Hello all. I could really use some ideas for how to finish part of the back wall in my small open plan nyc kitchen. It's a bit complicated but I'll do my best to explain and attach some photos to help. We have an L- shaped design. The back wall with the range has a 24 inch wide column at the end that is situated 2 1/4 inches in front of the rest of the wall. We originally planned to put up a couple of floating shelves on the column. A new design challenge was created when the countertop installer mistakenly stopped the matching quartz backsplash 5 inches before reaching the column because he lined it up with the upper cabinets, which also stop 5 inches before the column-(Ikea-tough to customize-no regrets.) Originally, we wanted the backsplash to cover the back wall under the microwave all the way to the column as it seemed like the most natural place to end. Now we have the column and the adjacent 5 inches of empty wall to deal with. It has a very unfinished feel to me and frankly looks a bit odd with the backsplash stopping so abruptly. I'm trying to not get upset and use this as a way to do something interesting with the space. We could just paint it white to match the room and have the floating shelves extend from the column to the cabinets crossing over the offending 5 inch space. But I'd love to hear other ideas that might help us add some interest in texture and color to an otherwise plain grey/white kitchen and minimize the odd appearance of the quartz backsplash.
Some thoughts I have are:
-covering the 5 inch space up to the ceiling with a vertical piece of painted glass or panel it with wood to match the floating shelves.
-covering both the column and the adjacent 5 inch space with another backsplash. The current backsplash is a very white silestone quartz with a faint marble design that is barely noticeable. Some contrast might be nice but not certain if mixing two materials on one wall would turn out well.
-paint the entire empty wall space including the column up to the ceiling as an accent wall.
Apologies for the extended post. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.