How to make the back of an end table look nice

You could use a piece of textured paintable wallpaper and add it to the back. Or you could decoupage and pretty patterned paper there or you could add a vintage looking piece of fabric or contact paper. We used bead board to solve a similar problem. https://www.exquisitelyunremarkable.com/2018/06/trash-to-treasure-table-makeover.html

you could paint or stain it or even add wallpaper or paper that looks like wood slats on the back

You could also go the path of the hardest work...sand and refinish. I really like the idea of decoupaging the back.

contact paper

It looks like someone used a piece of cheap underlayment for the back and tried to match the stain. Can you remove it? What does the front look like? You can decoupage some decorative paper on it. You can get some paint the closely matches the rest of it and paint.

I would stencil a design or pattern on it

Hello. If you don’t want to paint it -I would think about making a slipcover of a pretty fabric to place over it.

What about Modge podge? You could add some paper that’s meaningful to you - like an antique newspaper? Could be a conversation piece too. :)

I would sand it down, in fact I would lightly sand the entire table, then restain to an even color. Minwax comes in many colors, you could change the look of a room. Good Luck

William’s right...looks like cheap piece that might not even be wood. Looks like it might not be original to the piece either. It doesn’t even look like it fits properly.

Gently remove the piece on the back and cut a new one. Stain and finish. Remember that stain doesn’t have to be used right out of the can. It can be mixed with another stain to get the color you want. Just make sure to use like-stains (oil with oil, waterborne with waterborne). Test your finish on a small piece of the scrap wood to get the color you want. Install new piece.

One last consideration. When I was in a high school wood shop class my teacher taught me a very valuable lesson. If you can’t make something match accentuate the difference so it doesn’t look like you’re trying to match it. I have a fully equipped wood shop that I have made hundreds of pieces in. I do a lot of work that I use this concept on (see picture for an example). This is a breadbox I finished a couple months ago. The dark brown dots are pieces of walnut dowel rod that I used to disguise a small bad spot in the wood. I also used contrasting woods (quarter sawn white oak and purpleheart).

I would add removable wallpaper to the area.

maybe cover with contact paper

Give it a sand and stain it to match the rest of the table. or depending on the decor of your home, find a small wall hanging to fit. Or perhaps a magazine holder..

I would consider painting the table to blend in

I would paint and distress it like this: https://do-daddy.com/how-to-distress-painted-wood-furniture/