You could put in a shallow niche for a calendar like we did. In our case, our phone, keys, notepads, pencils/pens, & my phone charger are also in the niche. Ours is 20"W x 7"D x 47"H (48" if you count the sill). The niche is recessed into the pantry wall. We made the pantry wall deeper than normal to fit the phone, but you should be able to have one 4" deep or so...deep enough for a calendar, notepad, pen/pencil, and decorative elements. I have admit I do wish we had made it much taller...maybe from 6" or so above the base molding to within 6" or so of the someday to be installed crown molding. We could have put shelves in it. Here is what it looks like today: One caveat...if it's an outside wall you may not be able to put in a niche b/c of the need for insulation in that wall....unless it's an extra-deep wall...

Thanks everyone for the feedback! We decided to go with painting the wall. We are also saving the tile, just incase we change our minds in the future and want to tile the area (and to have extra tiles in case something cracks). KTJ459...thanks, the dining room color is California Paints Antique Pine. and the kitchen color is Benjamin Moore Iced Marble

I am leaning towards bringing it around to the window wall at the same height but I do have a granite riser/sill under the window so will this look okay? Absolutely fine. I love the the look of a herringbone backsplash in a solid neutral color but is that going to be too busy for my kitchen? It will be lovely with the right tile and grout combo. What is your tile budget in $/sf? With your cabinet and granite neutral is key, but lighter neutrals are going to be better choices than more saturated hues. The images below are from Fireclay Tile and show Feldspar, Gardenia, and Tusk. Gardenia is one of my favorites, as is Tusk, and both are part of the Foundations line that runs $15/sf for several sizes including 3"x6" tiles. You can order samples from the website, or look for tiles of similar shades at local tile showrooms. Keep in mind that you will likely want bullnosed edge and/or trim pieces available for whichever tile you choose.

Beth H. : Thank you for your suggestions & photos. I will ask our tile guy if they'd be able to do some kind of casing for us around the window. I wish our kitchen window had either a straight rectangle on top or a real arch like the photos you posted. The top window is tricky for me to conceptualize what it would look like without molding. I thought about encasing the whole window with two vertical pieces on the left and right side but the middle piece that separates the top window from the bottom window would be strangely thick. At this point it may be easier to just bring the tile to the red line and add a roman shade over the top of the bottom window but I'm not 100% sure yet. As for the tile, we are doing the plain subway tile pattern. I thought about herringbone for the backsplash but my husband and I love the classic look. We are weird with patterns and not gutsy enough to try anything bold lol. Our kitchen has a lot of white in it and we went with honey/light cinnamon colored floors to keep it very neutral. I change color schemes at least once every two months so it made sense to keep it very neutral for us.