Large murals, tile or other wise, open shelving for larger prettier serving ware and or vases etc.

An actual work kitchen spot

open shelves can be hard to look really neat, but if your kitchen is a real work kitchen, then it does not matter so much, at least not to me.
a wall mural, next to it a book shelf. cookbooks, etc.
now this is nice, total fold back doors and use it for all your electrics and whatever. I also saw one that was a bake center. or you could turn into a snack center, or drink center
a large tile mural

Final thought, not knowing who lives there, is an organization area, you can apply white board paint or magnetic paint or even chalkboard. Also at Michaels you can get black board wall paper - removable I believe and rolls of corkboard you can put up.

oh yes, i forgot, this is way cool too!

You can buy both of these in lowes or home depot, take the pic with you. put task lighting and your plugs under the shelves, so appliances can remain plugged in to the shelf above. Yeah, I know why didn't the kitchen guy think of this?

How about making it your breakfast bar and putting shelving above, with a mosaic mural in the center to break up the shelving? You can also, if you collect antiques, find some pretty teapots or glass pitchers on the shelves on display. Or you can install a wine rack, a wine glass holder and keep your spirits there. The space looks pretty long, so you can probably do all of these things there. I would not do a mirror, it is too 80's and the room is already large, you do not need to make it look like unending space.

You seem to have lots of storage space so how about leaving it empty? I'd be tempted to take down the uppers and enjoy the simplicity of a wall just being a wall

What is on the other side of the wall?

To me it looks odd. I wld continue the overhead cupboards and perhaps make some of them glass front display cupboards

I'd try to find out the manufacturer and stain on the cabinets - since you mentioned model home, and continue adding the missing ones. You can add glass doors and open shelving for a few....Good Luck.

agree that the space looks odd.
i sometimes wonder who signs off on these decisions...

What does the other side of the kitchen look like?

and I too, am curious about what is on the other side of the wall :)

Why not let that wall be a wall & simply add some "ton sur ton" drawings with a shiny paint to add some relief?
Give that room some place to breathe

Really appreciate the suggestions! thank you! the other side are more cabinets, space for the ref and a small pantry.

Normally, I dislike open shelving in kitchens, because of the constant cleaning, but this space looks far enough away from the stove. I'd put up floating shelves on part of the wall, and a large abstract painting with them.

I wish they had not continued the back splash past the upper cabinets. I think that it what makes it looks like it is screaming for something above. So I'd probably do some open shelving since I assume you can't remove the back splash.

I would ask if you can extend the upper cabinets or eliminate the bottom cabinets.

Floating shelves with things you like to collect, and favorite family photos, which you can rearrange or change out whenever you want.

jay borbajo, on the other side of the wall is another kitchen? I wonder if you misunderstood my question. What is behind the wall in your picture?

there isn't another room behind the kitchen. I believe it's the side fence entrance

Open shelving would fit perfectly in this space!

Thanks for everyone's suggestions! Definitely leaning towards a combination of open shelving and wine rack.

Maybe something like hung diamond bins or wall mounted VintageView?

I think either would look great in your space

Really it's an opportunity to add your own touch. Stained or painted anything would add variety to an often boring expanse of cabinets.... imo.

I'm intrigued by zzmom's idea.

Just thought of another idea: You could do an upper cabinet that comes all the way down to the base cabinet on the end and make it a built-in china/dish cabinet w/ some nice glass doors, again... all the other stuff I mentioned earlier could still fit into that space even if you did this as well... It is hard to tell you exactly what would look "right" without knowing what the style of your home is: Ranch, Colonial, Craftsman, Traditional 2 story, Modern 1 or 2 story, etc. You get the drift. What ever you do, make sure you like it and that it is somewhat in keeping with what someone would expect in your "style" of home. For example, a colonial could get away with a hutch pie shelf (or open shelving with single dish display space) and a built-in hutch, a ranch would look fine with shelving and art, etc.

Thanks for the suggestions Dee Smith. My wife really wants to do something along the lines of Scandinavian / Industrial. I want to say the kitchen will be more industrial and living room more Scandinavian

I recommend some floating shelving like we used in this project. Let me know if you have any questions, and click "follow" on our houzz page to get new inspiration :)

Definitely hanging shelves and REPLACE on of the cabinets with a beverage fridge. Great entertaining spot. Get lots of fun trays to hold apps and don't forget an ice bucket.

Three large, colorful posters framed to coordinate with your cabinets would do the trick!

Jean & Tatiana

FLAIR INTERIOR DESIGN

1) I would hang wine glasses or coffee mugs/tea cups.

2) Open shelving always looks nice when it is clean ex baking materials in beautiful jars/tins. You could have all your baking goods or all your grains, pasta, dried beans etc

Jay, I know everyone has dragged you all over, and all the ideas are great, but what we can not do is see your life. To me, if i had younger ones, it would be one of 2 ideas, the baking area i showed or a snack and drink area with the drawer fridge for drinks etc. If you entertain a lot, it is a great spot to keep a working bar or wine center, once again with cooling as needed and whatever else you should need for snacking with it.

The one thing I will say is that this is an excellent opportunity for you to get something just for you two. To fit your needs. It is a kitchen so I will say that if you were chefs, style of the rest of the house, would not affect how you deal with this. you can decorate it, but in two homes, one larger than the other and both very nice in two countries, this was Julia Childs kitchen. Kitchens do not need to match the style of your home. If you are selling, a cook's kitchen is a cook's kitchen, a place for your children or your pets is appreciated by all like minded souls.

Mirrors are a terrible idea for the kitchen. If you could extend the cabinets that would be the ideal choice. After that maybe add shelves out of wood stained to match the cabinets. Looks like the builder had poor taste and didn't know what to do. Let's hope his building skills are better than his decorating ability. At least he didn't add a niche.

I don't like the granite backsplash in that area, but since it is there the wall is screaming for something above it. I would certainly mount a floating wall shelf above the granite and then depending on the scale of your decorative items maybe another shelf above that.

Sounds like this is an outside wall. I would put in a window with a top down bottom up blind to cover what ever I did not want to see but let in light.

Sounds like you are leaning toward shelves. Open shelves would be great there but they are not for everyone. How do you know if open shelves are right for you? If a majority of the following are true for you then you may have a winner! If not then you may find them a bit hard to maintain.

1. If you’re clean and tidy.
2. If you’re good at editing.
3. If you have a collection to show off.
4. If you want to create an illusion of more space.
5. If you want to save money over buying cabinets.
6. If you love to entertain.

Regardless, post pics when you get it finished, you have a lovely kitchen.

Not sure of your dimensions. These are 36" X 36". A third could be done if two would not fill the space. They are originals. Glossy painted image, on matte white backgrounds, gallery-wrapped canvas.

Semi-permanent or not, try a wood shelf type thing / same height as cabinet and this type underneath - industrial baskets?

Or slightly distressed shelves, and baskets with 'gray wash' that blend in:

If shelves are you decision, maybe center could have just 1 bottom shelf for something tall... photo idea?

I think you should 1) make shelves that extend all the way across (doesn't have to match), 2) get exact cabinets and have it extend across, or 3) make a window. Don't be afraid of open shelving. You can fill it with books!!

I think eventually you may pick an accent color for your kitchen..Though yellow and blue are commonly used I picked red :). Here is a pic with shelves or with art. I like the shelves but they may get messy and to me it means dusting :(. If you are looking for abstract art feel free to check out my profile. I make custom sizes and pieces.