First, I decided to use something I learned when I owned several old Victorian homes.

The wainscot effect. Basically, I went part way up the walls,
put pieces of trim across and painted the upper area off-white.
This gives a feeling of opennes without looking all sterile like a hospital.
Here's where the wife starts to make her contributions...

Palm trees.. EVERYWHERE!

Those palms aren't painted on the cupboard doors.
They are wooden ones which I painted and applied.
I used the appropriate size and shape Tupperware container
to make the template oval cutout in the linoleum.