I had storage under my stairs in our previous home and am having it done again. I loved it. I put seasonal things such as candles, wreaths etc., that I could not put in the attic in there. I had considered making shelves/built-ins in the hallway under the stairs but I decided I would rather just have storage. It is also a great place to store the vacuum cleaner. Mine is open all the way under the stairs, the framer was going to wall it off and make it like a coat closet but I felt like that was wasting space. IMO it's great.

A houzz contributor, not too long ago, had made a wine rack out of 4'x4' wooden pallets, that are used in the US to move a load of goods with a fork-lift truck. Perhaps they have them in your country. He cut them in half so they were only two feet deep and stacked them up to high counter height. The wood would be a nice contrast with your concrete, might add a little warmth to the space. cascio.offsite@gmail.com

Seems weird not to incorporate it into the design -- I'm all about having things "look intentional" rather than working around them later. Like could the island have connected to this, rather than extending past it? or been L-shaped, so there's room for an extra stool, and also a wall cabinet? Anyway, hard to discuss that in the abstract without kitchen plans. I'm with miacometlady's original advice to not worry about it right now, and decide how to deal with it once the bulk of your kitchen is in place. You might find that you hardly notice it, with all the beautiful new finishes, or it might seem obvious to put some stainless or glass shelves there, or maybe simple is best and one simple hanging picture does the job. Don't stress about it until After. :)

this is a never ending battle between functionality and aesthetics! :D Well , IMO the drawing seems pretty functional and you can get good use out of it. however, if you think it looks too boxy then a good option would be to play around with different materials and textures to give it some character. For example, you can use tinted mirror shutters, or a tinted glass back panel to break the monotony. 3D charcoal sheets are good option for the shutters and drawers fascias. you can even have it painted in a variety of colours (a glossy or matte PU finish in a bright colour or texture such as blue or mustard). You can even use a wine rack fitted on top and the top open shelves can be modified a bit in a criss cross way to store bottles. add some live plants or creepers too. Hope this helps...cheers! :)