I'd frame it out and install doors - on the top one one that lifts from the bottom out, and on the bottom two that open from the center - perhaps shuttered for air flow - and use it as storage.

You could also install a pull out drawer in the bottom from a cabinet maker or something like rev-a-shelf to make access to stored contents easier.

I would get a solid door with a push latch so no knob required and paint it to match the rest of the wall so it fundamentally goes away. Use the space for rarely used items...you may need a ladder to reach into the cubby, or you may need some kind of containers so you can reach the back of the opening, but it will be more useful.

The other question I have is, what's on the other side of the back wall of the cubby? If it's another bedroom, then perhaps you can split the cubby in 2 with each bedroom having access to 1/2 of it so it won't be as deep, but will be twice as useful....

{{!gwi}}

Looks like a great place for a wall safe. I'd do something like Annie suggested. What's below it? Could you put a bookshelf in front of it?

Hi AngelCowgirl,

I think your DH is right. I would use it for storage, maybe linens and things. You have a basket in the smaller one, that looks kind of nice. Get a bigger one for the lower cubby and store seasonal things in there. The safe that marti8a suggested is a great idea...use the smaller one for that!

Go to the glass shoppe, buy a glass, have it framed out in molding to match your room, paint it to match. Have a carpenter place it over the dark hole. You will have two mystery mirrors. Or you could buy plywood for making a door, frame it out, make it magnetic pull, place mirror on it and just pull to open by the edge. I think it would be somewhat mysterious to have two little cubbies for storage with mirrored doors that appear just to be mirrors. You can frame the mirrored doors with molding or just leave them to appear frameless and trim with beveled mirror.

Make a time capsule! Load it up with pop culture stuff for someone to discover 50 years from now... perhaps Geraldo Rivera will be interested if you tell him that Al Capone lived there.

This post was edited by zeitgast on Thu, Apr 3, 14 at 21:00

I see a custom aquarium in someone's future! : )

Don B.

I have one like that in my kitchen, but even deeper. I have a cabinet door on it and use it to store holiday dishware that I only use during the Christmas Season.
Lynn

Think of the 50s when we had storage cabinets above the closets. Those things were great.

I would find a couple of cabinet doors and paint them the same as walls. If you have a Restore around, they have tons of doors for 50 cents. Many are brand new. Worth trying a couple (or one long one) to see how they work if not wanting to buy retail.

I think the storage is a benefit to a current loss of use.

Frankly, you could also put a frame in there, add drywall, patch it, and paint it over.

If you are a jewelry person, I see a hidden jewelry organizer like you see on Pinterest with tons of hooks. I love the idea of putting doors on it with a lock especially as my home was robbed in October and they walked out with all of my jewelry and the small safe.

Have a Blessed Day!

Thank you all... lots of good, practical ideas here.

I like the idea of putting wall colored doors on it and using it for storage of seasonal items. Winter bedding, winter clothes, etc.

Splitting the depth with the room on the other side would be great, too.

Or better yet, open up up the other side and it can be a secret passage to the next room LOL

Our house had square niche and square window overload! We simply sheet rocked over them. Done!

I have spent the last 3 months decluttering and organizing my house, and I can still think of dozens of things that I could store in each of those spaces. Top one is for things you want to keep, but don't need to look at often, lower one is much more convenient. I would put doors on both. Shelving would depend on what I wanted to store.

Things that come immediately to mind:

Top: boxes of mementos, items saved for when kids move out, toys saved for future grandkids, family keepsakes that you don't have room to display (but can't bear to toss or donate).

Bottom: suitcases, camping gear, tubs of off-season clothes or bedding, holiday decorations, ski boots, jigsaw puzzles, beach towels, fat jeans (or jeans I know will fit when I lose 10 pounds).

Put one or two pull-outs on the bottom space, to make it easier to access. A shoe rack would be perfect!