Paint & Mock Ups

Well it's a short week!  And I'm so glad.  Next week is going to be... interesting.  Lets leave it at that.  The first seven business days of the month?  Never a happy time.  But I intend to enjoy the weekend before I get slammed. 

So a few things accomplished in this past week.  I painted the outsides of the cottage.  Instead of going to the store and getting a paint color mixed I just took the dark blue trim color of the old house and the pale blue main color and mixed them together. 

It came out to a nice medium blue, not purple-ish which I was worried about, but a good creamy blue.  I really like it though I don't think it shows as well in this picture as it does in actual life.

See what I mean?  It's not super pale but it isn't dark either.

For the inside I plan on having the entire house with the same color walls.  The only exception will be the bathroom and that will be mostly the same but one area will be tiled.

See?  Here's the inside.  I'm doing a mock up of how I can put everything before I decide on the way the stairs will be.  See? Nice light blue.  Almost white but not quite.  (Rhymes! LOL)

It's a really pale blue but it's very beachy to me.

See the idea  is that if I use the second floor the way they say in the plans the stairs will be located in the rear left corner.  I've made pencil marks to show where the stairs would be.  I figure two inches square at least for the space they'll need.

Pencil marks wouldn't show so I did this instead.  I'm not sure if I like that location for the stairs.

So if I turn the upper floor over you can see where I think the stairs might work out better.

This makes a bit more sense to me as to where the stairs should be located.

And since I don't have the stairs yet I've decided to use a similar sized box for blocking. 

Like so.  It's not perfect but it gives me a good idea.

So here's my first set up for the kitchen and living room.  This is with the stairs in the rear left position.  I'm not sure I like it very much.  The kitchen doesn't flow very well.  I don't like the fridge being far away from the sink and stove much.

Pretend there's another wall on the right with a fireplace and a built in set of shelves.

So I tried it another way, just to see if I'd like it better.

And I actually like this even less.  I don't like the fridge being just inside the front door. 

 So I switched the stairs around to see if I could figure another way of doing this.  See the daybed looks deceptively large but it really is the same size as the couch would be.  And I need the daybed so I can add a trundle under it and that way the living room is good for a guest or kids.

See this is marginally better I think I like the island positioned like this at least. 

It means the stairs get moved back.  But that's not too bad.  I can also pull the island back somewhat. I even played with having the hutch cabinet and the fridge on either side of the stairs but I really don't like how it looks.  Too cramped on one side and too empty on the other.  I don't like how close the island is to the stairs and fridge either.

See this is very odd looking to me.

I think this is good but the island isn't really perfect.  I think I like the island being horizontal to the sink and stove the best. 

Yeah I like how the living room is placed but I think the island needs to be turned.

 I'm planning to recover the chair with a brown fabric.  Something rusty or oak in color.  The daybed needs a different cushion cover and some pillows to make it look like a couch.

The other issue is that the upstairs floor will be upside down so the floorboards will look more like a bead board ceiling.  So I might need to sand it and paint it white.  That'll give it a nice contrast with the crossbeams I'm going to do. 

So the upstairs will need flooring.  That'll be something to look for.  But that's okay.  I think the changed set up will be worth it. 

The plan is to add the fireplace to the right side of the house.  I've got boards cut for the built-in bookshelf already.  I mentioned that I want a chimney on the outside of the house.  What I'm planning to do is a combination of tape wire and direct wiring.  I'll have to do that after I put the house together (mostly) but before I put flooring or tile in.  There's an awesome tutorial on Greenleaf here http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/dollhouse_news/FEB2009/dollhouse-lighting-kits.html

So I figure I'll hide the switches/transformer in the chimney.  I can use hinges and a magnetic lock to open and close it.  A few small holes drilled into the walls and I'll have the wires hidden either in the beams or the chimney.  The upstairs will be trickier but I can hide the wire tape behind some of the tile in the bathroom and put outlets in places where they won't be noticeable in the bedroom.

I can wire one to be behind the bed and that will power a table lamp.  And I can run wire and hide it with the center ceiling beam by drilling a hole through the beam maybe to get a ceiling light.  A rustic looking chandelier maybe?  Like this?  http://www.miniatures.com/3-Light-Chandelier-P18261.aspx

I'm planning a ceiling fan over the kitchen area and one over the living room area too. 

Like this only I want to paint the brass black or bronze or something.  Unless I really like the look of the brass once I get it near the house.  It might look nice with the daybed.  I just don't want to be overwhelmed with it.  http://www.miniatures.com/Globe-Ceiling-Fan--P16957.aspx

I want to have a wall sconce on either side of the mirror in the bathroom.  But I don't want it too brightly lit.  I like these sconces.  http://www.miniatures.com/Wall-Sconce-P17916.aspx

Plus its an angled ceiling and the room is too small for a hanging light.

Oh, here's someone who's going to be keeping an eye on the build.  This is Swoops.

He's very interested in the whole process.

Swoops was purchased at the same time as the dollhouse and I figured since I've already found an owl figurine and an owl picture that owls would be a sort of theme in the house.  Nothing major but a few knick knacks and touches.

The plan for the outside of the dollhouse is a stone porch with stone foundation and wooden railings and posts.  The railings will be white and so will the posts and arches.  I'm planning on the ceiling of the porch to have a hanging light, like a carriage light in the middle.  I don't know if I can manage a door light and hide the wires so I might do two hanging lights one near the door and once closer to the opposite end of the porch.  Kinda like this http://www.miniatures.com/Ornate-Hanging-Iron-Lamp-P18259.aspx

So what I'll do to cover up the wire tape will be kind of like a wooden ceiling.  I think I could use Popsicle sticks to cover the ceiling and give it a finished look. 

What I'd really like is to figure a way to have a little bit of a garden around the house.  I need to clear off more of my desk obviously but I could get a sheet of plywood and put it on a turntable.  Then make a little bit of a front or side yard.  It'd be cool to have a little yard near the chimney and another on the other side.  It doesn't have to be huge, but it would be neat to have a more finished look.

But that is far in the future... Right now, time for me to get going.  See all of you later.