This is a tentative design for my built in

I still love Besta from Ikea to do exactly what you are planning. My advice befoe doing anything is to change your lighting to all LED bulbs I like 4000K but 3500K that is a lot better than what you have,All your track light bulbs can be replaced with LEDs and no more yellow glow on everything. Take those shelves down of the wall behind the sofa ahng both pieces of art properly not staggered and paint the walls anything but yellow . I love this color cut 25 % for a nice neutral then I would do a mix of beech and white for the other units.Something like this to keep eye clutter to a min

I'd be inclined to do the storage unit white with a mix of some wood and paint the walls a dry straw color, similar to the cabinet at the end of your sofa or the lightest tone in your rug. I wouldn't do a green. Take down the long shelves and bring all the big dynamic red orange artwork to the wall behind the sofa and dining table. Gather the smaller art works for the wall between the counter seating and the new unit, or put more in the entry way. Bring many of the famly photos to the side table and coffee table, or arrange them in smal groups in the new unit rather than spacing them outin rows. Try gathering all your flower decor together into one very large flower market basket , plain or colorful, that can be set on the floor (or it looks like you might aleady have a basket you can use).

If you don't need 3 chairs at the table every day, move the one closest to the lamp to somewhere else, maybe with a pillow on it if it doesn't go to another room.

If you must have it ? Clean up the design, and store more in more closed storage., display less

Avoid the 1975/1980 appearance

That said?

I would not do a "built in" anything, unless a very long and low storage , and the 65 or 85 inch tv mounted above it.

I understand your urge to display, but your space is crowded, jumbled with too much display.

Cluster some art above the sofa, please lose the floating shelves.. Limit the table top family pictures! You can have a digital frame that revolves hundreds of them! Enjoy it all day and no dusting required. Speakers today ? There are small powerful options.

The dried flower concept ages the decor, does not even really SUIT your decor - it's reading very shabby chic in a modern contemporary setting. A nice big orchid instead ! Or?Treat yourself to fresh, weekly, at the grocery. One color, one flower, and make it one abundant vase. Start over the following week !

A good weeding, pruning and "store treasures elsewhere" would elevate the look of the condo quite a lot.

An electrician can elevate the look of the track lighting as well. You want the light....not the "track" : ) as the noticeable element.

I would kiss the overly strong yellow paint tata no matter the finish on any cabinetry.

I would rethink the built in. Mount the tv on the wall and do a long low closed console underneath. The room will feel much lighter, brighter and airier.

Is it possible to move both the billy book case portions towards the kitchen on the other side of the wall jut out? I think you could then take the upper portion of the Bonde unit and the other square portions to make one long credenza, add legs and use it as a tv stand. The only portion you won't be using is the tv portion that was designed for the old type of tvs. I would try that first before making a new wall unit.

It's all about scale. Any tall storage on that wall is too big and too close to the seating.

The clutter, the tv, all the lights, and the floating shelves are also imposing and give a closed in feel.

I know you didn't ask but I would reconsider your built-in plan, your storage plan and the number of decor pieces.

I like the suggestions to simplify. You already have a lot going on, and the eye needs a place to rest. This low console is from Wayfair.

I think the wood would work better with your other elements. You have a cozy warm and yes, yellow thing going. White doesn't go with that. (Maybe a creamy white.)

I don't know if a wall unit is the way to go here but I get the feeling you need a place for your glassware and other stuff. (Zooming in, I see that you have planned this for your specific things. Good. You know exactly what you need.)

I like your room. It's not the bleak surgical look that is popular on this forum, but warm and interesting. It's nice to see crystal, photos, and art displayed.

Do not change your light bulbs! I prefer warm white less intense bulbs. I am not landing planes in my home.

I believe you should stay with the wood look, but if you do go white, as Fori said, go with an off white with yellow undertones, not stark white.

Your colors are beautiful and such a relief from all the white and gray.

I like your room, too, and agree that it's warm and interesting. As far as the color you use, I would use what you like best, then determine the wall color. I'm not sure I'd go with a white wall, regardless of the new center color. You need to take into consideration the other things in the room, such as floor and kitchen cabinets (since they're so close), when you choose that color, and I don't think white is right with those elements.

Thanks to everyone who has posted a reply. Some of you have put considerable effort into your responses. I added pictures of my living room for context.
The result was a lot of criticism, with suggestions to change the wall color, the lights, remove floating shelves, and even the dried flower arrangement.
I am 65 yers old so obviously my taste is in some way influenced by my age. I do not embrace the latest design trends, and frankly detested the “gray” trend
As well as minimalism. I favor warm colors and warm lighting. A complete overhaul of my place is also not in the cards for financial reasons. A lot of you are trying to talk
Me out of a built in but I need the storage. The new built in will have less depth than the current unit and cleaner lines as well as Led lighting strips. The new built in will have more open space in the center with the 65 inch frame tv displaying a painting. It will go from the jut out on the left all the way to the opposite wall. All of this will in my opinion simplify and modernize the design and make it look less busy and less imposing. I should also mention that i am having a painter/drywaller fill in the stippled ceiling with plaster to make the ceiling smooth. Then the ceilings will be painted white. This will make the ceilings whiter than they are now.
Still struggling with the color choice. The Stor-x team came over and suggested i use white with white oak (wood tone) on top of the base cabs and selected shelves as shown in attached picture. They suggested i paint the wall behind the built-in white.
I am still not sure about the color. What about an off white that matches the upholstery on the couch?

The wood shelves/"countertop" will blend it in nicely. It's hard to get a good read on your couch color from here but if the color works in there, I'd go for it.

I might also consider going with a REAL color pulled from your amazing rugs. But an off-white would probably open up the space more.

(Disclaimer: I am biased and also have yellow walls. 😁)

I read your distress in the other forum about the pros' responses. I have been in both of these forums for a really long time, and I don't like it when people are treated rudely.

I would like to point out to you, that you can click on the names of people who respond to you, and look over a lot of their responses to other threads, and then you can judge for yourself whether it's common for them to be curt with people. I hope that if you find you don't like their manner, that you can ignore their thoughts.

That said, I have seen a lot more rudeness than I see here in this thread!

I am sorry you have taken the advice personally. I believe that these people didn't have relevant information that you revealed in your response 2 hours ago. And you can maybe understand that random internet people have zero idea about your age or tastes, or your budget, or what you are trying to accomplish, unless you mention those things right from the get-go.

Responses are often all over the place! But you take what you want, discard the rest, just like when you ask friends about their opinion of such a decorating issue. This week, a friend mentioned to me that she would get rid of all my terra cotta pots. I really don't know why! She doens't like them. I just thought it was funny because she is typically a very kind person. She doesn't like them. I do. I'm not removing them at this time. I didn't take it personally.

The other issue seen often is that people come on here wanting to update their house. Since the trend for the past decade has been cleaner, more minimal looks, the advice tends to skew that way. It is what it is! Take the good and throw out what doesn't apply to you.

I like the unit you posted as inspiration, but I don't think I would use white, or even a warm white. If your walls were white instead of yellow, then maybe i would, but I think a large white unit in a room with yellow walls might skew utilitarian or kitchen-y. The wood will look more like furniture and replicate some of the warm wood tones from your coffee table and dining table.

I didn't see the comment, but think you mentioned someone criticizing the track lighting? Sometimes track lighting is the most practical way to light a space. Someday, though, I might think about changing the dark tracks to something that blends with the ceiling better, so they kind of disappear. The ones you have could be spray painted with paint made for metal, for an economical option.

Please come back and post your room when it's completed!

I like the white and wood you posted. I think that will tie every thing together. Is there going to be backs to you new built in?

Maybe someone could do a photo shop with your cabinets on the current yellow wall and one with it on the white.

If you paint white, I would do just the part behind the built in and in a color to match the cabinet. The sofa color would look well, also.

Agree some comments were blunt, but I have learned to evaluate suggestions I did not ask for and see if they have any value for me. Any change you decide on will affect other areas of your room, such as sleek and minimal on one side may have you looking at the other side with a different point of view and offer a chance to enhance to your liking. For example, I used to put a lot of family photos on any surface available - refrigerator, walls, bookshelves, and then add seasonal decor! After my mom passed and clearing out so much stuff (which she valued in her home) I cleared out as well and have settled on treating myself to a fresh bouquet - hey, grocery store is ok - and 5 - 6 framed photos I really love. Maybe not for you, but it worked for me. Have fun reimagining YOUR space.

I think a creamier white would work, although I am partial to the colour of the units you have now too. The colour of your units go well with the rest of your room. Are you sure you can't rearrange the unit you have and save some money? I had other Ikea units and changed them around for new looks all the time. I've also spanned two billy bookcases with a long board to make a built in look.

I love your new inspo pic. Why not paint the unit the same as the walls?

I'm sorry I may have offended. Yes I am blunt in telling people what I would do....and exactly why. But it's just an opinion.

And remember age is only a number lol.

Painting them the wall color (with a bit more gloss) is classic. And it HAS to match, by definition. But I'd still keep the wood parts. It wears well and it looks nice.

(I like the current color too.)