Bathroom

Sorry I didn't post last week. I really didn't have much that was picture worthy beyond this;

Oh yes, you very observant folks, you are seeing correctly. I have rearranged my fabric shelf and boxes of miniatures in order to make room for another cat tree.

In all fairness the one that was in the corner was cheap, old and when Cap'n Jack was doing his usual ricochets around the room it broke in half and fell.  Narrowly missing a couple of dollhouses.  So we got another climbing tree, I rearranged the shelves and then built the climbing tree.

Note to all those who think cheap is the way to go.  The cheaper they are, the less readable the directions are.  My husband, (kind man that he is) observed the entire shebang and noted several times to the cats that Mommy really loved them.  As you can see, it's popular with my Building Inspector.  But I've caught the others on it too.

She likes the pouches because she's the only one who can fit in there.

That was a good portion of the Friday night before last.  Saturday was spent recuperating from that and then I build a little on Sunday.  Mostly I glued the floors in for the upper level and then pressed them flat.  I love the Alessio designs but the floors curl up really bad unless you weigh them down.  And of course I didn't think things through when I added the lights to the ceiling of the lower level.  So the trick was to weigh down the second level floors without crushing the kitchen and front room overhead lights.  But somehow I managed it. 

Part of me really wants to put the windows and doors in so I can frame them out. But I'm afraid if I do I'll forget that I want to add the window latches and handles so I keep stopping myself.

So I started work on the bathroom.  No fixtures yet but I've got all the wallpaper and trim up.  The woodwork is in Americana's 'Warm White'.  Against the wallpaper it looks slightly aged which I like.  Like someone tried to update wood paneling by painting it.  The wallpaper was the stuff I'd originally chosen for the bedroom. 

The bathroom floor was something I really worried over for a while.  I wanted a wooden floor like in the rest of the house. But I didn't want it to be the same as the rest of the house.  Each room should have its own type of floor.

So I pieced together the boards left over from the living room and cut them so they'd look like short boards before gluing them down and staining them the same walnut as the kitchen.

Then I did this.

I used the same white as on the other woodwork.  Like whoever painted the wainscoting had used the same paint on the floors.  But just the white looked a little too sporadic so I added another color. 

It's dark enough to stand out next to the white but not so dark that it overwhelms the walnut.  I've even got some places a little scuffed up and faded, plus some deliberate gaps in the boards so it looks like a board or two got replaced due to a waterleak or something.  Old houses tend to have gaps and creaking boards.

And here's a look at it all together...

I'm pretty pleased with how it looks so far.  I've got the recommended glue for the bath room kit and as soon as I can I'm going to start on them.  The only other thing I need to add is a heat register.

See you next time!

They're Here! My Chairs!!!

If I could have put an entire line of exclamation points in the title I would have.  But it looked weird so I dialed it back.

As promised, I took pictures of the chairs when they arrived, with two little red pillows which are adorable.  A sweet gift from Janet.  Once again, if you haven't check out her shop on Etsy you should.

I set them up in the living space on the first floor just to get an idea of how they'd look.  Right now they look wonderful in the space and the couch actually looks oversized.  And the couch looks really new.  That'll change as I age it up a bit. 

Anyway.  What do you think?

First is the Castor Chair. Isn't it gorgeous?  I love the fabric.

Next is the Modern Square Wing Chair.  Those red flowers are hand painted.  Love how they match the red cushions and the couch.

Okay. Now for the front room layout.  I first thought I'd put the couch with the back to the front wall.  But it's so wide it felt like it was encroaching on the entryway. You know?

It wasn't, but that's how it felt.  so I reversed the chairs and the couch. 

For some reason this feels roomier.  Not quite sure why.

I love the little red couch, and I'm glad I got it.  But if I get really ambitious I might try to recreate it in a slightly smaller footprint.  In the meantime I do like how this arrangement looks.  It gives me some space for a little end table between the chairs with a lamp that'll show through the front window. 

And there's space behind the couch for a small dining area.  It's all still a work in progress.  So we'll see how things go.  But the chairs are staying.

No matter what.

Heat Registers/Vents and Other Little Things

Little things, you know.  Like the kitchen wallpaper and the doors and windows interior woodwork.

I was all set to make heat registers like Kris's tutorial when I realized I'd have to cut into the wainscoting to get them flush against the wall, at least in the front room.  And since I didn't want to do that, and I wanted all the heat registers to be the same throughout the house, I had to come up with something different.  See below.

Ignore the goofy wood near the understairs.  I've got to fill that in a bit and stain it more.

I bought some jewelry findings from Hobby Lobby.

They're pretty thin and not hard to work with.

Then clipped the ends off them to make them more oval/rectangular in shape.

More workable now.

I cut a rectangle of thin cardboard and edged it out with strip wood.  I painted the wood with a black metallic and the cardboard inside with a flat black.  Hopefully to make it look a bit more realistic.

Then used sticky tacky glue to attach the metal filigree jewelry finding to the top.

Not perfect but decent looking for a first attempt.

I initially thought I'd set them on the floors and got some wood painted but Keli over at iseecerulean pointed out that they'd need to be level with the floor or they'd look wrong.  So I'd have to cut into the floors.  And she was absolutely right.  So this is my attempt at something more realistic.  Because cutting into the glued down front room floor was not something I was really willing to attempt.

I have seen heat registers on top of the floor but not by much and there's no way I'd be able to do anything the would look realistic in 1:12 scale.  Keli offered to send me some of her jewelry findings from her stash to try out but I think these work and I'd already purchased them.  Thanks Keli, very much, for the offer and the help.

I think these work, I hope.  Opinions?

I also worked on the windows.  Painted all the new woodwork flat black. Let it dry. Glued them into the frames and waited for that to dry.  Then took out the glass and painted the crossbars metallic black.  It's not easy to tell they're there but I know that they're done and I think once the windows are in they'll look more realistic than the flat glass on the inside.

And I did the same for the doors.  I am so glad that those are done.

See what I mean? You can hardly tell at all.

But I'm still glad I did it because if I didn't it would totally bother me.  This way, even if you can't tell, I know the crossbars are there.

I also ordered some of Marion Russek's window fittings from Shapeways.  Here's a link to her post.  They're just gorgeous.  I ordered mine in black but they won't arrive for a while yet.  I maybe ordered too many but extras are never a bad thing. 

I've been wallpapering and doing the woodwork for the front room a lot this week.  And it's all pretty much on the walls.  Yay.

I'm pretty pleased with how it looks so far.  I re-checked how the second floor/ceiling looks and it seems to work well still.

There's my little heat register/vent.  Real looking enough?

I also put up the wallpaper on the kitchen walls.  I don't want to add a lot of trim here until I've decided on the cabinets.  They have to be flush to the walls so I don't want to add baseboards to the interior wall or the back wall until I've gotten those figured out.  But I do like how the brick looks.

I'm thinking one wall, the interior, could have a big hutch on it.  And the back wall would have the sink, stove and fridge.

The other option is a smaller hutch on the interior wall and a stand alone sink, one of those old fashioned ones with iron legs and exposed pipe.  Then it's only the stove and fridge on the back wall with cabinets and open shelving over them.  With vent/fan over the stove.  Which I'd have to make. 

Thoughts?

One last look at my heat register.  I still like it. How do you guys feel?

Places To Sit Upon!

I'm so excited I could squeak!  Seriously.  Guys I'm vibrating here.

My chairs are on their way!

Lemme 'splain... No, there is too much. Lemme sum up.

I ordered some chairs from Janet Harvie on Etsy.  And if you haven't checked out her shop go here and do so.  Go ahead. I'll wait.

See?  See?  The awesomeness that is her furniture?

I waited a bit and saved my money because I wanted to order two chairs at once.  And then Janet and I went back and forth for a bit about color and sizing.  I sent her a couple pictures of the parlor wallpaper and the red couch I'm using so she would have an idea of my colors.

I ordered the Modern Square Miniature Wing Chair and the Caster Chair.  And Janet just sent me the email saying they were on their way.  And she sent me a picture of what they look like!

Aren't they gorgeous?  When they arrive I'll take some more pictures.  Can't wait to see how they look in the parlor/front room.

In other news...I had been debating making heat registers like Kris shows in her tutorials.  Like these.  Love how they look.  But the size of them would cut into the wainscoting and I honestly couldn't think of a good place to put them on the walls.

Then I remembered some of the old houses in the town where I grew up.  I baby sat for some folks who bought this grand old Victorian and it was gorgeous.  The heat registers/vent covers were set into the floor.  And that's something I can work with.

My idea is to get some of these jewelry findings and clip off the ends until I'm left with something roughly rectangular.  Frame them out and glue them down to the floor.  Then dry brush with black metallic paint so they look aged.  Or, you know, paint them before I glue them down.  That might work out better.

I think that'll work out fairly well.  I bought a bunch so I've got some room for error.  I'm curious to hear feedback on this idea because I can't recall seeing it done in miniature.  Any suggestions? Comments? Great thoughts?

Title To Be Named Later

I swear the hardest part of writing posts is coming up with a catchy title.  As you can see I really hadn't a clue on this one.

I did a lot of work this weekend.  Lots of little things.  I'm working on the interior window panes.  Which are painful. (Ha, punny.)  But I've gotten them all cut and glued.  All ten of them.

See? I have proof.

Okay so there are only two shown.  But I got ten done.  Four double windows and two single windows.  I have to work on the door windows next.  I need more wood strips for that.

I did a few other things too. Got the pediments painted and aged.

I got the balcony supports painted and aged too.  Here's a close up of them.

I also finished the bathroom window, complete with pebbled glass.  I'm pretty pleased with how it looks considering I had to practically build it from scratch.  It looks a little rickety and bent.  I kinda like it that way.

I also started on the parlor and dining room walls.  I'm pleased to say they look a little more finished now.  This wall divides the front room from the kitchen.

Here's another wall, almost dry, the front of the house.

Once I get the window panes for the inner windows glued in and painted I'll be able to insert them in the walls and get them trimmed out.

So far I'm pleased with how everything looks.