Thanks @Huma0. I have so many colorful little things that I decided to keep the structure itself very Zen-colored in gray and white to let the colors come out and everything feel less cluttered.
The tiny entrance area was my own dumping ground and wood repositary for several years until I got tired of squeezing past stuff when entering or leaving the apartment. It's such a funny little space that I decided to let it be the only funky and bright colored place in my home (I already had the green flowery wallpaper used on the coat storage thing and walls). I went all out crazy with the mirrors everywhere to optically enlarge the space.
And then I found a funny little mirror which sort of connects two larger ones, and that has a continuous long text of "Oh, how beautiful you are! You're charming. Tou look gorgeous! It's fantastic. You are so infinitely attractive! I think that you are fabulous, just fabulous! you are absolutely delectable. Your hair is really stunning. It sparkles with life! I love the way that you do your hair, that silken head of curls and waves is glorious......" and on, and on, and on for another 10x as many compliments 😄 What I find incredible is the amount of complimented things and the sheer endless battery of descriptive nouns! You just can't look at it and stay in a bad or woe-is-me mood. It's funny though, that nobody has ever commented on it specifically.
Re. your dumping repository - if you don't have time yet, you could consider doing something unserious and 'artsy (though I have no idea how large the space or the piles): Maybe you can find inexpensive gold-colored cloth to hang over and cover the stuff. Coming into a space with things covered under a gold blanket is such a strange sight, it's hard to forget! The thermo insulation blankets used to protect burn or undercooled victims are pure golden colored foil on one side, but they aren't super cheap. A friend of mine used it as a cover she lays over a practical but boring shelf in a niche - very impressive eye catcher.