Another look that while not necessarily dull or drab, is something I'd try to avoid...an accent or feature wall of stone, different paint color, or wood or other material like grass cloth etc would do a lot to enhance this area. Keep in mind the importance of using colors that are very close in tone or darker than Munsil gray, which is a color evaluation/metering system that also became a reference color that doesn't reflect much light and would be used for ceilings and side walls and even floors so the screen doesn't reflect and bounce light back off of these surfaces creating a much duller less contrasty image etc