WG Retirement Cottage Inspiration

My Wicked Queen's cottage is taking a lot of inspiration from the Tudor period, as I think I've mentioned.  Something set in Ireland or England, suitable for a quiet life.

And my Wicked Queen is adamant that she is not actually Wicked. She's been stereotyped.

I'm hoping to use egg carton stones for the exterior of the first floor.  I was thinking a nice varying grey with a touch of brown here and there.  Something like this?

I like the roof on this one too.  

I don't know if I want to do vines on this house or not.  Depends on what I do with the garden.  I'd really like a little walled in front garden with a stream going through it and a gate.

I had (and I doubt this will come to fruition) the idea of a fairy tale cottage with the garden always feeling and looking like spring and summer while outside the walls there was snow and ice.  Don't know how I'd pull that off but its in the back of my mind.

The upper floors of the main cottage will be the timber and plaster look like the second cottage.  And for the tower I'm thinking of experimenting with the brick like Jodi did for her room box.   In a darker red brick? Something like this.

See the brick on the second story?  If I did that with grey stone around the windows it would tie into the main body of the cottage. It would also have the benefit of looking like something my Wicked Queen added to the cottage after she retired because until brick became cheap it wasn't something used commonly during the Tudor period.  At least that's what my reading said.

For the interior walls I'm thinking I'll use some plaster to make them look white washed, and have dark exposed wood beams on the ceilings and underside of the roof.

The furniture is another issue entirely.  Tudor furniture is this really curious blend of gorgeous delicate carving and chunky posts. 

A lot of the walls had wooden panels covering them and they were carved with what was called 'linen fold' designs.  Like this.

They'd have this on furniture too, like the panels on a headboard of a four poster bed.

So I'd love to be able to recreate this look on the barewood bed that I purchased.

Those little panels on the foot board and head board are crying out for some detail.  So I think I'll be experimenting with my dremel on scrap wood and seeing what I can do to achieve the same look with paper. 

I've purchased some pretty trim, the type you can use for a floor inlay, and I'm hoping to recreate the look of this chest.

We'll see.  And I'm going to try and build a table like this one.

This is a McQueenie kit and it's pricey to buy if I can't make one on my own.  I'm thinking some newel posts, and more of my bass wood from Hobby Lobby to start.

I love the color of it. So I want to try and do something similar with stain. 

And I bought two of these 'pews' which are similar to a Tudor settle and I can play around with them.  Not sure how they'll work with the sight lines in the rooms.  We'll see.

I also got a spinning wheel and I'm researching what a loom from the 17th century would look like.  I don't know if I'll have the ability to make one but it would be cool for the upstairs if I could pull it off.

I think the upstairs would be the work room, books, spinning wheel, a few odds and ends, that sort of thing.  The main floor is where she'd live mostly. So bed, table, sink (I think?) and settle or chair, that sort of thing.

And the tower would serve as the staircase and also a top floor for star gazing.  I need to figure out what a 17th century telescope would look like. 

Still working it out in my head but I'm excited.  Every time I start one of these contests I end up learning new things.  Exciting!

How is everyone else doing?  I'm being lazy mini-wise, not working on anything except research.