Sunday, October 2, 2016

Seventy Four Days!

I'm in a flurry of activity.  Walls had to go up, cabinets put together and a million and one other details.

Remember my list?

Porch/balcony
Porch/balcony lights

Glue in curtains
Assemble walls
Add second floor
Install railing
Drill hole into foundation for electrical
Get lights wired properly into their channel and under the foundation.

Roof
Trim
Gutters & downspouts (paint and age first)

Put it like that and it seems like I'm pretty far along.  Then reality hits.  I spent all day.  (And by all day I mean, I didn't stop to eat more than one meal until 8:30PM from the time I got up that morning.)  But all day putting together the kitchen cabinet uppers. 

I had three of these kits. 



I'm glad I didn't go with the clear cabinets but man it was hard to get those little inserts cut out.  Here's the finished project before I stained them.


I made a shelf for the microwave and under it is where the fan will go.


I decided not to use the microwave kit. I'll save it for another house.  I dug this out of a box of kitchen things I had.  It looks fine and I just did not feel like futzing with the microwave kit this weekend.

I stained the uppers the same cherry as the lowers.  I'd also added some quarter round trim to the bottoms so they'd look a little more finished since they were designed to sit on top of a desk or set of drawers.


Even though I'm not planning on filling them up with food I put the shelves in to give the cabinets some added stability.

Then I glued everything to the back wall.


The stove isn't glued in but I put it in there to make sure my spacing didn't get goofed up.

Here's the wall with the fridge next to the cabinets.


I also got my open shelves for over the sink put together and glued to the wall.




I had some 1" x 1/8" lengths of wood and cut a couple lengths and used some brackets I'd bought from HBS Miniatures under them.  I sanded the edges so they looked a bit rounded and worn.

With some cursing and a lot of sticky tacky glue I got the wall in.  (Okay, a lot of cursing too.)


Now that its dark enough in the kitchen I'll show you my under counter lighting.  The battery and switch is hidden in the cabinet above the microwave.


Then I glued in the bathroom fixtures and the water pipes.  I moved the shelf that goes under the window in preparation for filling it with supplies.


I also made a shelf to go over the bathtub.  The tub isn't glued in, I want to be able to move it in case I have some unforeseen problem.



More brackets from HBS Miniatures and a short length wood.

While I was letting all of that glue dry I did some work on my chair.  Keli had pointed out it looked a little odd on one side and suggested some piping.  Luckily in my raid on Hobby Lobby's embroidery thread aisle I'd picked up some green that was perfect.

I'd also gotten some glue syringes and this was my chance to try one of them out.  Very handy if you don't want glue all over your fingers and fabric. 

So here are some shots of the chair.






It still looks a little worn out, which isn't bad.  But it looks more finished than it did before so I'm pleased.

Then I tackled the insanity that is the fourth wall.  No, not the one that you're not supposed to break in the theatre.  The fourth wall of the house that will keep it completely enclosed so Building Inspectors can't reach their little paws in and steal things like cushions and lamps.

Originally I was going to hinge it to the foundation so it could drop down.  But it occurred to me that using that sort of opening would make picture taking pretty awkward.  So I hinged it to the back wall. 



No, my table isn't messy at all! 

The tape is hopefully to keep it in place while the glue that's reinforcing the hinges dries.  I'm planning on adding some strip wood to the sides, to mimic to look of corner trim and finish it off a bit more.  Then I can glue the curtains to the wall.  That'll be nice. They've been sitting on my table ever since I finished them.  I was afraid if I glued them to the wall they'd get pawed and wrecked.

So the revised list.

Glue in curtains
Roof
Trim (bedroom ceiling and outer walls)
Gutters & downspouts (paint and age first)
Add flowerbeds & vines.
Wire living room lamp to battery in table.
Finalize furniture arrangement
Add all accessories & stick them down as needed.

Why does the list get longer after I cross things off it?

32 comments:

  1. Oh my! Only 74 days left?!? Eek!

    Everything is coming along so well! I absolutely adore everything you've done and your details! The granite looks really good.

    A messy work table is a sign of a creative mind, or at least that's what I tell myself.

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    1. I know. I'm freaking out.

      Thank you so much. I'm finally sitting down and making a(nother) list of all the stuff I need to do.

      Eventually I'll clean it up. It'll actually get a lot cleaner once the curtains are in. I hope!

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    2. The lists are never ending! I was trying to make a list. I started with, "wow, I'm in pretty good shape" and within 5 minutes the list was 3xs longer and I was in slight panic mode. And then you add the holidays and it seems like this time of year just flies by!

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    3. I'm lucky in that I finally have vacation again after starting a new job a year ago. So I'm taking a few days near the middle of October and that's going to be my push to finish as much as I can.

      I can really only work on the house on weekends so time goes by really fast!

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    4. I'm sure you'll make it!you are cooking right along. I think it's funny that something so small takes so much time. I'm sure building something life size would take longer, but I'm not convinced it would be much longer, lol.

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    5. LOL you're right... though at least I don't have to deal with weather delays. Just work delays.

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  2. Holy cow, Sheila! You did an amazing job on the cabinets - the whole kitchen, actually! I LOVE it!

    The hinged wall... They say that necessity is the mother of invention, but in your case it's just genius! In addition to keeping the kitties out, you won't have to dust it much, either! And more hinges? You're becoming the hinge expert! I see a lot of questions coming your way!

    I am so impressed with all of the things you've taken on in this project! You set your sights on things and just kept working them out until you got them perfect. When the zombie apocalypse happens, I want you on my team!

    Awesome job, love all the photos, and I am with you on the list that just keeps getting longer. At some point we have to say enough is enough!!!

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    1. Thank you! I was so excited to do those under cabinet lights. They really brighten everything up.

      I tried to do an enclosed house last year but really didn't have much know how in what to do. Pepper's blog was invaluable this year since she hinged her back wall last year.

      I've had a lot of help and advice from all of you more experienced miniaturists and I stalk people's blogs obsessively so I don't really feel like I can take much credit for how well it's turning out. But when the zombie apocalypse comes I'm with you. We'll figure this out.

      Well the first list was mostly structural. The revised list is mostly finalizing and making everything look pretty after the base structure is done. Enough will be enough in December I think.

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  3. Wow! It looks amazing. I am blown away by the kitchen. And all you work so far.

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    1. Oh thank you! I'd still be working on (and cursing over) that couch if you hadn't posted that tutorial so if I've actually progressed I owe a lot to you.

      I really had to keep in mind that it was a dollhouse kitchen, not a 'real' kitchen or the picture wouldn't have come out very well at all.

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  4. Yes, yes, yes! The cabinets turned out beautifully! The lights are fantastic, and adding trim to the bottom of them was spot-on. Your kitchen is gorgeous. Well done. :D

    And the chair looks much better. :)

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    1. Thank you! I was pretty relieved it turned out well considering how much time it took me to make.

      You were so right about the chair. Now I'm eyeing the couch and wondering if I should do the same thing to it. Maybe with some black trim... Hmmm...

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  5. I can help with flowers and vines. I have a bunch of punches and a gazillion pieces of origami paper.

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    1. I actually bought a bunch of hole punches (I was super excited to find them) and paper. But before I did that I got a bunch of viney stuff with flowers on it, kinda like Brae used around her chimney on her Haunted Heritage. So I'm going to try out my viney stuff and see how it looks before I attempt to make flowers and vines from complete scratch.

      I'm a little afraid of this process because the Building Inspector was sniffing around the house last night.

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    2. I may be bombarding you for advice on how to make everything look real though. Fair warning and thank you in advance for any help!

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  6. Now that I'm done with mine I'm going to be bored and aimless until another project comes along. You might as well put me to work.

    You'll need ball point styluses and fine gauge paper covered wire too. I have tons of wire if you need me to mail you some.

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    1. Ball point Styluses... I need to hit Hobby Lobby anyway so I'll take a look there. Wire I think I have. I still have a bunch from my window locks/latches project.

      I thought you'd be working on something for the Halloween contest HBS is running.

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    2. Huh...I missed that...will go look....

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    3. I keep getting emails from them with a coupon and they talk about the contest there. It's on their Facebook page if you want to take a look there.

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    4. Could always decorate one of your other builds for Halloween. Could be fun.

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  7. Building inspectors don't like citrus. I bet if you sprayed the landscaping with some citrus air freshener or something....

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    1. Hmm... I'm going to find some citrus stuff... Because the minute I put that fourth wall on she was up on the table poking at it. As if she was irritated she couldn't see in and bat things around.

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    2. You mean you don't build them just for her?!?

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    3. LOL oh yeah. That's what she thinks. She's so affronted when I enclose something so she can't poke her paws in. And she's waiting for the pom poms you told me to get her last year.

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  8. Well done Sheila! It is looking great! I think lists get longer because we realise that we want to do more things than originally anticipated. Or we change things. Or maybe because when we start, we keep the list deliberately short so that the whole job isn't so overwhelming that we give up before we start!

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    1. Thank you! I'll admit the list seems longer because the original was pretty much structure only. The revised list has more of the fine details on it.

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  9. You know, when I read about deadlines I start feeling anxious for that person despite not being involved in the build =0P This is the best part - the dressing it up and finishing touches. Looking forward to seeing the complete build =0)

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    1. I'll admit to some anxiety but more just excited because I'm so much further along than I was last year. Plus I have a definite direction and a plan. That always helps.

      I'm so glad to see you here, it drives me nuts that I can't comment on your blog! I love those little pots and pans you got, especially that big stockpot.

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  10. I LOVE your kitchen floor plan, Sheila! You have really made GREAT use of the floor area and wall space and given that it is a narrow room, you have a kitchen with LOOKS and COOKS!
    Converting the HOM secretary shelves into kitchen cupboards was a Brilliant move and I love the addition microwave installation, as well as your full-sized fridge- WOW, Well Done!

    elizabeth

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    1. Thank you! It seemed to take forever but worth it in the end I think.

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  11. Wow, your uppers are brilliant... why haven’t I seen this build before! Now I’m off to search for the post on your lowers. :)

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