What to do with a hole in your wall

The hole in the wall is now a cabinet and a shelf.  I have been measuring, thinking, sketching, planning, and constructing this thing for months now.  It has been mentioned on this blog as well as posted on Facebook is finally done.

If I could find my real camera there may be a better shot 

but this cell phone pic will do for now

The original house was built in the 1890's and in the mid 80's the house had a major addition and remodel.  A master bed and bath was added to the west side of the old house.  The remodeler removed the window, added an off center 2x4, and scabbed over the hole with scraps of OSB.  The former exterior was and newly covered OSB had drywall hung over it to finish the room.  When I was working in the attic I could see the top of the old siding and when I was removing vents at the bottom of the wall the siding was seen again.  Based of these observations I had a hunch that the whole wall was siding beneath the drywall.  Removing a piece of drywall confirmed my belief and I used an angle grinder to cut it all away.  It took me a long time to decide what to do about the old window hole.  It would have been easy to just cover it but I knew there was an opportunity for more.  

The back of the cavity is merely the drywall for the adjoining bedroom.  I used Liquid Nails to adhere some beadboard my brother found in the garage of a rental house to the back.  This gave it a finished look while protecting the drywall.   Since the electrical wire was exposed I decided it would be a good idea to splice a wire in so that an additional outlet could be added.  The shelves were cut from one piece of salvaged wood and the pieces that they sit on were cut from jamb extension from the old windows.  The lower cover and cabinet doors were cut from two pieces of old fencing.  The fence once held horses in the pasture of my Grandparents farm; one board still had horse hair on it.  I cut them down to length from the bottom of the cavity to where I planned to have the top of the cabinet.  They were cut again to separate the lower cover end from the cabinet door end.  I numbered the top and the bottom to insure that the pieces all lined up.

That is a 4 D cell battery Maglite flashlight for scale

The shelves and the former fence boards are all coated in polyurethane.  The doors are held closed by magnets on a spring release.  This removes the need for handles.  Tomorrow I will get the bed made nice for a view of the whole wall.  Please leave any questions about this project, or anything else, in the comment section!