Queen Anne wardrobe, part 2

Read the first part of the story here.

After leaving the project overnight with a really big problem I was reluctant to return to it in the morning.  I pretended that I didn't know anything about the doors and that I had intended all the time to start painting on the outside.

Now listen to this carefully: I keep making this mistake over and over again. I wanted the colour to be 18th-century white, which is white with just a tiny shade of blue. I mixed this colour for the dressing table, which the wardrobe was to match, but of course I hadn't kept the paint, and I hadn't written down the exact proportion because I had just mixed it. Moreover, I had completely forgotten how little colour you need to add to white. I poured about half a deciliter all-purpose white in a jar and added... hm, far too much blue. I blended in another half deciliter white, and it was still bright blue. I took a third of it and added more white. It felt like preparing a homeopathic extract.

What I got was, I think, a lovely colour, only it was nothing even near the dressing table (and I may repaint the dressing table now).

I was still pretending that I didn't know about the doors, and I felt really pleased with my project.

 

But I couldn't go on pretending forever, so I consulted my facebook friends. I had two options. I could sand the top and bottom of the doors, but the problem was that there were pin holes I was anxious to break. I could also try to take off the frame and glue the top and bottom trim half a millimetre up and down, which was risky, since the frame could break, and it wasn't certain it would work anyway. I was glad I hadn't glued the central divider, since my FB companion had warned me about possible complications. At least it wasn't entirely my fault: there was after all something wrong with the kit.

Anyway, after some contemplation I decided that sanding the doors was the least evil. You have no idea how much time and energy it takes to sand away a millimitre of wood! I was cautious not to sand too much, and I had to keep the edge straight, and every now and then I wanted to throw the whole thing in the dustbin. But after what seemed hours - and probably was - the doors fit, and I could paint them as well.

I drilled holes for knobs and put them in. I even found gold stickers that I used many, many years ago on my first clumsy furniture.

I was prepared for a battle with pins, but to my surprise they behaved, and it didn't take me more than three attempts. I had almost breathed out, but a new problem was already looming: the central divider that I had been warned about. When I inserted it - cleverly without gluing - the doors wouldn't close.

Since I had been warned I didn't throw it in the dustbin. Instead, I took out more sandpaper, and after another hundred hours the silly thing finally fit.

Imagine: the doors opened and closed, everything was neat and fine. I could hardly believe it, waiting for the next trick.

And it came. There must be something wrong with this kit, because I have never before had so many problems with things not fitting. The drawers were at least half a millimetre too large on all sides. Or the drawer boxes too small. More sandpaper. But I had made up my mind to finish, and I did.

 

And with doors open:

 

And in its environment, the master bedroom:





To take the picture, I have removed some objects from the front for a better view. The wardrobe is so pretty that I'd like to display it better, but there is really no other place for it. Now I need to fill the shelves with clothes.

Queen Anne wardrobe

I have promised myself that I won't make any more Chippendale miniatures before I do at least some work on the house - not just putting up new chandeliers, but also finish curtains, hang pictures, find place for all small objects still in boxes. It will go on forever, but at least some progress...

Then my Chippendale group suggested another challenge, and we decided on Queen Anne wardrobe because it is an intimidating piece, and it's great to support each other as you go.

I knew I wanted to replace the old wardrobe in the master bedroom. Not that there is anything radically wrong with it. But it is plain. I got it in a bundle from ebay so I have no attachment to it.

But of course I wanted the new wardrobe painted whitish, and I wanted it to match the dressing table.

I will tell the story in detail because it is illuminating. It has been a while since I showed a project step by step, but I took lots of pictures for the challenge so I can just as well share them. And reflect on the process.

So the first thing to do is, as usual, lay out the parts. Because it is a large piece, there were two layout sheets, one for the base and one for the cabinet.

 
Since I wasn't going to stain I could start assembling at once, after sanding all outside surfaces. This is part of the skill: figure out which will be outside surfaces. I was planning to have two different colours on the inside and outside, and typically I would paint first, but in this case I knew that the inside of the base, where the drawers go, would be unpainted. Therefore I could glue it together right away.

 

You would think that after the numerous chests I had made this would be child's play, but each piece is unique and has its own intricacies. The drawer boxes are very low and hard to manipulate, and one shelf had to be flush with the back and the other two flush with the front, so it was less straightforward than a simple chest. And as you see, it had to dry held by tape. Sometimes I use rubber bands, but there were too many details to keep in place.

While it was drying I had a look at the other layout sheet.

It was frightening, until I realised that four panels and sixteen small parts were drawers, and if I assembled the drawers the rest would be much more manageable. This is the wisdom you have gained after you have made a dozen chests. Therefore I identified the drawer parts and glued the drawers, except fronts that I would add later.

 

Everything became clearer now. Also, I forgot to mention that I had sanded the legs first of all. This is another wisdom gathered after a number of cabriole leg chairs and sideboards. Sand a leg every now and then, when you need a rest from intellectual work. It takes ages.

So as I returned to the base I had legs ready.

 

This was best to leave to dry overnight, and I switched my attention to the cabinet. I knew I wanted to wash the inside with light blue, and now I could figure out which the inside was, sides, back and shelves. I have used wash on several pieces, including the kitchen cabinet, and the secret is, as with so many other things, patience. You may think that if you use diluted paint one coat will be enough, but it isn't. To have a nice wash effect you need three to four coats. But it's worth while.

This assembly also had to dry overnight, which left me with doors. Now, I know that I am profoundly stupid when it comes to three-dimensional thinking. Trigonometry was my worst subject in school, and I cannot do any 3D puzzles. So I spent a very, very long time trying to figure out how to assemble the doors. The instruction is very simple, and I looked at the picture, and I just didn't get it. I was about to appeal to my Chippendale group companion, but then I happened to turn a part upside down, and it all became clear. This keeps happening to me all the time.

 

Again, based on previous mistakes I remembered to check the pin holes so that I quite correctly ended up with one left and one right door.

The next step in the instructions was to assemble the front frame, which felt tricky, as I was sure it would break when I lifted it.

 

As you probably see I use a plastic chopping board as work surface so that the assembly doesn't stick. And I managed to lift it and glue on to the cabinet.

 

This felt good, until I tested the doors and found that they were a millimetre taller than the frame.  A millimetre is a huge error in this scale.

 

There could be two reasons for this. Firstly, the parts didn't fit. This does not happen with these kits, they are precision-cut. Therefore it was my fault; I had obviously done something wrong.

It was quite late in the evening, and I couldn't cope with it. Instead, I put the cabinet on top of the base and pretended that I had simply finished for the day.

 

Then I went to bed. And as a good storyteller, I will keep you in suspense so that you come back to read the rest of the story.



To be continued. 

Wardrobe makeover

I was in a cabinet-making mood today and decided to look at a wardrobe that came with the Tudor house several years ago. All this time it had been in my antique shop, adding to its chaos. It is a smaller scale than 1:12 so I haven't be able to use it, and it is also broken.

For Womble Hall, I need furniture for rear corridors. It doesn't have to be exquisite firniture, but it adds substantionally to the overall look, and I have already tested that scale is not important. In fact, smaller-scale furniture looks better in a rear corridor.

The wardrobe was, as I said, damaged. The back legs were missing, and the front legs were broken.

I know I cannot make turned legs (not yet!), so I decided to remove them altogether. I considered making a low base, but instread used wooden beads that I had used before for furniture legs. They aren't exactly the right style, but who cares! (Well, I do, but I'll have to cope).

I put in a mirror because mirrors always create interesting effects. And I made handles more interesting, attaching tiny metal beads with Very Small Craft Dots (that's what they are called). One or perhaps three drawers are missing, but I will pretend that it is part of the design and fill the holes with something.

 

Something like this. There will be lights in the corridor, but at the moment I had to take the picture with flash. 

 

Obviously, the room is not finished: the panel on  the right-hand wall is missing, as is the door frame, and there will of course be railings for the stairs. But I think the wardrobe looks good there, and the scale doesn't matter. Mind, I may move it around many times before I am happy.

Dealing with antiques

I have now started to have a closer look at the miniatures I bought last week in Stockholm. Mind, I know that there are scores of fake antiques out there, made in China and skilfully aged. I know too little to be able to judge. However, this is what I have found out about the half-scale stove:

 

You cannot see it very well, but it says "Skoglund Olson Gefle". Some research on the web, performed by my excellent research assistant (Staffan, my husband), yields the following. Skoglund & Olson was a prominent ironware factory in Gävle (Gefle with old orthography), the city where Staffan grew up. They produced stoves, fireplaces and all kinds of hardware, and they also produced iron toys and miniatures, notably cars and stoves. Another source warns that a lot of fake Skoglund & Olson toys are nowadays made in India and sometimes sold as antiques. It wasn't expensive, but people do not always know what they sell. I like it anyway. It fits nicely in my half-scale kitchen, although it is wrong style: the kitchen is early Victorian. Does it matter? I may make a half-scale Swedish kitchen one day. I have many times built a roombox around one particular piece.


Another beautiful item is this drop-leaf table that some vandal has spoiled by gluing on whatever it was, apparently plates and pots.

I have many times removed marks after glasses and plates from 1:1 furniture, but whoever vandalised this table made sure the glue would stay forever. I didn't want to scratch it so I dissolved the glue carefully with nail polish remover, then sanded with fine-grain sandpaper and soaked again and again in teak oil. It is still not perfect, but the worst stains are gone. I will repeat the treatment a couple more times.

This piece is signed and marked, and I am trying to find out something about the maker and the mark. All ideas welcome.

The table will go into my Swedish kitchen, to replace the made-in-China-and-wrong-style table. Of course I will have the replace the chairs as well. Maybe I can get some from Kotte Toys. Any idea which chairs would match the table?

Finally, for this round, I have scrutinised the wardrobe. It has no marks, but it looks old (see above, looks are no guarantee of authenticity). It was broken, but the tiny nails that hold the door and work as hinges were still there. It is extremely delicate, and I was anxious not to break it. A small piece was loose where the nail had been, and I glued it carefully.

Inside, there were some holes that I believe indicate that there used to be a shelf. I may make a shelf from balsa.

 I managed to put the door in place, but the nail didn't get in all the way, and I didn't want to force it.

It is hard to estimate the scale. It is 13 cm tall, including the ornament, so it is closer to 1:16. I don't do 1:16 scale, but I may put it somewhere in a way that wouldn't be conspicuous. I may also put it on a low chest of drawers, as a cabinet. But it is still a mystery where it comes from. If you know or have an idea where I can find out please let me know.

New bedroom

I start with the bedroom. I was stingy and recycled the old wallpaper, but I didn't have enough for the bedroom, so this is from the old drawing room. The top rooms have quite high ceilings that go well beyond the front of the cabinet (and were terribly uncomfortable to paint), so I decided to leave the upper part of the walls white, which was not uncommon at the time. I used furniture ribbon for cornice. I also recycled the old paper floors, but one day I will make real floors as I have done in the other rooms. The door opens into the bathroom, just as in the old house. The new detail in the bedroom is the wardrobe, or armoire, a word I didn't know until recently. It was a hard decision to replace my own creation with a more elaborate one, and I only did it because the armoire came as a part of a huge lot I bought from ebay. Since I keep moving things around, perhaps this piece will move elsewhere and the old pretty wardrobe come back. Of the other details, pay attention to the bed warmer. The handle is a little stick you get to stir your coffee on a plane. This one, from Spanair, had a round blade. I saw the form at once. The pan itself is a champagne cap.

I got the hatbox with a tiny bag and gloves from a friend. The Persian carpet is cut from a souvenir pencil case. The boot is possibly from Barbie, and the bootjack is an unidentifiable piece of metal salvaged from a pile of rubbish when we refurbished the 1:1 kitchen. The baby cot is a very recent addition, from the same lot as the wardrobe. I think I will paint it white at some point.

 I bought the mirror in a thrift shop because it would be quite difficult, although not impossible to make. I should probably paint it white as well. I am very proud of the new modesty screen which I had been planning for years and only figured out recently how to make. It is a broken fan from a flea market that I simply glued onto a piece of white card. The little sconce of the wall is from Dollhouse Enporium and works. But the chandelier I made myself.

 

The metal bit used to be a part of an ancient lady purse, or ridicule, with a silk bag attached. It belonged to my great-grandmother, and I cherished it for many years. The fabric was falling apart so I finally decided to sacrifice it. I added plastic beads for decoration and used a junk chain. There is a tiny bulb in the lamp. 

I am tremendously proud of this piece that has recently replaced the old dressing table. Not only is it more elegant, it it also much more imaginative. For legs, I used clothes-pegs (after a few failed attempts with chopsticks). The top is still, after all these years, the venetian blind, and I decorated the sides with bits of the same old lacey placemat. The mirror is a miniature frame, and the two drawers are mini building blocks with two pinheads for handles. Because of the size of the clothes-pegs, this piece is slightly larger than 1:12, but you cannot really tell when it is in the room, which now looks like this: 

The new doll has been around for a while, in fact, almost since we moved four years ago. I made her dress, using details from my old embroidered shirt. There still a lot of improvements and additions I can make to the bedroom, but it is complete.

Refurbishing the bedroom

I made a new bed with a more appropriate fabric that I got from ebay. I used the frames from the old bed, but now I was more experienced and made many improvements.I used the same lace. I wrapped silver ribbon around the bedposts to give them a grander look. The wallpaper comes from an online dollhouse shop. The modesty screen is a piece of corrugated cardboard.

Then I needed a wardrobe, which I made from a cigar box so the door could open from start. I painted it to match the bedroom and glued my favorite plastic lace on the door. The door knob is a paper clip.