Have you tried leaving the painted trim, removing the wallpaper and painting the insets the wall color?

Or, painting the trim AND the insets just like the wainscoting at the stairs?

Remove them totally they look cheap and fight with the railing and the other trim which is nice all by itself. Maybe wallpaper on that wall but no shadow box trim please.

I too vote for removal. The style of the trim does not match the style of your lower paneling nor the style of your iron work. You have enough focal points in this entryway with the staircase leading your eye upwards. Your space would look cleaner, more cohesive, and more sophisticated without them.

(Plus, are you the person also hanging a new crystal chandelier in your foyer? If so, you are going to have much too much going on in here.)

wondering why metallic?

Tone on tone so the raised texture is the feature. I would remove the paper and paint the wall (and the ceiling) the same color as the trim in the room. So much going on in the room you don't know what to look at first. The entry/foyer sets the tone for the whole home.

A light stair runner would eliminate the jarring dark hole look of the staircase.

It feels patchy and not complementary at all. I’d remove (wall will need repainting and suggest same color as trim and add some art). If looking for impact, consider wallpaper, a runner, new chandelier and table/vignette to create a nice unified look.

If you want picture frame molding, it would be installed the right way. See below.

Your other option could be large scale wallpaper.

Get rif if them. Do what you want to the walls, paint, wallpaper, whatever, just lose the "shadow boxes".

Get some great pictures of flowers to put in them. Something like this:

ttps://www.etsy.com/listing/1703757782/peony-bouquet-wallpaper-peel-and-stick?ls=s&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=peony+wallpaper&ref=sr_gallery-1-7&pro=1&frs=1&sts=1&content_source=0b01d4e3-352d-462b-b7fd-f2207677e3f5%253A95dee5a367cd73f030604ae1aa31f8c95dd6a0bf&organic_search_click=1&logging_key=0b01d4e3-352d-462b-b7fd-f2207677e3f5%3A95dee5a367cd73f030604ae1aa31f8c95dd6a0bf

Thank you. So if I remove the shadow boxes all together, how is color on wall? Lights but some suggested paint same as moulding although think will then look huge white and empty

I would add moulding all of the way up however don’t believe possible as same contractor materials no longer around, believe remove best

Maybe chose a color that you like from an adjoining room. No matter the color, you’ll probably find you need to add pictures in this area.

Another vote for removing them.

Not every 2-story wall/space needs to be filled up with stuff.

Another vote to remove them. They are not attractive at all. I would remove them all, fill in all the nail holes with spackle, and sand the wall nice and smooth and prime it and paint it all one color.

You have a few posts asking for a lot of information. You aren't getting best advice when you do not stick with one area. For example:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6511437/what-do-do-in-the-staircase-nook

You should have included this most recent dilemma with the above. It is all foyer/staircase. First responders thought your problem was with the nook area. Lo and behold, the entire area needs attention.

Honestly, you should delete both posts; start anew addressing the "nook" and the phony applied frames on the stair wall; none of these great suggestions will work without the proper information.

BTW, those are not shadow boxes.

The 'shadow box" trim and the wainscoting trim should match. It really needs to be removed. There's no way to make that work.