A shower niche is very handy to have indeed. It’s the perfect spot to hold your shower necessities. But I’m not talking about shower niches. Today I’m talking about the ones that many of us have in our homes; that shallow carve out in the wall that the builder put there.
Do builders put them in to frustrate us? What do you do with it? How in the world do you add a decorative element in this awkward space that enhances your home?
I never had one in my home before so I was stumped for quite a while with what to do with it. So I did what I always do when I am looking for inspiration, I went online in search of ideas and this is what I came up with.
Ok, I admit, that last image is quite creepy, but I included it to make a point. I realized that even back in the Middle Ages they kept the scale of the items they were using in proportion to the size of the niche. The niches that are the most visually appealing are the ones where the size of the item being displayed is proportional to the size of the niche.
When it come to niches, size matters.
Back to my humble little niche, which is nothing as grand as what you will find in Europe from the Middle Ages. The niche in my home is in a very prominent spot. The shelf is very shallow, so it’s been difficult to find items that are the right size to display. You may be dealing with the same issue in your home.
Niches are often very tall openings, so finding something that is narrow but tall enough to fill the space is a challenge. You may be like me and choose to ignore the space all together and leave it bare. I don’t recommend this! It will quickly become a catchall for keys and other assorted little bits of flotsam. Ugh!
Because they are often in a very prominent spot, they are begging for some sort of decorative accent. I am a huge proponent of empty space but leaving this space empty just makes it look too bare and unfinished. The space is a frame, a focal point that begs for something to be featured.
Since moving into our new home I have been stumped with what to do with it. Just about everything I have tried up to this point, just has not worked. Either the items are too small for the space or too wide to fit on the narrow ledge.
Adding more and more small items just made it feel cluttered. Honestly, it did nothing to enhance such a prominent focal point. Leaving it bare felt unfinished and it was quickly becoming a magnet for family members to set various items that had no home. I don’t want the first thing guests to see when they enter my home to be empty soda cans, keys, a screwdriver and change. Clutter is really not the vibe I’m going for, LOL!
What I soon come to realize, is that they were on to something in the Middle Ages. The trick is to fill the space with something that is the right scale. If the scale of the items you are displaying is off it will not look right. It will look best if you can find one larger focal piece that fills the space rather than several smaller items.
If the items you are placing in a niche just doesn’t feel or look right, resist the urge to keep adding more and more items. It’s our natural instinct to keep adding to it. Resist that urge, and remove items instead. Creating negative space around your items will give the items much more presence. It will draw your eye to that item without the distraction of numerous smaller items competing for attention. Plus it will have a more elegant designer look.
Less is more, and more is just too much!
You can read all about the importance of negative space in a recent blog post I wrote, here.
If you’re stuck and just can’t seem to get it right, take a picture and take a good hard look at it. For some reason taking a picture allows you to see what you can’t see when you are just looking at it with the naked eye. I don’t know how or why this works, but trust me, it just does. You will be able to tell right away what isn’t working when you take a look at the picture.
The solution I came up with is actually quite simple. Since the shelf I have is quite narrow, it limited what I could set on it, so I decided to use the wall space. I affixed a small removable hook to the back wall of the niche and use it to hang a seasonal wreath. My front door has an interesting window feature but it gets in the way of hanging anything on the front door. So I am using the niche in my front entry hall as the spot to display seasonal wreaths that I would normally display on my front door.
Use removable hooks to hang items. This not only protects your walls from damage but allows you to remove and adjust hooks as needed for larger and smaller items. The removable hooks give you the ability to hang items at just the right height without wreaking the walls with nail holes. No more patching, filling and painting holes in the wall! Woo-hoo!
If you would like to learn how to make this fun fall inspired wreath, you can learn how to make one for your home, here. It’s an easy project that anyone can do, no special skills required. You can easily make this in just one afternoon and you will have a piece that makes quite a dramatic statement!
If you would like to make a deco mesh wreath there are tons of how to videos on Youtube. Just do a Google search for Deco wreath tutorials and you will find step by step instructions on how you can easily create one of your own. It’s a fun, easy project and I encourage you to give it a try!
My hated niche has become one of my favorite décor spots! I love decorating with seasonal décor and I now have the perfect place where I can highlight the season or upcoming holiday in a prominent spot.
Depending on the depth of the niche, here are a few ideas for items you could feature:
- A statue or figurine; a traditional item to use
- A Demijohn bottle
- An urn
- Vase with flowers, greens, twigs, or branches
- Painting
- Framed picture
- Artwork
- Seasonal wreath
- A large fan coral
- Candles on tall slender candlesticks
- Dishes or plates affixed to the wall
- A sculpture
My dreaded niche has become a beautiful focal point. Now when you enter my home, you are greeted by a beautiful seasonal item that heralds the upcoming holiday, or brings the beauty of nature into my home.
I hope some of the tips I shared with you today inspires you to create something beautiful for your home. Please comment and share pictures of a niche you have in your home. I would love to see how you tackled this challenging spot in your home!