Ok I tried out some new ways of drawing backgrounds, and I came up with this version of my original office drawing, despite taking a hell of a long time to do, it looks naff compared to the orig:
New (with only one tacky lighting effect!)
(http://img96.exs.cx/img96/3296/poornewoffice.png)
Original
(http://img127.exs.cx/img127/3627/idaloroomrealisticbig.png)
Stuff changes <meh>.
I like the shading effects, although you'd have to do shadows for your characters as well or else it'll look funny. Most excellent.
Actually, the characters blend without shadows and it doesn't look too funny, which is wierd...