If it's stable enough, put a fish bowl or tank in it.

What about a really long chalk board or cork board with a simple "fat" frame? You could use it the traditional way for notes and what nots, or... You could change it seasonally with pics of family/friends or big bold messages?

Take it out and drywall over the hole.

It almost looks like it might have been a parcel hatch at one time (depending on the age of your house). I would (I can't tell if you own or rent - I'm going to assume you own for my answer) check to see that it has been properly installed vis-a-vis fire ratings and if it isn't, seal it up correctly with insulation and appropriate drywall. This would eliminate the "problem" so to speak.

Do you own or rent? If you own, hire a contractor to remove the trim and fill in the cubby since it no longer has any practical purpose.

If you rent, the cork board idea would be a cheap and useful fix. A large wall hanging or piece of art arranged as part of a group would also look great. There are lots of easy and attractive options you could go with.

Drywall over it; it's really not hard with something so small.

If you want to keep it, the problem seems too be that it is too small. So, if you can go into the garage a little more you could make it a bar area, with space to hang wine glasses, or just a buffet space. I'd paint the inside a bright, fun color.

Typically these cubbies were for your phone hookup. We have one in our house, it was built in 1948. We uses ours to display our old piggy bank collection. I love these cubbies. I do not think you should get rid of it, it's one of those things that gives the house character.

I have a similar cubby, although mine is a wee bit bigger. I lined mine with a cool fabric, hung a mirror, and turned it into our bar area. Because it's so off center I think anything you do with it may look wrong in the end. I think if it were me, I'd remove the molding and fill it in with some drywall and mud over it.

similar to what Phusilly said, you could paint the interior of the cubby with chalkboard paint and then keep the chalk on the bottom ledge. In addition to notes and reminders, it might be a fun place to write a menu for a dinner party.

I dream about having a wall cubby. Put your mobile phone base there (may need to put a socket there), the landing strip for mail, a small slim vase. It's character and shouldn't be eliminated. If you are one of those Americans who watch TV whilst you eat (God bless you) put a flat screen there.

You could post a formal dinner menu there, a nice calendar or picture.

Yes the trim and sill do need to be refreshed.

Wow, I was just thinking I needed a cubby like this so I could mount my sprinkler system control box inside the house & hide it behind a curtain or a little door.

What are the dimensions? And what's behind that door next to it (closet, pantry, or garage)?

I'd probably smooth out the inside, put cork, wood, or something along the bottom to make it flat, line it with decorative fabric or wallpaper or more cork.

If it's next to an entrance from the garage you could use it as a place for keys & wallets, maybe run electricity into it as a charging station for phones/ipod. You could mount cute hooks for keys, and build in a little holder for each item.

You could put a dowel across the front and make it a magazine rack. You could store table accessories there (get cute salt & pepper shakers & a funky bright turquoise or orange napkin holder,... have fun with it).

Plants? You could put in holders for those air plants.

Ant farm? Calvin might like that!

Beyond that, if you can't think of anything & don't get any helpful ideas here, drywall over it and put art on the wall.

I like the phone cubby idea better than the hatchway to the garage idea. Who needs one of those?

I'd paint or paper the back of the cubby something interesting and tack a mail organizer, or key holder on the wall.

Some wood putty & sand paper will take care of the rough botttom sill. Just off the top of my head...add cork to the back, some key hooks & use it as a message center. Or paint it with chalkboard paint. Add a layer of magnet paint first if you like or hang a pretty metal try there for a 'quick' magnet board.

Line up some pretty bottles or stoneware pitchers...bottles of wine perhaps? Just use it for additional kitchen storage or display. Apothecary jars would be great for this. Really, I think if you can get past seeing it as an *eyesore* & view it as a *frame*, it will unblock your creativity =]

Good luck & be sure to post 'after' pics whatever you decide.

I think you should keep the cubby and draw attention to it. By eliminating it completely, you'll miss out on a creative opportunity and it is a bit of character.

Paint out the back and add some hooks. You can use it as a landing strip.

Or instead of one large long piece of art hanging over it, try two square or rectangle pieces on that wall, then it won't be so awkward.

Hang art over it and it's gone.

I agree with the drywall suggestions.

I've had these in two or three houses. It was probably for a now-defunct intercom/stereo system. Take off the trim and drywall it. Repaint wall and you'll forget it was ever there.

Could you fit one of these wall mounted fireplaces there? http://www.pureflame.com/products/wall-mount/

Would be nice for dinner parties, maybe? Or else, I like all the landing strips suggestions, although I do see that you might not want that right next to the dining table.

If you want an inexpensive fix, I'd just hang a really big, beautiful tapestry "centered" with the kitchen table. I got an enormous tapestry at a campus fair-trade sale one year and that thing has been great for covering up eyesores, bad paint jobs, and other things that I couldn't fix as a renter.

At the sale alone, there were multiple prints that I was coveting that would have worked in a lot of different spaces (not just ye olde windowless basement college apartment cheapie "art"). If you take care to hang them properly (like, not with binder clips, ya dig?) they can look much more polished.

It seems about the depth of a shadow box. I'd paint it a color that matches your decor and display a collection of memorabilia. I have a collection of carnival masks that I would display there. Since your cat is such a ham, you could artfully display his pictures in the cubby hole.

I'd also paint it black and put a colorful plate inside of it, maybe even an LED light inside on the top to light up the display.

I also like the idea of a message station or pretty bowl to hold your keys and mail but if you're prone to clutter, I don't advise it.

I'd also add another frame about the size of the cubby hole on the other side of the wall to create more balance in the room. Maybe a shelf or wall sculpture in middle of the wall for more visual interest so that you're not just looking at the cubby hole.

I envy people that have cubby holes and niches. So much opportunity to do something different. Never cover it up.

I think it depends on whether you like the look of the blank wall, or if you would like something in that space. Doing something with that cubby only seems so off-balance because the rest of the wall is blank. If you like the blank expanse, then remove the frame and drywall over it. If you want some other adornment on that wall, you have lots of options in terms of scale and number of objects.

Go old movie spy theme and hang a large, hinged painting over it, then mount a secret stash box or safe inside!

-Alana
http://www.kitschykitten.com

You can put a collection of mirrors on that wall, they are inexpensive and you can cover it easily (don't feel like they have to be in a row, have fun with it). Even if you dry wall over it, the wall seems pretty plain and could use some adornment. A collection of pictures or art would be nice as well.

drywall

I love creative challenges. They really inspire greatness.

I like the idea of leaning a well fitting, framed chalkboard in the space and using it for notes, menus, jokes etc... then simply adding interest with a bud vase. Simple. Easy. ...Also consider a really narrow terrarium, affixing a mixed media collage on cardboard, wall of stacked wine corks, paper sculpture, work the cubby into a grouping of artwork, or better, use the cubby as a host for something like a vertical succulent container and then sort of taper away from the cubby space with air plants pinned to the wall. You could apply that idea to anything: plates, dried flowers, butterflies, moss, coins, collection of odds and ends and just have it crawl/taper across the wall, away from the kitchen.

You've got lots of options so get started on something, anything, and learn from the experience. If you don't, that empty cubby will sit there waiting for genius to strike and I tell you it does not take genius to fill up that space, but once you've done something to it, I bet the most creative and relevant (to you) ideas will really start to flow. Good luck.

My first choice would be drywall- I don't see what character it's adding. But, if you don't want to do that, it would make a good message center/landing strip. Put in a chalk board with a colorful cup to hold some chalk, attach some hooks for keys, and/or attach a piece of wood along the bottom and use it to hold mail, etc.

I would give it a good paint job, and fasten a pretty decorative tray to the bottom, giving it more of a sill than it currently has. Then it could be used as a landing strip. Or insert a shelf with a decorative bracket supporting it and again use it as a functional shelf.

Get a photo an outdoor scene, put it on the back wall and make it into a "window"... or just paint it a bright color and put some family photos or something there.

The window Idea is my favorite though, I've done it before, usually I use beach scenes or you can get a favorite landscape of yours blown up. Old windows or shutters are easy to find and you could use on to make it more windowlike.

Or if you have a stained glass window, just put two eye hooks in the top of the window, and two hooks in the top of the cubby and hang it :)

Either cover it with art in a chunky frame (either a single large piece that can be hung in balance to the proportions of the room, or several pieces salon style to achieve the same) or properly remove it and drywall over the hole. It's not an architecturally significant feature that would need to be preserved.

I would actually create two more identical cubbies spaced evenly to the left of the original for a unique display wall. There would still be room above for other artistic additions as well.

Find a mirror the same size...hang in back. Then either put varying glass candle holders with tea lights or make a mini bar!

My first guess would be that this opening at one time housed an air conditioning unit. The house I grew up in had one in the same place, right next to the door to the garage off the dining room. If you own the house, I agree with sheetrocking over it.

I agree with several others - I'd drywall over it.

I like the landing strip idea, and you could hang some frames on the wall that match the border of the box.

I like the mini-bar idea. You can also make it a landing strip area - keys on hooks inside the box, center an ottoman or bench underneath for handbag / backpack storage / shoe tying.

If you don't like any of the suggestions, it's really not a big deal to drywall over it.

Oh, keep it! What a fun feature.

1. clean it up/repaint
2. place some modern, graphic wallpaper on the back
3. mount a couple of shallow, glass shelves
4. place stuff on shelves

Alternatively:
3. mount some key hooks, etc.
4. place stuff on hooks

2. attach a cool, vintage metal tray to the back
3. use magnets/message board

Build the sill out into a sitting shelf for Calvin! Then, when he sits there watching you eat, he will be tastefully framed. ;)

It is just about the right depth for wineglasses, though. Or salt & pepper shakers.

Hello, all! Question-poster here. Thank you so much for your answers! We do own our home, so permanent solutions are possible.

Unfortunately, it's not in a very good spot for a landing strip - it's in the center of the room, at least 10 feet away from any exterior door (the door in the picture goes to our above-the-garage room). The construction is strange - it's only about 4 inches deep, and the only backing is a very thin piece of plywood that separates it from the garage. Whoever installed it cut through a stud to do so, so in order to get a truly flat bottom I'd have to install one.

A chalkboard might be a great temporary solution, as I've always wanted to try one and I think the ledge might collect some of the dust. I also love Alana's idea about a hinged painting and spy hole - it would have to be one of a set of 3 large pieces, though, for it to be symmetrical enough for my taste. But the wall does need some art.

All else fails, I can drywall it. :)

pick something funky (that's of the right size) up at a market or yard sale and spray paint it a neon color, something like an old telephone, statue, pitcher, retro toys or so on. Or even better, find something you love, but don't like to have on display for some reason, - spray paint it neon pink and display.

if the roughness of the shelf is too bad just sand it down a bit, even it out with spackle and paint over it.

I didn't go through all the comments, so pls forgive if this is a duplicate. You can go to Blick's or some art supply store and get a stretched canvas to cover the hole. from the look of where it is on the wall, you could get three and make a triptych for a feature wall of it. Cover the canvases with some fabric you love (perhaps get a lovely duvet cover on sale and cut it into pieces if you are on a very limited budget).. or even spray paint them some bold colors.... or if you wanted to put some more time into it, you could get a few tubes of paint somewhere in the ROYGBIV and paint them in a gradient sort of way across the wall....

I also didn't go through all the comments but my first thought was a bar. That is, if it's tall enough for a standard bottle and you're drinking folk.

Make an art installation: Line it with faux fur then hang tiny cat toys from the top for CalvinTheCat to watch (more or less.) Fish, plastic gold fish, would be best. Or dry wall it.

Message center with a white board and calendar or a charging station (can you drill a hole into the garage side?) Or a landing strip.
Either way, wallpaper the insides.

1) Buy 3 mirrors/paintings and hang one over the hole to hide it. Then line up the other 2 mirrors/paintings to the left of the hole and have them go the length of your dining table.

EXAMPLE: http://homeofus.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/beautiful-wall-frame-decor-by-martha-stewart-at-dining-room.jpg

2) Hang several frames on the wall, so the hole blends in :) Leave everything blank or fill the frames then you could put seasonal decorations or flowers in the hole.

EXAMPLES:
http://homedecorconcept.com/decorate-the-walls-with-framing-objects.html

http://www.tipjunkie.com/empty-frame-wall/

Personally, I'd probably hang a bunch of art or photos on that wall, and have one strategically covering the hole. Otherwise, I'd putty the bottom and sand it smooth, then paint the back of it some accent color (or the chalk board paint is a good idea) and make it a landing spot for keys and wallets. You could get a nice little dish/jar for loose change. I think with the wall being so bare, it sticks out a lot, and if you hung some other stuff up there, either of these ideas would work fine. Good luck!

I would get some battery powered candles different shapes and colors and line the shelf with them and other cute decretive pieces that match the rest of your home.

To me, it looks like where a wall-unit air conditioner used to be in the era before central ac (if you house is that old). Since it just has a plywood backing, I bet it is now a huge escape hatch for heat/air. I would either drywall it (add insulation before doing so) or if you cant do that, fill it with insulation and attach something (chalkboard or art) over it.

I have one, and I simply put a door on it. It matches what I have in the bathroom and kitchen so it works. It is just a piece of oak with an oil finish on hinges. Inside I have a landing strip of mostly keys which is nice to cover up.

I have one of these in my rental, it even has lovely scalloping. It is also in an off-center part of my living room. I painted the inside shelving black and the frame part silver (you could use some other color too) to make it into what looks like a giant picture frame. I then bought cheap frames I painted silver as well and placed a few with some B&W photos inside the niche and placed some more frames alongside it on the wall next to it.