Bathroom, Stairs and Stove

I painted the shower fixtures last week and this week I glued them to the shower wall.  These are from Kristine's shop on Shapeways.

I knew that I had another cube shelf around somewhere that matched the others I'd be using.  So I spent part of the weekend hunting it down.  I finally found it and my ripple glass so I got to work.

I cut a panel of it to act as part of the shower wall when I get everything glued in. And then I did a quick dryfit of the shower with everything in place.

I'm going to add one more row of tiles to the bathroom flooring than I initially planed to give myself a slightly larger footprint.

I also decided to add some more of the ripple glass to the other three cube shelf.

I started to build a cabinet for the sink too.

It's covered with primer at the moment.  Of course then I dropped it trying to move it so now it needs to be re-primed.  That, I'm sorry to say, is a typical Sheila move.

Jodi had suggested I use some wood strips on my feature wall to give it more dimension and this weekend I decided I would.  I went with raw wood because I liked how it looked.  One of the tones in the coffee table is very pale so I think it works.

Plus I think the raw wood will tie the wall in with the floors nicely enough.  But that was as far as I got with the loft this weekend.

I started to work on the spiral stair for the bookshop.  I wanted it to look more traditional so I used some spindles I'd bought and beads for spacers.

The staircase took most of the day.

I'm adding a railing out of the same cord along with newel posts and then I'll modge podge the whole thing, prime it and then paint it metallic black.  Likely I'll have to paint it plain basic black first and metallic on top. I've noticed the metallic paints don't cover as well without several coats.

While I was letting all the glue dry on the stairs I got started on my stove for the living quarters.

I was going to go with a parlor stove but I wanted something that technically you could at least brew tea on.  So I got most of it glued together.

Then I added some LEDs and the cellophane for a fire effect and glued the rest together.

I was really excited so I took a couple videos.  My husband was playing EA Sports MLB so the music in the background (if you're using sound) is from that.

I want to age it a bit, it looks too shiny and new for me right now.  I think less gleam and a bit of soot maybe.  I'll work on the coal scuttle and tiled base next week.

This was as far as I got.  Well, except for removing the handle from the side since I realized that didn't belong there before the glue dried.  (Very grateful that I figured that out quickly.)

So far I'm pleased with how it's going.  The fact that we're almost into May just hit me.  Time flies.

How are all of you doing?

Shower & Doors

This was a kind of odd weekend.  With the holiday I got Friday off, which was nice.  I was lazy a bit more than I intended to be though.

I got the posts for the balcony railing painted finally.

They actually look a bit brighter here than they actually are.  I'm painting the railings now.

Then I started to work on the shower.  I'd ordered tiles from Jodi's Shapeways shop.  They were a bit too tall for the shorter wall of the loft so I cut them down some.  I used some putty for grout and painted it white then primed the tiles and painted them with a pearly cream.

The shower pan is bass wood cut to size and primed with gesso.  I used a tiny washer and thumbtack painted black and then metallic brown for the drain.

I made sure I had wallpaper in my stash for the living quarters of the shop.  It's different enough from the main shop and cheerful.

I'll make some paneling out of basswood for the lower portion of the walls.

I also worked on the door to the living quarters and made a simple doorknob.

I finished the main doors to the shop so the outer portions also have kickplates now.

I'm still thinking about the color for the outside of the shop.

But after I got that done I started to work on the trim for the single bookcases so I could make them resemble the triple bookcases.

During this process I managed to slice my thumb open.  That was fun. Dripping blood, trying to clean it out and find the band aides which are never where they should be.  Then of course I put too much Neosporin on it so the band aides wouldn't stay on.  More band aides on top of the first.

But I did manage to finish the shelves.  I haven't glued them together yet.  I want to wait until I have the lights on them.  Maybe books in the shelves too.

But with the trim added they look enough like the triple cases that there won't be any jarring differences.

With all that done I did another dry fit of the front three walls of the shop, and put the false walls and doors in to see how they'd look.

I'm thinking of painting the windows black.  That'll look sharp especially with a darker blue for the main front.

So far everything fits well.  I've measured and I'll need to start work on the shop's spiral staircase fairly soon.

And here's the view from the back.  I can put the wiring behind the fake walls.  There'll be plenty of room.

I think it'll work out pretty well.

I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend and a Happy Easter!

Newel Posts & Doors

This weekend I don't feel like I got much done.  I accomplished a bit, thought about stuff, did a bit more.

I started work on the posts for the loft railing.

They're drying now and I'll dry brush them with the metallic brown after they're done.

I also worked on the flooring for the loft second floor.  I got it measured and cut, and that's as far as I got on the loft.  I'm still thinking about the kitchen and how I want to do it.  I was wondering about having the back wall a row of cabinets, fridge and stove, with the sink under the small window and an island going from the support post towards the stairs.

This is a view from the kitchen window.  I think a wall of cabinets, stove, and fridge with a nice hood would be striking.

The shop shelves are all dry. I've got two more on backorder that I'll need to paint and finish when they arrive.  But I tested out how the brass sconces would look.

I like how they look.  I need to add some trim to the single book cases so they match the triple ones but so far so good.

Then I started to think about the doors on the shop.  I'm debating on the color I want to paint the front.  But I needed something eye catching for the doors.

While I was considering that I taped off the bronze doorknob for the fake door and painted it so it looked more like brass.

I also started thinking about the flooring and how I wanted to finish the bottom of the door frame.  So I went through my wood and found some trim that would work.

I had to buy more wood flooring so I went with some black walnut.  I'll add a cherry stain to it.

The narrow floor boards are simple but they'll work well for the flooring.  I can use something wider on the third floor if I don't have enough of the walnut.

I dug through my metal finishings, and found my extra doorknobs.  I had some plain brass ones without a plate and some more intricate ones in gunmetal grey.  So I got my jewelry findings out again and started to make fancy doorknobs and kickplates.

First I painted the doors,  I had to remove them from the front of the shop, which took a little doing, but I painted the insides black and taped off the windows on the outsides to make a black frame.

While the paint was drying I started gluing and painting the finishes.

I also made some framing for the interior of the doors to hold the windows in place.

I used the blue paint from the Craftsman Cottage on the exterior.  I think the dark metal doorknobs/plates look nice with the black and blue.

I was thinking I might do the front of the shop with the blue and age it with some black, or darken the blue with black and then do a bit more aging?  I'll have to mix up some colors and test them out.  And I need to add kickplates to the front of the doors.

Here's the interior of the doors.  I added some more brass trim to brighten them up a bit.

So I need to let them dry.  But I think they look pretty good.  At least so far.  The kickplates need a bit more aging I think.

The last thing I did was paint my trim for the fake door and glue it on.  When I dries I'll add the finish.

It needs a bit more darkening up, so I'll fix that before I add the finish.  The doorknob needs a bit of aging too.

I'm going to think about colors and how I plan to stick the front to the rest of the building.  I need to start working on the spiral stair for it as well.

For now, I'm going to get myself a drink and think about colors.

Hope you're all doing well!

Feature Wall, Loft 'Wall' and Store Furniture

I think I mentioned last week that I wanted to do a feature wall for the loft but I didn't want to do wallpaper.  So I started looking into painted versions that were a bit more elaborate than one color different than the rest of the walls.

I'd been to Hobby Lobby on Thursday and picked up a few shades of blue to go with some that I had already.  I dug through my paint and found the colors I'd used for the Craftsman Cottage.  Then I put them all on a piece of MDF and labeled them.

The Craftsman Blue had too much of red undertone.  I needed blues that had a slightly yellow tint to them if that makes sense. 

I put them next to my floor and the couch I plan on using in the loft.

I tried the coffee table I plan on using as well.  The bronze metallic was a thought if I wanted dividing lines but I decided against it.

I went with the Chocolate Brown, my custom color, the custom color I got on sale, the Midnight Blue, Colonial Blue and Blue Fog.

Then I drew out the design.

I managed to figure out where I wanted my colors.  Then began my painstaking process of painters tape and paint.

It's not perfect but I do like how it looks.

I also painted the ceiling.

I went through my stash and found the cube shelves I had because I want to use them for a bathroom/bedroom wall. 

I also found some tiles that mimic onyx and my granite contact paper.  I also have some paper that came with a kitchen kit.   I like how they look with the stone floor paper.

I think maybe the tan lowers and creamy white uppers?  With granite countertops.  I'm not sure though. I think maybe something darker... and then the tan for the uppers?  Still thinking about that.

The tiles I thought would be really nice in the bathroom.  I splurged on one of Jodi's shower kits.

I think it'll work pretty well.  I left space for my shelves.  I'm going to back them with some pebble glass.

That's about as far as I got on the Downtown Loft this weekend.  I worked on it a good part of Saturday.

Sunday I decided to do another dry fit of the walls for the bookstore and realized that my second floor was a touch too narrow so I added some wood to widen it slightly.  

While that was drying I decided to paint the fake door.  I used black and then added gloss varnish over the top.  I like how it looks.

I also went through my scrapbook paper and wallpaper again trying to find something for the bookstore and I think I found something.

The stripes make me dizzy so I think the muted flower pattern is better.  And I have more of that too.

I decided I liked the idea of black doors for the interior.  And that I wanted the store shelves, counter and window tables to match.  So I got to work on those.

The window display tables I built out of House of Miniatures kits for Chippendale Lowboys.

Once I got them assembled I painted them and added the hardware.  Then varnished everything and glued the drawers in.

I like how they look.  And painted furniture would be easier to keep up than stained considering beeswax was the go to polish back then.

Then I started on the bookshelves.  

I was painting and varnishing for quite a while.  

My idea is to take my sconces and rather than put them on the wall I'll add them to the divider between the shelf sections.  They're brass like the drawer handles, so they'll look nice.

That was as far as I got today.

But I'm excited for next weekend when I can do more.

On a less than happy note, Keli found an account on Instagram that has a ton photos that don't belong to the poster.  They are not credited and I know that they don't belong to the person whose account it is because some of them are Keli's and at least one is Brae's.  Some belong to past Creatin' Contest entrants and there are at least two by Robin Carey. So I suggest you all go and check out this account and if you recognize your work or someone else's inform the folks you know and report the account to Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/aramesh_021/