I vote shelves- but another idea is to do black and white photo array. This would be fun and contemporary and adding a conversation piece to the room. Use photos you have or you can find some great ones at Homegoods or Aaron brothers.

Thanks Pragati, it looked to me like some sort of high polished quartz stone and if this was the case there would be a way to hide these joints by filling them with an appropriate material and polish them thereafter. So I guess, the framing-idea with the LED-Strips which pollyannagal mentioned would be a good option. You could also tape some sort of accent-tape over the joints or even just LED-Strips to hide these ugly joints. Cheers Bertram

This is the terrace- we have rules here where we cannot have a permanent structure on the terrace. So we have to make do with portacabins- trellis - plants etc- want to build seating alongside wall and keep a table etc. furnish upholster and decorate- Mughal-esque. Also we have to use weather durable stuff as we get extreme heat/ harsh winter no snow/ extremely dusty and dry heat.

I have some suggestions if you are thinking budget friendly changes. Make a photo gallery with different size frames and arrange them parallel to the stairs, so you can enjoy each photo as you climb up. And for the area that will be on a level with your upper floor, try some pretty decal that will connect the photo gallery to upper level. And last, if you have budget add some beautiful hanging lights in the stairwell. Also think about repositioning your refrigerator.