Studs and drywall and make it go away. It’s a poorly conceived ‘detail’ dreamed up by the builder, not something you want to draw attention to. You up want the focus of the room down at eye level.

Thank you for the reply! That seems like quite the task... I obviously haven't done work on a home before, but filling in that space seems like a daunting (and potentially expensive) task. How difficult would that be to actually achieve?

Thank you for the response. Now that you mention it, perhaps I should do something else other than those picture frames... I'll keep searching!

Ignore the space above, and put some larger colorful pieces of art over the sectional. It won't be that noticeable when you have something else to look at. Move the family photos to a hallway or bedroom.

I would say ignore it too but was thinking, some baskets up there will look nice and store in them stuff you don’t need much access to on a daily basis like seasonal decor for autumn, winter etc. just place a layer of wax paper on top so when you clean it routinely dust will stick to the paper not to the wall itself. I do that for the top of my kitchen cabinets as saved you all the hard work of scrubbing off grime!