INO advice for an empty box near front door

We have thought about removing it, but it would mean repairing or replacing the carpet in the hallway to fill in the gap, as well as repairing the plaster wall by the door. Our budget is slim for this project. We also do rather like the short wall there--just not the empty box on top of it.

There are many houseplants you could go with, my local home depot has a woman that cares for the plants and they are all really nice. They have many plants that can take little or no light. If you put a taller lamp on the table by it and put in a daylight bulb, it would keep the lower light plants healthy. Daylight bulbs have to total spectrum of light just like grow lights, but much lower intensity for the low light plants. You could put the plants in nice pots and keep them that way and fill the rest of the planter with rocks or gravel. I would get a moisture meter and look up and copy articles on them to have reminders of when to fertilize, water, etc. Some like to dry up before watering, some like to stay moist, so the meter will let you know when each of them need watering. I have a black thumb for houseplants, but a green thumb outside, so hubby takes care of the house and I do the outside. He relies on his water meter because he has many plants that have different needs. The only thing I do to houseplants is the repotting when needed and rooting plants like our pothos to add to our collection of over twenty house plants and a large terrarium.

I live in a house that was build in 1954 and I have one just inside my kitchen door. They were fairly common in houses around that time.

YW ! I like the hooks and bench combo, at least it is practical. Although you can't see it in that picture, it apparently was a planter in it its former life too.