Basement

My basement has arrived! Just six months after the initial estimated date. But never mind, it's here. However, the enclosed assembly instructions helpfully say:

As with the main house, I have figured out most of the construction, but not quite, because indeed not even the parts list is accurate. My first attempt was definitely wrong as I ended up with a narrow corridor without access.

It baffled me, and I tried to move walls around, which proved fruitful:

This basement is different from the one in the original kit - whether it is an improvement or not I cannot say. Even if the corridor has a door from the kitchen it is still a very strange space. Can it be a walk-in larder? In the original design, there was one central hall and no rear partition. I like the partition because it adds this mysterious space that won't be visible - I will put some lights in there. But I may take away the middle wall altogether.

I have planned the basement to fit the original design. I wanted to have the kitchen on the right and a scullery on the left, with storage, laundry and so on. I planned to have a lower entrance hall where deliveries would come for the kitchen. It doesn't look the proper design for this plan so I will have to play and test. I am reading a book set in the seventeenth century, and the rich house has a "best kitchen" and a "working kitchen". I have seen this in manor houses: the best kitchen is for display. Perhaps this is what I will do. One kitchen will be just for the collection of copper objects, and I may add china and other things to show off wealth.

Meanwhile, I have another large priming job in front of me.

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.

Slow progress

The term has started, and I am no longer free to snatch an hour here and there to play. But this weekend I have made some progress. Mostly, I have been doing totally unspectacular things, such as priming and painting window surrounds. It just never ends. Today I decided to test what it would be like to actually put in a window and a surround. Just for fun. It will be a long time before I put in windows because interior walls must be decorated first. And yet:

It is beginning to look like something, isn't it? Like something grand. What I saw when I made this test was that I need to re-paint either all windows or all surrounds. I have painted the windows cream. It doesn't go at all with pure white.

Since I have white quoins (and will have more white exterior details) I decided to re-paint the windows. I have so far only done six (out of twenty seven), to test again. Fortunately, it is easier to paint white on top of cream than, say, blue or green. I know because I have tried.

Here is the small front, almost as it will look sometime in the distant future - there are some details missing. Although nothing is fixed yet you can see how beautiful the house is going to be.

I have painted some more parts while I was at it, inluding the roof pediment. It also gives a glimpse of what is coming:

 
If you wonder why the windows are on baking paper it means you have never painted dollhouse windows. This way they don't stick!

More floors

In case you wonder what I have done with the initial floor sheet, I have now tested it in the gentlemen's smoking room.

The wallpaper is still temporary, and obviously the door needs to be painted, although I haven't decided whether it should be white or dark. 

You may wonder why I keep testing and moving things. If you look at some of my recent posts where I add a feature and then put in the furniture and other stuff, you see that you cannot judge a floor or a wallpaper or a fireplace on its own; it has to be tested with the whole environment. If I were building a house and then filling it with objects it would be different; I would be choosing furniture to fit the rooms. But this is more like it happens in real life. The family is building a house to move into, and they arrange the rooms to suit their possessions. Will the bed fit? Where will this desk go? Where will this painting hang?

So every time I test a feature, I take out all furniture and dolls, put in floors or whatever, then put all the stuff back. In the picture above, you see that the floor will go well with the green wallpaper; it is not too dark, because the other objects are quite bright; and it is appropriate for the type of room. I could not judge it by just putting in the floor sheet.

(But if I am really honest, I simply enjoy playing).

Parquet floor, alternative method

I want all rooms in Womble Hall to have different floors. And I also want to make all the floors myself. I have used paper floors, but once you have a real floor in one room paper floors do not look good. I have shown my herringbone floor for the reception room, and I am working on plank floor for the master bedroom (had to make a pause because ran out of lolly sticks). I have bought a roll of self-adhesive shelf lining which I had used for floors before so I thought maybe I could use it in one room. For a pound, it is still cheaper than dollhouse stores.

I rolled out the paper to test, and it didn't look natural. The pattern is far too large.

 

Well, then maybe if I cut it in smaller bits and glue together again:

That's much better, isn't it?

But what I noticed was that the floor is too bright for this room that has delicate features; it attracts too much attention. So I tested it in another room:

Looks fine, doesn't it? But would they have plank floor in ladies' drawing room? Isn't it too simple? There is another way of placing fake planks:

 

It takes longer of course. It took me four evenings (listening to classic music). I think it was definitely worth while. I am really pleased with the result.

And with some furniture: 

The wallpaper in this room will be light, so darker floor will be fine, and it is the right kind of floor for the rich ladies of the house.

Bathroom tiling

Today, a rainy Saturday, I have been working on the bathroom. As I mentioned earlier today, I have bought lining paper, perfect for constructing wall decoration. This is the third time I am tiling a bathroom: first in my original house, then in the cabinet house that is now being transformed into Womble Hall. I still believe that it is worth the trouble glueing tiles one by one, to create a unique pattern. These tiles are very common, but no other dollhouse bathroom looks like mine.

It takes a long time and is messy, but I like the result. I re-used the tiles; they were relatively easy to peel off, and since the new bathroom is smaller than the old one, there were more than enough.

Everything is still white-tacked, but you get the idea.

I see, for instance, that the off-white door doesn't work, it should be clear white. The floor came in a bundle from ebay, I could have easily made it myself, as I did for the retro kitchen.

There will be more details of course, and I am sure I will move things around for best display. The door opens into a rear corridor, and I need to decide what will be hidden there. Perhaps more linen cupboards?

Budget miniature-making

As I have stated repeatedly, I am a recycler and do not buy expensive craft paper when I can use old document folders. But some materials still have to be bought: paint, glue, varnish; and I prefer to buy them cheap. I am also always looking for inexpensive materials intended for something else than miniature-making.

This is what I bought the other day from £1 store.

The lining paper, 4 square meters (!) will be used to paste wallpaper on. Much easier than hanging wallpaper direct on the walls, especially if you also make panels and rails. The self-adhesive shelf paper will be used for flooring, and I am already making what I believe will be stunning floors. Watch this space. The jar of varnish is simply a cheap jar of varnish, fully sufficient for my purposes. Likewise, paint: much, much cheaper than in hobby shops and just as good. The three pens are scratch markers, used for concealing scratches in furniture, I have already tested: they will be perfect for staining wooden floors in three different shades. Paper doilies will make excellent ceiling decorations. And you can never have enough of sandpaper.