Are you saying that cooking next to the chute would gross you out even if its covered? Andd to use it for its intended purpose? In the first picture, it looks like the stove is directly underneath the chute, but I can see in other pics that it is not. I think it is far enough away. If everything is bagged properly, it shouldn't be that bad. You will have to check on local code regarding having the stove next to the window. Code may make your decision for you. People usually just put shorter cabinets above that type of range hood. I would recommend doing so because you need all the storage you can get. The hood--being different from the bank of cabinets--will provide relief to the eye. With cabinets above, it'll still feel balanced. And, as for covering the chute, do you want to cover it and restrict access or do you still need to use it for its intended purpose and just want to camouflage it? To help the room feel pleasant, cheery, and light, I recommend using a glass tile. Even though it's applied to a wall, the translucency still shows and evokes a sense of the adjectives above. I think it would help keep things light. Consider a slightly higher toe-kick underneath the lower cabinets. It helps to create a lighter-footed feeling. You could also consider cabinets that have furniture style feet. for a more open feeling. Your kitchen seems like an ideal room to use modern, lacquered cabinets. I don't know if you like the super-modern look, but I think it could be nice. Maybe just for the uppers. Use a medium-to-light toned wood on the bottom. A limestone floor might be nice. Or you can do wood or laminate. You could go with dark or light. I think it's mostly about preference.

Since you have white and black windows, fans, doors, gates, you need a light tan beige rather than an off white cream - off white will just look dirty next to the white. Something that goes warm neutral instead of yellow will work well. Tropical can mean lots of different things to different people - pick one accent color - a lagoon type green-blue-green with large leafy palms, and add a sail shade (triangle shaped) in the same tone to the upper deck.

I'm not a pro (and I hope a real designer answers your question), but here's how my family does it in Singapore: 1. Get rid of things. Don't fall prey to sunk cost fallacies. Just because you bought a piece of furniture or a bunch of clothing or books or toys or whatever, doesn't mean you need to keep them if they are no longer working for you. You can sell stuff on Carousell or donate them to needy people. Sometimes not having those things will provide more value, by freeing up space, than the false belief that you need to keep things around because you paid for them. 2. Everything should be multi-function. Especially here in Singapore, everything should have multiple uses. Your bed can lift up to provide storage. Your book shelf can also be your entertainment stand. Your coffee table can double as a breakfast nook or homework table. No tool in your kitchen should be a one-job tool (for example, if you have a blender, a food processor, a spice grinder, an immersion blender, a coffee grinder and a mortar and pestle - maybe it's time to clean out the kitchen cabinets). 3. Rotate toys We have a baby at home and try really hard not to accumulate too many toys. To do that we have two toy bins. Every two weeks we switch the bin that's in rotation, so every two weeks our baby gets "new" toys that he hasn't seen for a few weeks. That allows us to keep the total number of toys to a minimum and he seems to be pretty happy (and hasn't caught on to this trick yet). Hope that helps some. Google around for "small apartment" blogs and ideas - there is a ton out there. Andrew

Thanks everyone for the great comments!! I’ve decided to incorporate everyone’s comments. 1) Using Nippon rememberance for the wall color 2) Using pastel curtains with 3M to cover the ugly door and meter box 3) Making my own night stand from books 4) Getting a big art piece for the side wall 5) Putting a 55 inch TV at the foot of my bed for well, extravagance Some quick questions... 1) what color curtains and table top work best with this shade of grey? For the table top, I might get a fresh piece of wood and laminate myself. 2) what modern frame do you recommend for this wall and this kind of art, or should I drop the frame, and innovate, maybe just get a big piece of plastic and glue the sides? ;) 3) any fun ideas for the TV stand? I don’t want to rent a minivan just to transport the tv stand, and the space between my bed and the planned curtain is tiny - like 45cm. So I’m thinking of an adhoc tv stand and stabilising it in a different way. :) Ok, you guys have been super crazy helpful! Thank you so much, I’ll share photos (hopefully not too embarrassing) when I’m done!