I would hire someone to fill in both niches with sheetrock, giving you straight walls that don't present the problems you're having. They take away from the arched opening into the dining room.

Could that have been an opening to another room? Strange.

You could cover it with sheetrock and make the wall flat then center the console and mirror.

If nothing else, take the contrast color totally out and paint them the same color as the walls. Overall, they are not important and should not be painted as such. The doorway is important. Plus the entry table and lamp compete with the look you're trying to achieve.

I'd put up wall lights which throw light strategically - making use of and creating interest with the recesses.

I would put fewer things here, perhaps family pic all in white frames or. Splash paid green

I agree with getting rid of contrast color, its too much competing for your eye with the doorway, the nitches and the mirror. Paint the same color as the wall and treat as solid wall. I would take shelves out of the nitch near stair and move small table since there is already a larger table there. I would put little table next to couch as endtable. This will really draw your eye to dining room.

Way to many arches, doorways, niches and then you added an arched mirror. If you don't want to close them in then do what the others have said and remove the shelves and paint the same as walls to blend in, put nothing in them, except maybe art, no tables as you are trying disguise them. Try something other than the arched mirror, maybe move the painting, and on the floor in front of the newly painted niche how about a lovely ceramic pot with plant. Hope this gives you some ideas.

Can we say "archy?" My, it makes me disoriented. Paint them out or cover them over. They're looking a little south of the border style right now and don't go with your classic traditional furniture.

You have a lot of comments, repeating themselves. My first thought was to not have the niches accented with a paint color. Have them painted the main wall color. I don't think sheetrocking over them would be worth the cost, because there is not anything you could put on those wall that you can not put now. In fact, putting the console table in the inset, as you have it now, actually provides for a larger walk way. Once you sheetrock over that niche, your console table would be sitting in front of that wall, sticking out into your walkway. I would, however, consider opening that niche up as a walk thru dependent upon what the space is on the other side of it. Dependent upon what is on the other side of that wall, it might really open up your interior environment. Also, not liking the feel of two console tables side by side. I think that we could come up with something else to put in that space.
Would love to help you further, should you be interested!
Cheers!
m.

Too much trouble to sheet-rock over the niches. Plus I like having the shelves there since I have so few surfaces in the room. Colors are much more subdued in person but for some reason appear very bright in the photos. I'll consider painting the niches the same as the wall color so they don't stand out as much. I may do some moving of furniture around at a future date and put a large mirrored screen on that wall which will cover up the large niche.. There is a powder room on the other side so can't break through there. I would love some more suggestions for now to improve that space since I am not ready to eradicate it!
Niches in general are a pain aren't they? Unless you have just the right thing to put there...
Thanks for your suggestions.

HI -- Too many arches and they are all differant heights and accenting them in another color just makes them show up even more. Then the arch top mirror has added even another one. It would be so worth it to go to the trouble of filling in the one beside the console table.Then that console could be centered more with a new square shaped mirror and make that hall area less cluttered looking. I don't think you need to have an accent color in the other arch niche either , Just have it the same wall color.

Painting them the same color as the walls and getting rid of the shelves would help. Get rid of the mirror. Too many arches. And then just treat the two arched areas like the rest of the walls ...hang pics, a plant , some small candle holders.

It's not really much trouble to sheetrock over the niches if you employ a professional to do it. They should be in and out in 2 days.

Paint the inside of them white and make them into bookshelves. Then you'll have a wall library.

to geo55...........Pictures show flaws because we look at them differently, we stare.

Don't look at your room, look at the picture.

I'm sure each of the colors by themselves are very subdued, but together they are too bright because of the contrast.

The 4 arches are like a little bouncing ball effect while scanning the room. Think of a video game :-)

Since you want to keep the one arch with the shelves, why don't you do the same treatment to the other? But do paint backs to match wall and fill with non distracting things like books.

Ways to reduce the repeating arches would be to
1. change out mirror and
2. Add simple drapery panels to each side of the entry into the dining room.

I have seen other archway niches like this ( not 2 mind you) with Tromp L'oeil "faux painting" so that it seems like an outdoor scene through the archway. They sell canvases that you paste into place... see this website for ideas... http://www.yvesart.com/800x600/GaleryAWTL.php#Arch Way
It would open up your room and make it seem like you have a window.

House is old and walls are plaster with a stucco-like texture. That's why it may be a challenge to match the wall finish if I sheet rock over it. I really like the arched doorways in this house-- lends a charming cottage feeling....Why would I want to get rid of them and make it look like a square box?? Clean, contemporary lines are not desired by everyone! Take Europe, for example, lol.
Niche is the problem, though. If I paint niches wall color, they won't show up as much, but they'll still be there. I get from posts here so far that there is no 'solution' other than to cover it up. Oh well...
I really appreciate the other creative suggestions since it is not always practical to just get rid of design problems. Sometimes you have to work around them.

I agree, I really like the niches, to me they add dimension to a everyday boring squared room.
I liked the idea above of adding wall scones.
My very first impression when I looked at the photo was to fill in the whole niche areas with mirror,
Mirror would warm up the room, depending of course on what would be reflected.
just my thoughts.

SORRY, Adding to my comment above, I forgot to mention,, to paint the niches either the same color or black with the lights,,

Geo55, I agree with you. I like to work with the house I have and the furniture I have, too.

Ideas: remove modern painting from arched niche. Hang arched mirror in place of painting. Do not have anything over console table. Under console table place a large, tall seagrass basket to disguise the legginess of the console table and hide the outlet + cord.

I think paint the arched areas the same as the walls. And for a very cheap simple solution swap the mirror and the painting around. Keep the shelves.

Tbh I'm not sure about the basket under the table with lamps. Is it possible to get something else for under there. I actually think something bigger and not opened topped. You could even get a fabric covered seat following the under length of the table and tucked in. Then if you got a different shaped mirror...

Maybe also following the length of the table? And perhaps a slightly smaller picture in the recess.

If feasbile, install a halogen puck light at the top of the niche arch, and add a tall, vertically-oriented piece of wall art to be washed by the warm glow of the light. A dimmer would be nice as well. Paint the niche same as the wall color. Eliminate the table.

I personally would not put a mirror in that niche, as I would not like to see myself walking down the stairs in the mirror every time.

The more expensive direction- the many arches make me think of the mediterranean. Perhaps the arches would be better complimented by room decor and furniture that reflects this?

Start with painting out the niches in same color as wall. Then rework the display in the staircase by the niche to be be less busy and more calming, Use your favorite books and items that are neutral in color (i.e., colors that blend in with the wall and trim colors) rather than stand out. That way beautiful things are on display but don't attract attention. For example, I'd keep the two items on the right of the top shelf, but balance them on the left with a short stack of books with ivory, cream, tan book jackets. Continue down the shelves making them less busy. Use the accent color sparingly in the display items if you want to introduce it. If you like the look, consider adding shelves to the other niche and doing same. Use a large rectangular mirror in place of the arched one, which can be moved elsewhere along with the small table. Then use neutral colored shades on the lamps on the console table with a few favorite items there. Again I'd think neutrals and textures/wood tones. The area is a pass through to multiple rooms so it can be understated. Add ottomans or storage trunks underneath only if you need the seating or storage, but don't feel you have to fill in if you don't want to. Have fun playing with it.

Arched mirror is pretty but not in a room with three more arches.
Also odd numbers are best. A mirror with no curves would contrast nicely.

The niche would look great with some stacks of books here and there to balance your beautiful collections.

Had an idea this morning...Thought of putting doors on it to make it into a closet-- albeit an extremely narrow one! Or if I were to find a piece of wall art to fit in it like this:

Lots of options... Thanks so much for all the suggestions. ; ) I will consider each one.

I agree with the consensus to (at the very least) paint the arches the same color as the rest of the wall to cut down on the very distracting contrast. Remove the arched mirror and put a rectangular mirror instead. You can then hang a tall piece of artwork in the arch, which will nicely accent the artwork but not take away from the dining room entrance.

Interesting idea. Thank you Juboka. Since I originally posted this, I placed a large mirrored screen (that I had in my DR) in front of the large niche at the foot of the steps, so that large niche is not visible at all. What many commentators didn't know, is that there are arched windows just around the corner...Very pretty feature that I love. Amazing though, how that large interior wall arched niche became such a design problem. A designer friend of mine suggested putting a bench in there with pillows...another designer suggests covering niche with wood and then wallpapering the whole wall across. The saga will continue!