Architecture and interior design thread

I'd have it fully mirrored. Or have a colour change light to give different vibes for different times of day.

I agree actually - it's just nice as is - you can see in the pix above how much better it is without the plant - sculptural - doesn't need tat.

If you've got kids it's not going to stay empty though is it. Maybe it would be nice to make it a kind of feature that you always have something made by someone in the family displayed - standing, stuck to the wall or hanging. It's kept just for that and it changes every so often.

Or, more practically, a bowl of washed fruit.

If you must

I would put something warm and sculptural in there, minimal texture if at all. Id spend some time looking for something that really fits well. Or I'd make my own. Or nothing.

Nice spot for a custom fishtank. With fishes.

Shrunken head

Shrunken head collection

I vote:

1. Sheppz' mirror-mobile combo
   
2. Empty*
   
3. Fishless fish tank
   
   

*but you need something around the area on the kitchen side as (no offence) it looks a bit sad. The non-kitchen side looks cool and sculptural. I also wonder if this is why your first instinct is to put stuff there? - is that the direction you look through it most?

Tile around and through the apertures?

Also like the mirror idea. Bit more light into kitchen side.

Fairground mirror

'Always on' Scalextrix loop.

@Thrustvector @fredtc and anyone else with Elra experience
I'm finally ordering some Elfa brackets and uprights plus Wickes timberboard for the shelves.

Would you recommend buying the Elfa wall screws? (to go into solid brick plus thick 1920s ashey plaster) Or would it be better to get something from Wickes? The Elra pack doesn't look anything special - the screws are also labelled 55mm and 64mm in different on the same page!

Bearing in mind I'm pretty shit at drilling into my walls... Wondering if something from this page might be better.

Thos are just generic screws and wall plugs. Probably nothing wrong with them but I would / did:

• Buy screws of the correct spec but in a Posidrive head and buy a new posidrive bit to match
  
• Buy good plugs, I went for Fischer Duoplugs (as recommended for mounting String shelving) but Rawlplugs have been faultless for me in the past.
  
• Buy the best 2mm (for pilot) and 5.5mm masonry bits that I could justify
  

I used the Elfa packs, mainly because I was ordering everything together (also from Ironmongery Direct) and so I figured it was worth the small premium not to have to think about getting suitable screws. They were fine - you're generally putting enough screws in each upright that they'll be OK with the odd slightly less secure one. Mine were going into crappy 1903 bricks with massively variable hardness, and I found decent drill bits and doing it in stages were more important than anything else. I think I used 2mm and 6mm bits to create pilot holes, before using the 8mm bit to finish drilling to the correct size for the plugs. I spaced them at 60cm, and they've held up just fine doing duty for 20cm and 30cm shelves with heavy books.

but you need something around the area on the kitchen side

I like it clear (Turrell vibes) but agree the kitchen view lets it down. From a lighting perspective i'd be looking to increase the vertical brightness as you look through. Do you have under unit lighting?

EDIT: If you can clear the stuff and centre the containers on top you could light the tiles/containers nicely.

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Great, thanks. The Elfa spec says 4.8x64mm which is not what the drawing on ironmongery direct looks like (6x55mm). The hole in the upright is 6mm diam, I am looking at 5mm diam screws plus 8mm Fischer Duopower. Or you'd go a size smaller?

Also good to know. Could get the Elfa screws and some fischer plugs.
I have a shelf on some sturdy steel brackets in the next room where the top screw in each bracket is pulling away from the wall and the whole lot is leaning. Going to try and fix it with those little plaster patches but it's an example of my crappy DIY.

To be honest I'd skip over the plaster patches an fix the screws into the wall with some R-Kem II (or similar) you could fix threaded rod in the hole so that you can remove it again or just permanently fix the screws into the wall.

another two ideas:

1. ant farm, for lols

2. this is what I would actually do... something with a lot of fishing line of different colors under tension and so densely woven that it would be hard to see through, but still transmit some ambient light in an interesting manner. I would have so much fun with this.
   https://admiller4.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/bn2.jpg
   https://imgur.com/gallery/mAC7oZQ
   http://www.modernedition.com/art-articles/string/string-art-history.html
   https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/in-focus/string-composition-128/introduction
   The hard part would be the mounting points for the strings to loop around. I think you could use brass tubes to make an elongated cube that fits in there nicely and then construct the string sculpture outside the space and then slide the entire thing. 1 inch is probably too big, but this sort of stuff:
   https://www.thehardwarehut.com/railing_ball.php?d80=200&d80=479
   https://www.thehardwarehut.com/catalog-product.php?p_ref=6464

One of these:

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String art, straight outta grade 6!

Ha! Great ideas :-) the kids would love the string/thread as they’re forever making things with wool yarn as it is.
And yes it’s pretty dull - or “neutral” - as one Estate Agent diplomatically put it.
My wife likes the walls white and plain pretty much everywhere so after more than 10 years it’s hard to imagine how to jazz it up.

I'm not insulted, yet. Try again.

Another thought, if you're not onboard with the fish tank idea. How about a panel of stained glass? With a recessed strip of LED lights on either side?