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The Nature of Niches

When we were creating our kitchen, the question of tiling in the back of the stove arose. Bulging cornucopias and della Robbia opulences and painted little Quimper figures are available for such kitchen landscapes. Since the shelf-life of tile is nearly eternal, we pored over choices. I finally realized no matter what we installed, after years of standing and stirring, I would tire of looking at it.

But what if we could renew the view? I proposed a niche, for a shifting display of art. So, as the saying goes, we made a niche for ourselves.

It’s just a little tiled seven by nine inch opening cut into the back-splash, off-center. Ironically, art rarely shows up there. It belongs to flowers, which I change almost as often as the menu.

In a world where we’re told to carve our own niches, or find our niche market, we’re often advised to keep doing the same thing to fill that niche. But why display the same inert behavioral cornucopia? The ultimate nature of niches is space for a change.