with all the white you have there, maybe you're not into color. I would want to put a carpet runner, or several different carpets end to end on that space to jazz it up. You could use a combination of sewn on and sticky velcro, or a piece of 1/4 round painted white and carpet tacks to secure the carpets if need be. You wouldn't have to dust carpets; shelving= dust.

i think a darker muted colour would work better

actually the handrail should stay as is,just a spindles and balusters should be painted in white. the doors should be changed. that's a next step.

Haha! No I forgot! But I let everyone choose a couple of things, including a ballerina, Eminem, some other rapper I don't recognise, the Beagle 2 Mars lander, an eighteenth century astronomer, Durham Cathedral, Groucho and Karl Marx, the Rocinante space ship from The Expanse, a famous (apparently) meme, and an x box controller!