"Immaculate attention to detail"

Every time I wonder why I bother to make all the tiny details of my project as perfect as possible, I keep reminding myself about that newspaper article that made me so angry a year ago. Attention to detail is precisely what those decorators haven't done. But I won't repeat myself - read the post.

This weekend I have been working with details. Some of them I indicated in yesterday's post. When I started making the ceiling in the upper hall, including the ceiling rose for the chandelier, I realised that it would make sense to add the coving first, because the chandelier would be in the way. And before I moved on at all, I should probably fix the candles in the large chandelier. They were just attached with tack, and I removed them when I was working on the railing because they kept falling off. (I cannot take out the chandelier because it is attached in the sealed-off back corridor above). I knew the candles would go on falling off, and I needed to come up with a good idea about how to fix them. Unlike most of my candles, these are real birthday candles - not that I will ever light real candles in a dollhouse, but I had these rather ugly silver ones, so I painted them off-white. I had bought the candles in a charity shop for 30p because of the candle holders: miniature people make cups, goblets and other stuff with them. But after repeated attempts to fix candles upright with sticky dots, I took the holders, cut off the tip and put candles in them, as you normally do with candle holders.

 

My idea was that a holder would stay put better than a candle. But after a while it didn't look all that good.

Since I was multitasking I took down a sconce from a room box that I am dismantling. It goes together with a ceiling lamp I now have in the master bedroom. Let me tell you: it is worth while going through your own creations every now and then. The sconce was very clever, and I saw immediately that it was a solution for my chandelier problem.

Hopefully, gluing metal to metal will do it.

As I said, I was multitasking, and one of the tasks was door pediments. This is what I had in mind.

 

While I was rummaging through my numerous Very Useful Boxes I found another thing from the same shop. Another lesson to self: before embarking on any project, go through all your supplies. I had been saving these filigrees for ages, to make ceiling roses!

Just in time for the small chandelier in the upper hall, but I had completely forgotten them when I made the Adam ceiling in the smoking room! Shall I do it all over again, just to insert the rose? I think I shall. It will look so good.

Meanwhile, the coving I had painted was dry, and it was time to put it into the upper hall (before starting on the ceiling). It isn't proper miniature coving, but a 2 meter rail from B&Q for £1. In most of my rooms so far I have paper mouldings made from 1:1 embossed wallpaper. But for the front hall I wanted wooden coving for better effect.

I had to remove my pretty Victorian tiles because they sat just a couple of millimeters too high. It didn't really matter because I had to rearrange them anyway.

As you could have expected, while I was working on the back wall I happened to ruin a part of the railing. I should have made the mouldings before I made the railings. But then... and so on.

Anyway, here is the result of my immaculate attention to detail today, and I will continue tomorrow, so please come back. 

Guest bedroom

The last "easy" room is the guest bedroom, which is on top floor, to the right. The side walls were already decorated so I just needed to add wallpaper and panel to the back wall. The panel is 1:1 embossed wallpaper. The ceiling lights are candlestick ornaments.

The floor is just a remaining bit from another project, and I don't know yet what kind of floor I want in this room. I put in some furniture and a doll to test.

 

The furniture in this room is mostly Chippendale made from kit. You can see how I made the bed, the chest and the night stand. The washstand comes from an antique market, but I made all the ceramic vessels myself. The fireplace came recently in a bundle from ebay, and I am not sure this is the right place for it. I will add more objects to this room later. For instance, the gentleman needs a chair, don't you think? And maybe a mirror over the mantlepiece? I have a kit for a Chippendale mirror that will be perfect.

Victorian tiles

Among the several things I still had to do before assembling the house was the back wall of the upper entrance hall. Five months ago I painted it yellow (scroll to the end of the post) and throught I would simply put up some paintings. Since then I tried to make Victorian panels for which I used vintage postcards. The panels in the picture below are not the actual cards, just a photocopy, because I wanted to test it first, and for the same reason one side has a white frame and the other gold.

 

I asked friends in two Facebook groups whether they liked the white or the gold, and the opinions were divided between the groups.

Then I started working on the basement, and the wall had to wait. Meanwhile, I found this in a museum shop:

These are magnets, but I thought they would make a nice border. Like this:

However, today when I finally started to work on the wall properly it because obvious that the two decorations didn't go well together. I was reluctant to give up on my postcard panels, but the magnets clearly looked better. Sorry, postcards, I may use you elsewhere.

This is the result. I think it will be great.

 

Of course, this picture has a disadvantage as compared to the previous ones because it is a flat wall, but use your imagination to see how it will be in the room. Side walls also have borders.

Getting there

I was fully deternimed to start assembling and glueing the house today. True, I haven't finished the basement lighting, but I have figured out how to do it, finally, to my satisfaction. I am frustrated seeing my beautiful house all in pieces, not being able to see how all the pretty walls and ceilings I have recently made look when assembled. So I thought, I will just finish the side walls, a couple of hours perhaps, and then...

But I have once again miscalculated time and effort. Two months ago I made this pretty wall, and in my memory the room was finished. I am glad I checked before I glued the walls, because, as it turned out, the tax-free bottle net would only be enough for two walls. I tried this and that and I finally gave up. I am not desperate about it, since the net wasn't easily manageable and would have probably not look neat (that's what I am telling myself in consolation). At least I have tried. I may use this net elsewhere.

However, this meant that I had to use something else. Now, I don't have to use anything at all; I could have simply painted the whole room. And every room. But that's not how I work. I invent obstacles to overcome them. Yesterday when I was making the blue ceiling I was also going to make another ceiling and decorate it with cake paper (also something I have saved for the past seven years). Now I am glad I didn't do it yesterday, because the cake paper is perfect against the dark red wallpaper.

 

This picture also shows one of the details that pop up and delay all work. I was fixing the dado rail (which I first now in the picture see is not quite horisontal - too bad, too late) when I realised that there would be a hinge right there, and I cannot put the hinge over the rail. I wonder how many mistakes like this I have made and will discover in due time.

The window in this wall is the last side window. I will not be putting in more windows in the observable future. But there are twelve in the front.

I put paper, border and panel on all three walls, but so far I have only finished paneling on one. It is a lot of work, as the grill sticks I am using need to be mitred. But it's worth while. Again, I could have... I don't have to... Yes, actually, I have to. And again and again: I am not in a hurry.

I have another busy week coming so I won't have time to finish the other two walls until next weekend. I only need the side wall to start assembling, but I won't have time even for one wall. Besides, I have realised that I also need to finish panels for the back wall of the grand entrance hall. Another things I erroneously remembered as finished. The bottom line is: it's just as well to accept that I will need at least two more weekends before I can move on.

It always takes longer...

I have made considerable progress this weekend, but again, nothing worth showing. I have mostly been replicating walls and panels that I tested when the house was assembled. Now I have to finish a whole room, three walls, with doors, windows and other details that need time and attention. But I am still convinced that I am doing it the right way. Working on flat surfaces and at normal table height is a blessing. I am going to persist in this strategy. Yet I am also glad that I have tested colours and wallpaper and various solutions for rear rooms and corridors. Somethimes I still need to check what a particular surface is, even though I have marked them in pencil and pasted a bit of wallpaper. I make mistakes and have to do it all over again. I forget my own great ideas and remember them too late. And most of all, everything takes more time than anticipated. I was almost certain that after this weekend I would be able to start glueing. No way. I will need at least two more weekends just to finish side and back walls, not to mention interior walls.

I do have some pictures to share. I have finished the dark panelling in the music room, and while I cannot show the interior yet, you can get some idea about what it will look like.

You may notice that I have changed the wallpaper in this room. I think this one fits better. It will be a very grand room. I will most probably paint the door surround to match the panel.

I have put in all windows in side walls, except one where the panelling is not finished yet, and as soon as I finish two sides of an interior wall I put in the door. I do not forget to fix the door knobs first, but I did forget that some details had to be painted. I haven't learned from making basement doors! This door knob is made from a paper clip. And for once, this wallpaper is not a printie. You may recognise it: it is a classic called Jennifer.

Most of what I did today will not even be visible or only laterally visible in rear rooms. The interior walls look like this:

If you are not familiar with the design you will think that it is a complete mess.

Walls and ceilings

This weekend I have been working very hard, and yet have little to show. I have been painting ceilings, decorating walls and putting in windows. Most of my progress looks like this:

 

This is the right side wall. I am wallpapering walls, and as soon as I have finished a room, I add a window, including glazing. Window frames are stubborn because they have swollen with paint and don't fit. It takes a lot of sanding - again. It isn't a glamourous job, but has to be done, so I do it one window at a time. Wallpapering isn't much of a challenge either, because it is carefully planned. However, it needs some engineering, as you can see in the picture, because there is a partition at the back, and I need to adjust the wallpaper and panels to the partition. Of course I also need to match the pattern and make sure I don't put a bit of wallpaper upside down (which I do every now and then, as we all do).

All my wallpaper comes from Jennifer's printies. It's a wonderful site, warmly recommended.

I explained earlier how I made panels for the entrance hall and the dining room. For the study, with the green striped wallpaper, I simply painted the lower part of the wall. There will be white dado rails and white skirting.

Actually, I made the ceiling for this room, although you cannot even see it is a ceiling:

It is gift wrap that I used for wallpaper in my old Victorian house. I had some left and was going to throw it away because I was sure I'd have no use for it anymore. See how wrong you can be! It is exactly the same shade of green as the wall panel, and it will be a grand ceiling. Very easy to make.

But I have now also made another really elaborate ceiling for the main reception room.

I found this very old picture frame that I had been saving ever since we moved to England. It is a bit unusual.

I haven't taken step-by-step pictures because it was very straitforward, and here is the result: 

I used the same paper tablecloth that I had used for the walls. Then I glued on a white rectangle and decorated it with mitred kebab sticks, painted gold. I considered painting the whole frame gold, but it didn't make much difference when I tested on a small area. I used a similar cream-cheese lid as I used for the first ceiling. And obviously I used the same technique: drilling a hole and using an awl to centre the whole construction. Again, I cannot test it with a chandelier, but I am very pleased.

Another fancy wall

I am now at the stage where there is no particular order in what I do, so I am making another fancy wall, the one in the dining room. I tried it out earlier, when I made a chimney breast, but now I will do it properly. The dining room has a rear partition, behind which there will be another secret corridor. So I started with a bare wall.

The wallpaper I had used before was a low-resolution printout, just to test. I have now printed it out properly - it comes from Jennifer's printables, which is a terrific resource. First, I changed the wallpaper on the chimney breast, which I then pasted on the wall. Then I hung the wallpaper on both sides of the fireplace. I used lining paper to make the bottom panel.

 

I first planned to attach a wooden dado rail, but then I remembered the 1:1 wallpaper I had used to make the fireplace so I found it and made the rail to match the fireplace. It was much easier. 

There is a deliberate gap between the wallpaper and the ceiling where the cornice will be added. The floor is temporary.

 

When I have gone that far I realised that I needed to finish the rear corridor before it was sealed off. It isn't as crucial as in the basement because there is a back wall I will put in last of all. Still, I wanted to test what it may look like. I had by chance placed the Chippendale chest-on-chest in the rear corridor, and it immediately felt perfect (I have tested other pieces, and none felt as good).

I had not thought about the colour scheme of the rear corridors because it had felt less relevant, but in fact it is about time. So I tried various coloured paper and wasn't happy. Then I found some sheets of old wallpaper from the Victorian living room. It is worn out, and I would not use it in a front room, but for the rear corridor it was fine. Of course, no one will ever see the reverse of the partition once I have sealed the back wall, but for my own satisfaction I wallpapered it. I may even put up some pictures which no one will ever see. 

 

You cannot see it very well in the picture, but there is light in the rear corridor, and when I have fixed it properly, I am sure it will look great. 

Next, I made the side wall, pasting the wallpaper onto the white lining paper and adding the rail. When everything is properly fixed and finished, the ceiling painted, the floor put in, the doors painted, etc - I believe this will be a very grand room. 

It took me two evenings, about six hours altogether, to make these two walls.

A fancy wall

Today's project was a wall. Yes, just one wall in the reception room. I haven't done anything further in this room since the first attempt so it felt the right time to return to it.

The right sort of material to use for a wall is a old document folder that I have rescued from a garbage bin at work. By the look of it, it's at least twenty years old.

 

I cut it to measure, traced the window and cut it out.

 

I decided to use the old disposable table cloth that I had rescued at a party some years ago and that I had tested on a chimney breast and a back wall. It is exactly the colour I want, and it is slightly embossed which gives a nice effect. So I glued this quite thin paper onto the card. I used power glue stick.

The fold from the card is visible, but it doesn't matter because I will decorate on top of that. But first I added a white panel, cut from lining paper:

 

At this point, I needed to check whether the size was correct and the window was in the right place. It was, but I saw that the opening was slightly too small and had to be adjusted. Obviously the window hasn't been fit in properly yet.

I then glued on dado rails to separate the panels. There will also be a skirting board, but it will go in last of all, and I haven't painted it yet. But do you recognise what this thing is, that I have been saving for the past five years? And can you guess what I am going to do with it?

I must admit that it isn't my invention. I saw it in a book by Eva Malmsten. I have worked with this material before, and it isn't particularly cooperative. In fact, it is not cooperative at all. Where it is held by masking tape it will be covered by a cornice.

  
It isn't perfect yet, but I wanted to test the wall in its interior before I finished for the day;


I must say I am quite pleased with the result. All in all, it took me six hours.

Making a back wall

I have already shown some attempts with back walls. Today I made something more permanent with the partition wall in the entrance hall.

 

As I said before, I like the colour, and I have now painted the side walls so it will definitely be it. To have a better sense of the environment I put in a door:

The door opens into the rear corridor, and I haven't decided yet what will be there. But I need the door to make the panel and the rail:

 

The panel is made from embossed 1:1 wallpaper. I had an idea first of making panels from card, but it didn't quite work. But this does. 

The pediment comes from the old Victorian house, and it broke when I peeled it off. It doesn't matter because I have just figured out how to make more, of which later on. So far it is just there to ahow what it will look like sometime in the future. 

If I understand the construction of this house correctly (I still haven't received instructions) the back of this partition will not be visible, but I will of course paint it properly. 

I have inserted it to test. The floor is provisionary - there will be a fancy floor here. And obviously the side walls are unfinished.

I took this picture before putting in the stairs because they obscure the view. But this is what it will be when the stairs are in, and of course there will be railing.

I like this door, leading into a mysterious room that will never be seen. I will put a light in there, and it will be possible to open the door and peep in.

Yet another fireplace

My next fireplace is for the drawing room, which is on the first floor, above the grand reception room. The name drawing room comes from "withdrawing room", the place where ladies withdrew after dinner while the gentlemen enjoyed their port and cigars. Then they "joined teh ladies".

In Womble Hall, the drawing room is on the left from the upper hall and opposite to the dining room, so the ladies will have to cross the hall. The furniture and ornaments will be moved from the left part of the original Victorian drawing room. The fireplace there wasn't done properly, even though it did have a chimney breast where the cabinet had a protruding board. Now I need a proper chimney breast, but I am using the same fireplace front, the one I bought long, long ago when I didn't believe I could make one myself. It is a nice and neutral front that will go well with the purpose of the room.

Again, I will not describe how I made the chimney breast, because I used exactly the same technique, although I must admit that with each project I made different mistakes.

I wanted a different kind of panelling in this room, and I used a piece of embossed 1:1 wallpaper with vertical stripes to echo the pattern on the wallpaper above the rail. I used old and quite worn-out wallpaper from the old house, with ugly marks of blue tack where the pictures and other ornaments sat. Note to myself: NEVER EVER use blue tack to fix things on walls. But, just as in the 1;1 world,. the solution is to cover the mark with a picture.

Unfortunately, I don't have more of this particular wallpaper, and it may not be available anymore, but this is just a test. I will find something similar. I think it will be fine because I want this room, unlike the reception room, to be light. I haven't decided yet what kind of floor I will have. Possibly plank that I have already started making for the master bedroom and that I will show in due time. I don't want too many fancy floors because they will probably be distracting, and of course fancy floors were expensive, and not all rooms in a house would have them.

I now have five out of nine rooms on the main three floors somewhat planned in terms of walls and fireplaces. I will probably have a simple fireplace in the master bedroom. But the next few important decisions with be about the main and upper halls. Come back soon. 

A magnificent fireplace and wall panels

I found this fireplace front on ebay when I was looking for ideas, not intending to buy anything. But it was just too good to miss. It is unique. I like unique things. I got it really cheap.

As you see, it comes with a hearth, but it still needs a chimney breast and a back panel. I will not show pictures of how I made it because it was exactly the same way I made the two other fireplaces. Here it is, temporarily placed in what I think might become a music room, with the Chippendale sofa and wing chair.

Such a magnificent fireplace demands a magnificent environment. I wanted to have heavy, dark oak panels in this room. I started by gluing lolly sticks and pieces of a cheese box onto a bit of card - an old, discarded folder I picked up by the trash bin at work. Cheese boxes have excellent wood and are easy to cut with scissors. You just need to sand the edges.

However, I wasn't happy with the result. The panel felt far too big and clumsy. Also, the direction of the grain was wrong. So I cut the central piece in two. Then I kept building on the panel until the edge of the card. (Yes, I painted the first two panels before I went on, because I wanted to see whether it worked).

I painted the panel with dark brown acrylic paint - merely because I had it at hand. When I do it properly I may choose a better colour. Likewise, I stained it with the stain I had, then gave it a coat of varnish.

 

As with my other tests, it is just one corner of the room, and the house is not properly assembled yet. I am not sure this is the right wallpaper, and the floor is just paper. Still I think you can see what it may look like when I finish.