With a leafy houseplant still life, scale decides whether the kitchen wakes up. Go too small and it reads as a coaster; go one size up and the whole wall picks up colour. The dark green does the heavy lifting, and the flashes of yellow and bright red keep it from feeling serious. Hang it on a plain white or off-white wall where it has breathing room, above a sideboard, a run of counter or a small breakfast table. Pair it with pale wood, cane, glazed pots and striped cotton. Keep patterned wallpaper and other loud botanicals well away from it, and let it be the only bright thing on that wall. As a canvas the brushy paint texture reads well from across the room.