I would sheetrock it on this side, will make your kitchen appear much nicer.

See if you can access the space from another side.

Sure, you can do anything you want with the depth. You could even have a shallow bookcase that swings open for Way Back storage of rarely needed things. Or you could paint out the doors to match the walls, changing knobs for white finger pulls, and minimizing the door frames. Then just pretend it's not there (but keep the storage for luggage or something).

Add new, different doors. I would choose louvered, to cover the entire space to the floor so it looks as it should, a real door. It does not matter that inside the doors, the bottom is higher than the floor, but is much more aesthetically pleasing.

Looks like a perfect place for bookshelves and a tv. Maybe a drawer, too. If you eat in that nook, a drawer would hold napkins, candles, lighter.

And, perhaps put the tv on a swivel (lazy Susan) on a pull-out shelf, so you can see it from the kitchen.

My parents store gift wrapping supplies in their deep cupboard similar to this. I store linens in mine. It is perfect for my winter down comforter. Mine isn't in the kitchen, though.

What is on the other side?

I should have mentioned that we're not intending to keep the doors. We're thinking of having an open unit with bookshelves and space for a flat tv. We would have a false back to reduce the depth and see if we can open it on the other side (the garage) for additional storage there. I was just curious if other people had done something similar and how it turned out. Here's a photo of the space above the stairs. On the other side is the attached garage.

If you can access that space from the garage, I would just sheettock it and hang thr TV where ever it works best.

if its on the other side of the garage i would make a pass through (doors on both sides) so you can load groceries right there !

Very interesting and helpful advice, everyone. It seems many people are pointing out the odd length, which makes it look like it doesn't belong in the kitchen. I still think we would like to have space for cookbooks, tv, ipad, etc. and would prefer recessed for better use of space. We have two young boys and spend a lot of time in the kitchen, cooking, feeding, etc. How about a unit that would go floor to ceiling, even if the bottom is fake (i.e just wood panel)?

I'm attaching pictures of the rest of the kitchen for context.

Here it is with doors to the bottom. It does look better.

Your kitchen is really nice. If you wanted even more storage, you could have a 15-18 inch deep wall unit made for the entire wall with TV incorporated. Access original storage from garage. Use baskets to hold balls and outdoor equipment.

opening the shelving into the stair well looks like a dangerous endeavor. You would not be able to reach the shelving without a ladder, it looks like to me. I like the idea of a shelving unit, with a false back, where you could open from the kitchen side, to store little used items. That might be difficult with a TV in there though as you'd want easily removed items to access the panel to retrieve what is behind.

Could you mount a TV on a raising panel, like they put on cabinets. Then you could raise the panel to get into the shelving. You could put pull out trays inside where the shelves are now to access the deep dimensions.

like this: