Fairytale Cottage First Floor

So I have four days off for the Christmas holiday and I'm enjoying every bit of it.  My time between the submission of the Architect's Abode and Christmas was taken up with wrapping, shipping and shopping for gifts. 

Thankfully everything arrived in time at least according to the post office.  So I'm grateful for that. 

And I didn't have to cook so I have plenty of time for my new project.

 My first kit of this type.

It's a big change.  There's a lot of sanding and double-checking pieces.  But I also find that construction is easier, maybe because the wood is thinner and therefore lighter? 

The way the walls are held together, with corner beams, routed with channels for the walls, is a bit...odd for someone who's used to working with MDF.  MDF is heavier but it also won't collapse if a cat (Tali) decides to be the building inspector.

It's also a small kit.  less than two feet wide, so its much easier to work with. 

I've decided to not paint the wood where I can avoid it.  Instead I'm using textured paper I found on Ebay and giving it a stone look.  So far I'm pretty pleased.

I liked this stone, not too dark but not bright and modern either.

I worried about having the dormers in stone but I think it'll look pretty good.

The kit comes with a lot of 'universal' trim which you have to cut to frame out the windows, doors, and just about everything else. 

I went with a pale ivory for the outer trim and I'm sticking with that color for all the 'wood' trim on the outside of the house.  I think the contrast will be nice against the 'stone' and the white I'm using for the porch.

For the inside I'm going with scrapbook paper for wallpaper.  I have a book of 'fairytale' scrapbook paper which has soft colors and suits my idea of a 'fairytale' cottage.

I really love the castle on the big wall. 

I'm pretty pleased. I got the walls and floor done, and the second floor added along with the front porch.

I'm finding that with such a small house that its a good idea to get the wallpaper and flooring added before I glue everything into place.  All the little nooks and crannies would make adding flooring and ceiling finish very difficult without being able to trace the entire thing out.

This would have been a million times harder with the ceiling in place.

I went with white for the front porch dormer and railings.  And used my stone for the porch floor. 

Here it is with some tape to hold the upper floor in place until the glue sets.

I'm excited about how quick this is going.  Hope to have more for you to see in the next few days.