I would paint a sample on the foam core board they sell at the paint store for testing, and then put it in one of the openings. IMHO the cabinet has to much beadbaord, probably would have gone with plain shaker doors.

Paint some poster board the wall color and put that is the areas that you want to paint. You can always repaint it white if necessary but I think it would set off whatever you put on the shelves if it were painted the wall color.

I think it could look very nice, but I would paint something temporary and stick it in the open areas first. Live with it for a while before painting the desk (which I love, btw).

Is there a reason you want to paint those areas? They are very nice as they are.

Do think about the fact that those areas are already in shadow, so will end up reading darker than the walls.

What about getting cork for the back of the desk area to make that useable, and then having mirror cut for the center areas above?

I sure do appreciate your opinions!

I love the idea of painting a sample board and putting it up to live with it a while to see if I like it - sure takes the "scariness" factor out of committing to paint. I didn't realize the carpenter was going to use bead board for the back - I thought it was going to be totally open where you could see the wall - that was the only "surprise" I had in this project, fortunately.

The pic was taken in the middle of the installation and the shadowy areas now have under-cabinet lighting. Also, the room has tons of natural light so those desk areas really aren't dark most of the time - that pic was taken at night before the lights were installed.

The one thing I wish I had thought of when planning the design was to put in a glass shelf between the upper two cubbies - rather than a solid wood shelf. Have considered having the carpenter cut the center out of the shelf and inserting a glass piece, so the light illuminates both cubbies - will give that some more thought.

All of our cabinets throughout our home are bead board, so I wanted the desk door fronts to match ... yup, I'm struggling with that old school tendency to match things.

Neat idea to put corkboard on the back and the only problem with that is the desk location - we have a very open floor plan (living room, dining room, kitchen, foyer) and the desk is in our living room, on a wall that's open to all the rooms, so I have to keep the desk uncluttered, unfortunately. But, I appeciate the tip!

I will paint the sample board to see what it looks like. Will take a pic to show you what I decide upon. Again, a heartfelt thank you to you all!

{{!gwi}}

I personally would leave it like it is. You can put some "pretties" on the middle shelves and your computer or whatever you have on the desk part will cover a lot of the wall. I would leave it just like it is. Very nice, by the way.