Sunday, March 18, 2018

Walls & Tower

This weekend has been a bit of a hodge podge of playing with real life furniture and dollhouse furniture.  Of necessity the living room needs some rearranging and other rooms followed because some chairs were changing rooms.

I've been gluing walls and floors then giving my legs and back a workout moving furniture in between waiting for glue to dry.  It's been... a full weekend.

And for all my fellow descendants of Irish immigrants out there, Happy Saint Patrick's day.  I spent eight years in Catholic school and one of the things we learned the story of Saint Patrick.  Interesting guy.

I got some of the upper walls glued together, and determined where my breaks will be for the removable wall.  I have one more long cut to make to get that completely set up.



And I'm working on my door placement.  I scaled down my front door so I could mimic the shape of it for the inside openings.  And I began the process of building my tower.



I'm fortunate in that the division between the two containers falls right at the level of the second floor.  So that's something nice and easy to remember.  It looks a little crooked in the picture but it's actually plumb.

I'm building up the ground level though because the floor is a full inch above the ground.  I really need to figure out my stairs before I cut window openings.  And I need to wire the tower for some sconces too I think.

In the mean time, I've figured out that much as I'd like to have the tower set on the corner of the cottage, it'll ultimately make my life simpler to have it off of the back wall.  Though I still love the idea and if I can figure out a way to do it I will.  So here's where the second level tower door would be on the back wall.


The upper right corner will be a bit cut off but I think that will look fine.



I also got my materials for the tower's brick.  I saw this on Pinterest, I think Kristine actually did something with sandpaper on a fireplace, but of course my computer is now goofing up.  There are more pictures on Greenleaf's forum if the links will work on your computer.  The idea is you paint the sandpaper and cut it into brick lengths.  It has the texture of brick.

I figure what I'll do is layer it onto cardboard to give it a bit more depth, maybe a couple different thicknesses.  I'm hoping that I can figure out some Tudor style brick patterns.

And since I'm waiting for more glue to dry I decided to play around with furniture placement for the ground floor.  I have some Tudor style wall panels that I want to use in the bedroom on two of the walls at least.  Here's a few pictures.


The panels don't reach the ceiling but that way they aren't in the way of the beams that will support the second floor.

The box with the black and white is supposed to represent the fireplace.  I'm planning on staining the wall panels a medium brown so the darker furniture will show up against it.  The rest of the walls will be plastered an off white.  And the white rectangle is the door to the tower stairs if I can't figure out a way to set it off the corner of the house.


The table in front of the window will be replaced with a smaller cabinet with a sink.  I'm still debating a water pump in the house.


With a smaller sink cabinet the table in the center of the kitchen will pull back from the fireplace a bit but the fireplace will be a bit deeper I think.  And I only need two chairs.  I can put the fourth up on the second floor.


You can see in my little entryway where I need to either cut off some of the MDF wall or build out some shelves and hooks. Maybe for buckets and brooms?

I'm thinking I might just make the window openings smaller.  Raise the bottom of the opening and leave the top where it is.  I need to work on new windows anyway, why limit myself to the windows that came with the kit?

I've got some more gluing of walls to do before I can call it a day.  Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

20 comments:

  1. Oooh.. I love seeing the furniture placement.. I like where you are heading. That panelling is wonderful. I would just build out the wall between the beams with wood the same thickness up to the roof so it looks even. Hmmm, for your tower, could you three quarter it on the corner.. how do I explain, like cut a quarter wedge out of the tower and wedge the corner of the build into the tower, then cut off the building walls where they intersect with the tower. Then you have a doorway, diagonally into the tower?? I don't know if it would work and still give you enough space for your stairs.. but it's worth exploring in cardboard. Just an idea. :)

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    1. Thanks! I was thinking about that actually. Because I want the walls to be uniform up to the beams. And I'm thinking about the tower more and more and trying to figure out how to do it. I know what you mean about three quarters of a tower though.

      I'll have to play around with it and see.

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  2. Wow, Sheila, it's always so clever that someone truly knows what she definately wants to do (building and furnishing) with a new dollhouse kit, your plans are great! Regarding the making of bricks: I have made mine from sandpaper on cardstock and painted them, for the lower walls of my miniature henhouse. It was a lot of work but worth it, if you want to see it, here is the link: http://minimumloon.blogspot.nl/2015/01/wit-en-groen-white-and-green.html I hope this will be useful for you...?
    Unfortunately my poor knowledge of the English language is restricitng me for giving you technical advise, I'm sorry. I like your plans so far and I can't wait to see more :)!

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    1. Thank you! I really had fun finding some of the things to go in the house and finishing them will be even more fun.

      I like your henhouse! I think the bricks will be worth the effort if only so that the tower has a different texture than the cottage part. I really need them to look different.

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  3. Sounds like a FULL weekend and worthy of a good pat on the back! The structure is looking great, so much constructing happening and I like the furniture layout. The Tudor references are so much fun and I am excited to see them all become!

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    1. Thanks! More furniture construction tonight but then I'm done with real life stuff for a while at least.

      I'm unbelievably excited about this furniture and staining it and doing the walls. Still need to work on my electric placement though. That's my next step, then routing channels.

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  4. Looking great Sheila! Loving the layout.

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    1. Thanks! I'm hoping as I finish it I don't have to eliminate anything.

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  5. You are a busy bee.

    Keep playing with the tower, you'll get it just right.

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    1. LOL my first thought is I need honey.

      Thanks! I've never done anything round before so it's taking some thought but I like it.

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  6. Hi Sheila! I think your layout is looking wonderful! I LOVE the bedroom with the paneling! Perhaps you should plan to decorate the ceiling beams? That was often a Medieval practice! The tower connection is always tricky.... joining a round to a flat section requires "cutting corners" somewhere! Or building a "tunnel" or covered passage area that links them together. I think you are making great progress! I look forward to seeing more!

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    1. I was thinking about the ceiling beams. I think in some portions some decoration would be good. Like the bedroom is obviously more luxurious than the rest of the cottage.

      I like the idea of a slight tunnel, especially for the upper floor as it'll be further from the center of the curve due to the roof slant.

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  7. Towers are a pain, but they get there. :D I love how cozy the bedroom looks.

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    1. I'm kind of excited to try it though, even if it is a pain.

      Thanks! The rest of the cottage will be pretty basic but the bedroom is where my WQ has the bulk of her more luxurious belongings.

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  8. Wow, you've accomplished so much in one weekend! I love what I see.
    Hugs, Drora

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    1. Thanks! Hoping to get more done this weekend. At least get my doors and windows figured out.

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  9. So great to see the layout coming together inside and really get a feel for how it will look! The furniture placement seems smart and has a great flow. Not too much empty space either. My favourite part of today’s post is seeing those Tudor panels. Love them so much. I can only imagine the effect with the beams.

    That white washed sandpaper fireplace on pinterest looks so pretty. I don’t think I’ve tried sandpaper as a finish yet… I can’t remember though who I saw that did either… Looking forward to reading how you do yours!

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    1. Those Tudor panels! I really love them. Next time there's a sale I'm scooping up some more if I can't figure out how to make them.

      I think I was fooled by the floorboards. This was years back. And my memory is not what it was. I'm going to fuss with door and window placement, which means playing with the stairs, but I can paint up my sandpaper and glue it to cardboard in the meantime.

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  10. I love those Tudor panels and the bed! It's exciting to see how it will look!

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    1. Thanks! I really love those panels. I need to recreate them.

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