Decorating Architectural Niches

Architectural niches seem to be a trend in newer home construction.

While they look cool and are meant to add architectural interest to lack-luster vanilla homes, 

they often leave home owners {like us} wondering what to do with them.

These decorative wall recesses were built most extensively in ancient Roman times with the purpose of displaying statues, vases, and art pieces.

So what do you do if the thought of a typical vase filled with artificial flowers

or a quirky statue just doesn't float your boat??

I've struggled with this myself in our home.

When you walk in our front door, our architectural niche stares you right in the face.

Putting a vase in it is so expected.

And I'm really not thrilled about the idea of hanging a picture or placing a statue in it either.

I've tried filling it with seasonal decorations that are welcoming to guests,

but still... 

it just looks so plain.

So I'm on a quest to figure out how to spice it up a notch.

I love the idea of painting the back of it a fun color and adding crisp white shelves.

But dark wood shelves look good too...

Maybe a textural wallpaper would be better than paint...

Oooohhhh, glass shelves are a nice touch...

Love the cheery yellow, but it probably wouldn't flow well in my house...

How cool would it be to add something unexpected to the back of the niche...

like a mirror...

Or a tile mosaic...

Or even corkboard or chalkboard paint...

What I would really love though is to find a pair of these babies...

to prop up in my niche.

Finding them, though, might prove to be quite a challenge! 

So many options...

I'll keep you posted when I figure it out!