Bits and Pieces

This was a weekend of 1:1 scale house projects, such as putting up a new curtain rod, hanging a new door for the bathroom, and a lot of little things for the 1:12 scale house.

I'm sure the 1:1 scale stuff isn't as interesting to you as it is to me.  The projects were mostly fixing things that got destroyed by cats or destroyed by humans to rescue a cat.  Sadly the window shelf was not one of the things that got fixed, mostly because I cannot figure out how to reinforce it and I don't want an even dozen holes in my wall.  Half a dozen is enough I think.

The Nola house progresses.  As I mentioned last time, I distressed the stair treads so they'd look as if generations of tiny feet had trod up and own them.

I sanded the treads down a bit then used the American Cherry stain over the black.  It contrasts nicely I think.

I also, as you might have guessed from the shot above, put wallpaper and trim on the staircase wall, and attached the staircase.  I decided against the wainscoting on this particular wall because it felt too busy.

The area beneath the stairs will have a small bookshelf and desk and the wainscoting would be pretty much hidden anyway.  I might change my mind later about the area below the stairs but not the entryway portion of the wall.  Wainscoting would be too much there.

I put up some of the wallpaper for the kitchen wall.  I'm planning on adding trim around the door which will serve as a visual room divider. 

I like how the brick looks with the walnut floor.  I think it'll contrast nicely with the black fridge I bought and the simple cabinets I'm going to make.

I also did some work on the front door.  You'll recall from my test run of how all the doors and windows fit that it was unpainted so far.  That was because I couldn't decide on a color. 

I wanted something dramatic to stand out from the other grey blue doors.  Something that would look good next to the white trim and not clash with the pale grey house walls. 

Here's what I ended up with.

Front door, back inside it's trim.

And the interior side of it.

The same cherry as the rest of the parlor trim with metallic black trim.

There was a lot of taping and very careful painting of this door.  In the end I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

I also put a coat of finish on the beadboard ceiling, carefully avoiding the lighting brass.  I trimmed out the stairs opening so it looks pretty for anyone sitting in the living room.

You can see my little domed kitchen light, the Reutter Porcelain dining room light and my little entryway hanging light.  The dining room light killed me for ideas to trim it out until I remembered how people would cover wires with satin or velvet tubes.

Here's a close up of the dining room/Reutter Porcelain light.  I liked the touches of red without the color overwhelming.



I'm starting to get the exterior trim ready, painting it black and adding the crackle medium.  I'll add the topcoat today I hope.

The other thing I want to accomplish today is figuring out how to trim out the windows interior.  I need to make those tiny crossbars and the curved upper portion.  I'm planning on the crossbars being black, and maybe the curved portion cherry or walnut depending on the room.

Lots to do still.  Can't believe we're almost done with May! 

Laying Floor

I feel pretty good about what I got done this week.  A lot of staining, some glue work and then more staining.

I also did a test run of how the windows and doors look in the walls when the house is partially assembled.  This is going to be a picture heavy post so apologies in advance.

I got the front room floor laid out and glued into place and then stained with the American Cherry stain.  I'm pretty pleased with how it looks.

I haven't added the finish yet but I'm pleased with how it looks.  A little worn in places and not quite level, like the underflooring isn't as sturdy as it could be.

I added the flooring for the kitchen too, and used a walnut stain.

I also attached the railings to the stairs and I really love how it looks.

I worked on the second floor too.  I think it looks pretty good.

I need to add another layer of stain and move a few pieces around but it doesn't look bad. 

Tested the walls.

A look at the ceiling for the first floor.

And a look at how the windows and doors look.

And that's all for the day.

Traditional Trim vs Modern

Sorry it's been a couple weeks folks.  I've been working, I just haven't had much that's terribly noteworthy (or picture worthy) to show you.

I have been looking into a lot of the different ways staircases, railings and wainscoting are used in traditional houses and more modern ones.  It seems as if there are as many ways to trim out a room as there are houses out there.

But since I'm going with a more traditional (only slightly updated) two story shotgun house, I decided to not go with any really modern touches like crown molding that matches the wall color.  I actually want the house to feel a little dark in the front parlor/dining room.  Like it's slowly being updated but only as the owners can afford to do so. 

You know, patchwork redecorating.  The kind of thing you have to do yourself by watching design shows and following DIY bloggers. 

So with that in mind I stained the floors and the wainscoting a gorgeous cherry.

The nice thing about wood stain is that the color varies so much depending on the wood you're staining.  So the wainscoting turned out a bit darker, the floors both light and dark and the ceiling a really rich color in between.

Here's my flooring, some of it, along with the wainscoting.

The bead board is for the ceiling and there's a close up of the wainscoting. 

The wainscoting, flooring and stair railings are all from Alessio Miniatures.  I went with a metallic black on the spindles/filigree of the railing to mimic wrought iron.  And the same cherry stain on the base and handrail and stairs.  Let me tell you, masking tape/painters tape is my friend.  My good good friend.

It's hard to see in the light, but the poly finish I used to seal the railing really makes it shine like metal. 

Then I went with black treads on the stairs.  I've finished them and after I'm sure everything is dry I'll age the treads a bit more.  Some sandpaper to wear away the paint and finish a little bit will do the trick I think.

As you can see in the picture above, I've also been working on the trim for the exterior.  I had to go buy more black paint but once I got all of the windows and trim painted black I really needed it. 

I decided that I didn't want the doors to be completely weathered and worn so I put the black paint down in different places.  Then I used my crackle medium on everything I'd painted black.

Waiting for it all to dry was the hardest part.  Waiting gets me every time.

But finally got to add the white paint to the door trim and the window trim.  I used a Folk Art Acrylic Paint 'Cloudy Day' on the doors and on the curves of the windows.  Then edged the windows in the same grey as the exterior of the house.  Once that was done I used metallic black paint on the window crossbars.

I liked the result on the doors a lot.  They look like the paint has started to peel in some places more than others.  And to me it looks like someone's been spot painting the doors for years. 

I especially like how they look with the peeling white trim around them.

And the windows turned out pretty well I think.

My paint job isn't perfect.  But it's not really one of my skills.  And let's face it, is anyone going to get close enough to the windows to see the slight errors in the grey/blue paint?

Not too terrible for a couple weeks work. 

I'm working on the layout of the front room floor today.  I think I've almost got it.

I hope.

See you later folks.

NOLA House Front Elevation

So after I posted my pictures of the aged/crackled walls of the house I got a bunch of responses saying how cool it looked and how excited they were to see the house coming along.

I'm excited too, so it's nice to be in good company you know? 

And then Jodi asked if I would post a drawing so everyone could see what I was working towards and how this (hopefully) would all turn out.

Drawings? Uhh...

Crickets...

I would like to say that I normally work with a computer program to get an idea of what I want to do with the kit/contest.  I work on a floorplan and by the time I start... Well I know where I'm going but the plan is flexible.

However... since this was the first time anyone had ever requested something from me I figured I'd give it a try.  So I busted out my graph paper and started to draw.

By the way this activity is best attempted when your system is relatively free of caffeine. 

And if you're me and can't draw a straight line if your life depended on it, a ruler is also handy.

I will add the disclaimer that I am not an architect and have zero to no skill in drawing three dimensions.  I tried but that porch roof... yeah... you'll see.

The only thing I know about architectural drawing is that when you draw the outside of the house it's called 'elevation'.  So this is the front elevation of NOLA House.

And here's a closer shot of the balcony.

I've got everything for the balcony except some fancy filigree trim to go along the roofline. 

The trick is going to be getting the inside of the wall trimmed and papered before adding the balcony.  The last thing I want is to goof something up because I was pressing on the wall too hard.

I'll try to work on the floor plans next.

Curious to hear what you think.

Old Weathered Walls (Or Watching Paint Dry)

Well I was very excited to start using my crackle medium.  But before I started to really work on finishing the walls I did a quick doublecheck to make sure all my windows and doors would fit in the openings.  If I had to make adjustments, better to do it before I had a couple of layers of crackle and paint on it.

After a little bit of tweaking they fit pretty well.

The underlayer is actually a lot darker than it looks here.  I didn't want a stark black though.  More the look you get when a house has been painted over and over, changing colors without scraping off the old paint.

I'm such a dork. I was so excited when the crackle medium dried and I got to spread on the light paint.  It was so cool to watch it start to crack.

Here are some of my walls.

I globbed (technical term) the crackle on in some places and then went light in others.  Afterwards I messed with a it a bit, to make it look as if the house owner tried to do some spot painting to get the worst of the spots.

I also painted the corner pieces.  I'm planning on doing the window panes in black, with a minimum of crackle and then the window trim in white with black underneath, nice and weathered looking. 

The front windows will be more elaborate with the pediments over them and those will be appropriately worn looking as well.  Then there's the brackets to support the balcony and the balcony posts and railings... This will be a lot of fun.

I also took a moment to cut out my second floor and draw out where I want my walls.  And practiced the bathroom layout. 

I think I like the second one a little better.  Haven't decided on the fixtures yet.  These are just what I had available for testing.

I've got a Chrysobon bathroom kit that I'd like to try out.  I've never worked with one before so the idea makes me a little nervous.

We'll see.  I definitely want a bathroom that feels as old as the house.

Anyway, that's the progress so far.  Hoping to get more done this weekend.

Waffling on Wallpaper

Okay, so you all remember the wallpaper I chose (and purchased) for the bedroom right?

Cue visual reminder.

It's pretty and colorful and will look bright and cheerful in the bedroom.

But I've been wondering if it's a little too modern for this house.  The first floor has a lot of wood tones and then pops of red to brighten it up with the black and white toile wallpaper.  And the kitchen is inspired by Minaturas Modernas gorgeous roombox.  There's a traditional and industrial version and I can't decide which I like best.  But I want to do open shelving on one wall with exposed brick behind it.

So I've been rethinking my choice of wallpaper for the bedroom.  And then I found this.

It's a little more feminine than I pictured the room being at first.  But I love that deep pink and the subtle greens.  It also has a faded quality to it that I like.  The way the greens seem to disappear into the background.  And the offwhite background might be more forgiving with various wood tones than the starker brown branches and white of the first paper.

Plus the last bedroom I did was sooooo unisex.  Brown and green and natural wood tones.

So now I have to decide.  What do you folks think?

Oh! I also got to the store yesterday and got my crackle medium!  Crackling will commence this weekend!

NOLA House Mock Up

Well I did get my bricks mortared.  I think they turned out pretty well.  They look like real bricks to me at least.  What do you guys think?

I haven't put any finish on them yet.  I'm trying to figure out what to use.  I've got some semi-gloss polyurethane finish that might work.  Not sure.

I had thought I might start painting the siding this weekend.  But I had an idea that makes me hesitate to start painting unless it's to do a primer in a darker color than my finished paint color.

I love the Haunted Heritage on Otterine's site.  Especially how aged it looks.  And I'm wondering if I should do something like that for my house.  A lot of the pictures I found for houses in New Orleans are fairly decrepit looking on the outside.  See?

But I did find just as many that weren't so beat up looking.  So I'm in a bit of a quandary.  The aging would be in keeping with the style of house and the fairly traditional interior I have in mind.  And it would certainly make it unique. 

It's also something that will add two or three extra steps to everything I add to the exterior of the house.  Everything will have to be aged, grunged or worn out in order to fit in with the rest of the house. Including windows, doors, railings...

It's different though and I'm really interested in setting this house apart from the others I've done.  Inside and out.  So I think I might go for it.  I just need to buy some crackle medium at Hobby Lobby and get cracking. (Ha! Punny.)

I did take my four sided walls and the unfinished roof and get the whole house taped together to see how it works.  So far so good. 

It'll need interior supports.  I'm thinking some old fashioned beams in the corners and corbels along the first floor ceilings.

If I'd been thinking I would have put all the doors and windows in place but I was mostly concerned with making sure everything fit together well.  I need to dig out my corner pieces and get them glued in place on the front.  And start to mock up the balcony and balcony roof so I can place it on the front and get an idea of where I'll need non-aged wood so I can glue it on.

But for now I can start painting on my primer color.  A good dark bluish/black.  To go under the grey I've chosen.  This should be fun.