Still Waiting...and Revising

Like everyone else who preordered the 2018 Creatin' Contest kit I'm still waiting for it to ship.  I'm so bummed because I think by this time last year I had the kit and I got to play around with a dry fit and mess around with furniture inside it.

It was also good to get a sense of how big it actually was.  I can measure and lay out a flat board to my heart's content but without walls I really don't get a good sense of the space I'm working with.

So I'm crossing my fingers that the kit comes in on the 21st, which is the latest late on the site, and maybe I'll get it by the 28th?

I've been collecting cup trays and molded cardboard that holds toner and computer parts along with egg cartons so that I could have enough cardboard for my stone walls.

And I'm researching building structure so I can make the tower top and second floor as authentic as possible.

I've been playing with the floor plan and trying to think of a way to not cut off the length but make the house look less huge.  And Megan suggested a false wall to make the space feel more cozy.

I liked the idea but wasn't sure just how I'd pull it off.  It did get me thinking though.  I'd been reading a lot about Tudor buildings and it was during the sixteen century that people figured out how to build chimneys and more efficient fireplaces.  That led to the development of the kitchen, with the fireplace in the center of the room and serving as a divider between the 'entertaining' space and the food prep area.  In Medieval times the great hall was where food was prepared as well as the gathering and dining area.  Having separate rooms for different functions was really a modern sort of idea.

Since WG has some wealth available to her and added her tower and 'remodeled' her old cottage I decided she would have tried to 'modernize' it when she returned to it after her ungrateful stepdaughter threw her out of the castle when she married her prince charming.

So I thought let's put the fireplace in the center of the cottage floor and that'll take up space.  I also wanted to move the tower so it's more on the back corner of the cottage rather than behind it.

Here's the original layout I showed you.

Complete with a little Jack paw playing with the tape.

And here's the layout I think might work better.  The yellow and black boxes are serving as the fireplace.

The sink base will be narrower and I'm going to try and do a window that's more like a bay window in front of it.

I've also got an idea based on this.

I've got some chimney stacks and I got some plastic dragons so I might try to recreate this chimney stack.

I think I might want some bigger dragons though.  Thankfully they're cheap.

But maybe I could use the little ones on some beams or over the door?

I've got some wooden trim on order and I'm hoping to use it on the bed and maybe on the chest I want to build.

Here's hoping no more backorders for the kit!