Those little 'cottage' touches

One of the things that drew me to this house was all the little nooks and crannies included. From what I understand, the guy who built it and lived here first was a carpenter, and he added all these great built-ins and extra storage spaces that you wouldn't expect. For instance, in the basement we have an entire wall with small built-in storage drawers, similar to what you find in a hardware store. They still have labels on them: nails, screws, measuring tape, etc. We've found that they are each just tall and wide enough to hold about 4 bottles of wine laying down.

Here's one of our notable nooks. It is a small shelf just off of our main room. Do you see the little telephone jack there? Unfortunately it is no longer in working condition. I have a picture frame that I usually keep centered on the shelf, and sometimes I put a little vase with fresh flowers there. I've also thought that it looks like the kind of shelf you see at church with a little bowl of holy water resting there.