Niche in the wall: how to decorate it functionally and beautifully

The original design of a niche in the wall is one of the most favorite design techniques. Recently, there has been a tendency to abandon bulky cabinet furniture, but no one has canceled functional shelves yet. A recess in the wall is an additional horizontal plane that serves as a shelf. You can put and put anything in a niche – from the most necessary things to interior decor. Experts will share their secrets on how to design a niche space aesthetically and practically..

The secret of a beautiful design lies in the unusual and graceful design of the niche, which you immediately pay attention to

Multifunctionality of the interior niche

Niches were not invented by our contemporaries, they are found by architects during the excavation of ancient artifacts of lost civilizations of different times. Before you think over the design of a niche in the wall, it is better to first understand its purpose..

A niche may well be the centerpiece of a design composition.

The main classification of wall recesses:

Decorative.
Functional.
Architectural.
Technical niches.

Convenient place to store firewood if the house has a fireplace or stove

A fashionable and rational solution for modern rooms is a folding bed that hides in a niche and looks like a wardrobe

Some wall openings are the result of an architectural design – otherwise it won’t work. Further, the design depends on the functionality of the room, which has a ready-made recess. Often it looks like a box near the ventilation shaft, in which you can place shelves for dishes, household appliances, and other useful items..

Wall recesses are a great way to hide a secret door, a safe, and anything else that shouldn’t be visible to outsiders. But they do not need decoration, rather they require careful disguise..

It is important that the design of the niche matches the style of the room in which it is located.

In decorative niches decorated with mirrors, glass and lighting, you can sit with cosmetics. Women have a need for good light in the mornings when they clean themselves up, but there is not always a suitable place. But this design of a niche in the wall is also suitable for other purposes, if used for illuminated shelves..

A false niche is a purely decorative technique when they want to complement the interior with a believably drawn door or window.

The basic rule is that the niche should fit into the interior of the room, and not overload it.

Tip: Before decorating a niche in a room, decide on its functionality – what will be in it permanently and temporarily. Souvenirs and handmade, antiques and books, art objects and modern photos – they all require a different approach to design.

The shape and size of niches depends on your courage and creativity

When they combine a living room with a kitchen, a bar is often placed on the border of two squares. It is appropriate to design the niche next to it as a bar for strong collection drinks. This in itself looks like a decent decor for a modern living room..

It has already become clear that any recess in the wall should have not only a decorative, but also a practical function. The design of the niche and the method of its construction depend on this. Multilevel shelves on the accent wall can also be designed as niches, sheathed with drywall sheets. The structure itself needs reliable supports so that the shelves do not collapse with all the contents that have a decent weight. Especially when there is expensive equipment or dishes made of fragile glass..

A narrow niche along the entire bathroom wall serves as a decorative element and is very convenient for placing everything you need

Niche space types

All niches are divided, depending on their purpose, into the following types:

1.	Niche library	Enough depth for the format of books, several shelves, can be closed with glass doors.
2.	Shelf in the wall recess, partition	Small dimensions, dimensions depend on the size of the items displayed in it.
3.	Small cabinet in an architectural niche	Great way to place seasonal clothes, dresses, suits (shoulder width).
4.	Niche exposition	Drawn up for exhibition items, the number of shelves – as needed.
5.	Isolated place for equipment with a socket	A great way to hide wires, protect from running children and animals playing with them.
6.	Niche stash	Concealed deepening, without decor.
7.	Replacement of built-in furniture	Full-fledged reinforced shelves, designed as a shelving unit
eight.	Decorative niche	Interior decoration.
nine.	False niche	Image of a depression (window, door, collapsed wall).
ten.	Technical niche	A hollowed out recess in a reinforced concrete wall is the best way to hide pipes.

Convenient and functional shelves by the bed

What can replace a niche?

Let us consider in detail for what purposes you can use different types of recesses in the wall. Volumetric decorative niches often replace cabinet furniture – built-in shelves can be easily adapted for homogeneous items or collectible souvenirs.

In the kitchen, niches can replace cupboards

Actually, a false window is also made in a niche of rooms devoid of natural light. You can place photo wallpapers with imitation of a beautiful panorama of the city in them, and the soft light of fluorescent lamps and LED strips will create the illusion of sunlight..

A collection niche is a great solution in any room. It can store rare tomes as part of the inherited library. The opening in the wall of the children’s room, filled with an exhibition of Barbie dolls or exact copies of rare cars, looks no less interesting. Knitted amigurumi toys are a modern trend in needlework, they also need a decent exposition niche.

Niche as a place to place collectibles

In some styles, a large number of cabinet furniture is not expected. Many people know from Turkish TV shows that several centuries ago, niches in the wall were used very widely, for example, for lighting and hiding places. The same trend continues today in interiors decorated in the Arabian East..

Another type of niche is applicable in the interior of the living room in the style of minimalism. With the “ascetic” organization of space, replacing cabinets with practical niches gives its advantages:

noticeable savings in free space;
forming your own place for all sorts of little things that should always be at hand (glasses, mobile phone, charger, wallet, tablet);
convenient placement of small equipment and equipment (you can also bring an electric cable here, build in sockets);
significant savings on bulky cabinets, great idea for lightweight built-in furniture that resembles a shelving unit.

Niche space is filled with ordinary and transparent glass shelves. They perfectly transmit light if there is a diode tape, light bulbs or decorative lighting in the opening to be made..

Painted decorative false niche in a frame made of polyurethane moldings

Niche decoration in the bedroom

Sometimes the doorway of the passage room after the redevelopment is not walled up, but redesigned. Here you can make a small dressing room, and make the doorway in another place. This is a completely accessible design of a niche in the wall with your own hands..

In the recess on the accent wall, you can install a large plasma panel, a spacious aquarium or an imitation fireplace. By arranging upholstered furniture on an island so that the seated ones are facing this object, it is easy to arrange the guest area without additional costs for interior design.

Interesting solution for bookshelves and TV

In general, there are many great ideas on how to adapt a niche, it all depends on the functionality of the room, the needs and lifestyle of the owners..

Benefits of organizing space using a niche

It is impossible not to mention a number of other advantages that functionally designed niches provide. But even if they do not have a special purpose, this is an excellent decorative technique that will modernize any interior..

Functional niches will provide:

replacement of oversized furniture and unaesthetic shelves;
visually expand the wall;
will become a design accent for audio and video equipment;
help to collect homogeneous objects in one place (a great solution for those who throw things everywhere and cannot find something they need).
a closed niche will hide communications.

Arrangement in a niche for a rest area

Important! An interesting design technique will be not just the decor of parallel niches in the wall of the same format, but some kind of multi-level structure. Open storage of things is more popular today than placement in bulky cabinet furniture, which creates a feeling of clutter and tastelessness..

Niche instead of hanging shelves in the bathroom

When the recess is constructively and functionally consistent with the interior design, it is also an opportunity to emphasize the excellent taste of the owners of the house..

How to position a niche

There are not many ways, but there are options:

symmetrical;
asymmetrical;
vertically and horizontally;
parallel and symmetrical;
parallel to the shift to the side;
2-3 identical niches with “floors” with different or the same filling;
of different sizes, but with the beginning at the same distance from the vertical line of the interior (doors, windows, furniture walls);
chaotic arrangement;
in the form of a geometric pattern – for a dynamic interior, as in the photo of decorative niches.

Narrow vertical niches will visually increase the height of the room

It is also possible to place them on an empty wall or a small free space. You can also vary for openings of the same shape:

backlight;
external frames;
interior design and content.

A room with a high ceiling will become much more comfortable if niches are made upstairs in warm colors.

Do I need lighting in the recesses of the wall

Good interior design assumes that all areas are illuminated without dark corners. At the same time, with the help of additional lighting, it is easy to focus on an interesting object or to arrange a niche in the wall of a hall or living room. Competent lighting design creates the atmosphere, hides the flaws in the layout. For example, when in a long narrow room the wall opposite to the window is darkened, especially on the north side of the house, it is like a counter light.

If there is a niche in the wall, it is important to know how to decorate it beautifully with an additional light source. Any depression in itself looks darker than the rest of the room, if no rays fall into it..

Illuminated niche for storing a small collection of figurines

Important! In the daytime, you can do without accentuating artificial light, in the evening it is simply necessary!

Mirror niche adds light and warmth to the room

In rooms without windows, a backlit niche is a must. A corridor, an entrance hall, a bathroom or a toilet can be left without general lighting when bright light is not needed, but to create a kind of mystical glow from a niche space. This is not only a special design technique, but also a completely functional solution, as in the photo.

Effective illumination of white niches against the background of black walls

For functional lighting and decoration of a niche in the wall, the following elements are applicable:

LED Strip Light.
Fluorescent lamps.
Flexible glow tubes (for advertisements, lettering and design objects on the wall).
Point diodes.
Small spotlights (such as spotlights and spotlights) with rotating projectors.

Lamps in which you can change the color of the illumination, which are switched on and off gradually, and also cast a patterned shadow, have a special charm..

Built-in lighting gives the niche additional volume and serves as an illumination of the general background of the room

Tip: In multi-level niches, it is recommended to use glass shelves that transmit the rays well to any point..

Backlighting focuses on the content of the niche

Instead of sconces and bedside lamps, illuminated niches look good in the bedroom, which can be equipped with economical light sources. It is not worth reading in such lighting, but it is quite possible to view messages on a tablet, laptop or phone before going to bed..

An important condition is that niche lighting should organically fit into the style of the interior and be in harmony with the main and local lighting. Experts recommend diffused light and universal fluorescent lamps. It is more convenient to read with the “warm” light of economical lamps, combined with an incandescent lamp. In the bathroom and other rooms for relaxation, sources of the “cold” spectrum, giving a white, blue, green or violet glow, will be appropriate.

Spot illumination looks luxurious in the recess

Diffused lighting softens the niche space and exposes the decor in a favorable light

Summing up, let us recall that this design element can be decorated in a practical and aesthetic way. How to decorate a niche in the wall, design ideas and inspirational examples are carefully selected for our photo gallery.