We have this focal wall in our living room and it's pretty overwhelming to me with all these wall niches. Part of me wants to cover up the one above the fireplace completely with some huge wall art. I have also considered texture in them and paint of some sort. And, the huge niche on the very top! Yikes! The wall color is bm Kingsport gray which looks brown on the Internet but is a nice warm gray in our house, which gets lots of light.
I do plan on retiling the fireplace surround with a small white marble in or shade of green...