in behind where I'm stood taking this and is the same as the back cabinets.

I am not a fan of a feature wall generally but I think it would work really well on that wall. I would pick a nice green wallpaper with a pattern. Maybe something with flowers or plants? Or just something else dramatic that you like the colours of. Everything else is very neutral so you could get away with pretty much any colour.

I'd get rid of the TV for starters. It looks ugly and surely it isn't needed in a kitchen/diner.

It definitely needs some colour and as the PP said you could do almost anything with those neutrals.
Pictures, accessories.

If you need any more storage I'd put some open shelving up for things you'd like on display, some plants etc.

I can't stand wall papered feature walls but painting it might work. You'd need to go quite bright/contrasting to avoid it just blending in. It's all very pale and muted at the moment so I think something that gives a bit of life would be good.

You could also avoid the shelf being a dumping ground by spreading the nick-nacks out a bit rather than having them clustered up both corners. At the least, have aomeththat covers that big open middle space - at the moment it's begging for letters and key to be dumped there 😂

But I also think you need to change habits. Papering or painting the wall or adding some more gubbins isn't going to magically stop you or your family using it as a dumping space. Break that habit. Maybe every night after washing up, make it a habit to take the days accumulated junk and do something with it.

A TV isn't "needed" in the kitchen, but lots of people like to have one for when they are cooking, cleaning, or (gasp!) eating.

OP is just asking for decorating advice, no need for any judgement.

What do you use the room for? Do you watch TV and do you sit at the table for dinner every day?

that makes a difference to approach

Is remove all the stuff on top of the units and just have one larger object.

Remove the TV and replace with a mirror.

I loathe feature wallpaper it might work on the back wall if it's subtle.

Brick tiles would look good or completely re-think, remove the TV and get some mirror-backed shelves with lighting to make it a 'bar' type area or coffee bar. Depends if the TV gets used.

What kind of stuff gets dumped there? Does that stuff have a home? If not, it probably needs a place to go, not a million miles away.

I'm not really seeing how decorating will help . I feel like you are trying to make the space something its not as its not big enough to be a living room space. I'd take out the nice nacs and accept that some discreet storage for the day to day stuff that gets left might be needed . It's got a nice feel.

Ie, think about the storage for that stuff primarily (and your general use of the space as PP said) otherwise you have a load of stuff dumped in front of a feature wall.

But yes with pale colours the eye will be drawn to the bright or dark objects/surfaces in contrast.

But the TV looks ugly and limits what can be done with the space so it is decor advice.

That's fair enough. Just thought the "surely it isn't needed" sounded a bit judgy. No need to make people feel bad for their choice of how they relax.

That tv does get used, OH often watches concerts on YouTube on it while he cleans and the way our house is that room is basically in the middle of the house, so it's a pretty central area, there's a play room and downstairs toilet and back door to the garden to the right of that space and living room to the left. My son plays the switch on it too when he has his friends round. My whole house was renovated 2 years ago when neutrals where a massive trend and I'm so bored off it already, I've redone the lounge with dark green being the main colour and I really like that, Im just scared to touch anything now incase I hate it because we spent so much money doing it 😂

I actually agree I think the tv would be better replaced with a nice big mirror but unfortunately when we renovated my OH said I could have the kitchen however I wanted as long as he could have a tv there

In that case, you could speak to a carpenter/joiner about getting some bespoke shelving so it blends in more and you have storage too?

What about a mirror TV?

That would be nice but they're very expensive

Cheap way to hide the tv when not in use

dinexdesign.com/blog/how-to-stylishly-hide-your-tv

I'd have several ideas of what to do with the space, then do absolutely nothing about it for several years until we both have enough and I use up half my holiday or more on decorating/DIY.

Go wild with wallpaper, I'm loving some of the bright botanicals that are around right now. It's probably only one roll so not a big deal to replace if you get bored in a couple of years. I'd put 2 or 3 very big houseplants on top of the cupboards in fabulous pots. TK Maxx have some beauties very reasonably priced. Also look in there for a big fancy bowl for keys and odds and ends, promise yourself that you will clear it out once a month. You can set up a TV so that there is a picture on the screen when not in use. So could you have a picture of the wallpaper? It would pretty much disappear then.Maybe a more colourful runner on the table or a big jug of flowers, you can get beautiful artificial flowers but they are quite expensive

Could you "zone" it a bit - so there is a distinct dining area - using paint or paper and a rug under the table? Some ideas https://www.dulux.co.uk/en/articles/simply-refresh-traditional-with-a-twist
https://www.homesandgardens.com/news/color-tricks-to-zone-open-plan-rooms

On the "dumping" issue you need to see what gets dumped there on a regular basis and then break the habit - eg if it is sports kit as soon as they get back from PE/gym ask them to put it straight in the utility room, school bag goes on peg in hall as soon as you get through the front door - take it down to do homework and then goes straight back on peg etc etc. Car keys go in a box in the hall etc ....

I took someone's advice and put a picture on the tv, I think even that brightens it up a bit so Thankyou whoever said that

I like that OP!

Now paint the wall one of the couleurs in the picture ,so you are extending it outside the frame . That will warm up the whole space. And get a table runner in the same sort of colour.

I really like the tv picture and the space in general.
Get some decent size paper ,paint with different colour tester pots and masking tape to the wall then see which colour draws you in , it's only one wall and easier to rectify if you change your mind in the future.
Then add a few colours into the decor instead of all neutral eg coloured lamp shade or paint the lamp base .