Step by step: guest bedroom

As promised in the previous post, I am resuming the grand tour of Womble Hall, including quarters normally omitted from tourist routes, but you, my dear reader, are privileged to see every corner.

I continue with the attic, where almost a year ago I stopped in the servant room. The right-hand door leads to guest bedroom. This is of course profoundly wrong because guests would not have to go through servant room, but this was the only solution other than skip guest bedroom altogether, and that I didn't want.

Unlike most rooms in Womble Hall, the guest bedroom does not go back to my first house in a bookcase. There was no space for two bedrooms, and I would probably not have a guest bedroom if I hadn't made the Chippendale bed. It went into my small Georgian house that I made entirely to display some Chippendale miniatures and that was then given away when I started Womble Hall. But I then had a dilemma, since I had two four-poster beds, one beautiful Chippendale and the old bed which was my very, very old miniature made almost exactly ten years ago. Of course I could not discard it, therefore I have two beds and two bedrooms. (A real house of this proportion would probably have ten bedrooms, but I pretend they are all in the back, behind rear corridors).

Anyway, when I started planning Womble Hall, I of course considered various options for where the guest bedroom could be, but given all other rooms I wanted there really wasn't another reasonable place, therefore in the earliest test, the guest bedroom is already where it is now. However, it took a long time before I got down to this room. I did test flooring just to have something rather than just bare primed surface, but I didn't do any further work on this room until many months later. If you haven't read my blog before: I decorated as much as possible on flat surfaces, before I assembled the shell. So the walls already had wallpaper - a printie - so all I needed to do was skirting. And as you see, the floor has changed.

About a year after I started, the attic was more or less finished.  Some months later we did the lights, and it made a huge difference. Then I added ceilings. And that's it.




What I haven't done in this room is hardwood floors. It is still paper, rather elaborate, but still paper. Eventually I will need to make proper floors because they look so much better. But this is exactly why a dollhouse project is never really finished.

I like this room, and I think the guests find it warm and cozy. Would you like to come and stay overnight in this room?

Back to step-by-step

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have discovered that I never finished my grand tour of Womble Hall, and I have six rooms left, as well as some other interesting features. I will resume it now, and to make it easier for you, my dear reader, to orientate, here are links to previous step-by-step posts:


Ground floor

Grand entrance hall 

Reception room

Music room

First floor

Upper hall

Drawing room

Dining room

Second floor

Master bedroom

Smoking room

Bathroom

Upper corridor

Rear corridor

Attic

Servant room

There are two more rooms in the attic, guest bed and nursery. 

There are four  rooms in the basement: best kitchen, working kitchen, larder and basement entrance hall. There is also a rear corridor.

There are fake rooms on the inside of the fronts. 

And of course there is the exterior which is also interesting for consider step by step.

This will keep me busy during this festive period. Make sure that you come back often. 

Catching up - again

I haven't been very good at sharing projects recently. Frankly, I haven't been good at doing projects. I could come up with zillions of excuses, but I won't. Let's just say it hasn't happened.

But now I have a quiet (well-deserved) holiday period in front of me, and I will make sure I catch up both on making and sharing.

I have discovered that I never finished my grand tour of Womble Hall and that the last post was from February - that's almost a year ago! I will continue, because there is still so much to show.

I haven't shared my most recent Chippendale miniatures, although I did share them on Facebook, but without detailed comment. I have bought some interesting things too.

My plans for this holiday season is to fix all the small things in Womble Hall. Like any property, it has to be maintained. Some things need repair, some things I never got round to doing at all, some things I have since then learned to do better.

In addition, I need to have some creative chaos in the house. It looks too neat and new. Aging furniture, spilling some coffee, breaking some plates, filling sinks and bathtubs with water. Finding place for all objects I still haven't put in. I also need to fill all drawers with objects.  Hidden treasures, letters, diaries, wills... Tools, kitchen utensils, linen. That's what drawers are for.

Some dolls need new clothes.

I also plan to make things. Lots of things. So far I have mostly made things for particular projects. I have saved lots of rubbish... I mean, valuable supplies for later, and I want to make many things now, whether they fit into projects or not. Just pull out all boxes and tins and see what I can make

I want to make food. I have just bought a set of fruity nail art. Looking forward to playing with it.

So you can expect to hear from me in the near future. Meanwhile, just as a teaser, yet another Adam piece (which I will present properly soon)

Reflections from a dollhouse festival

I have lived in the UK for ten years, and I remember very well when, ten years ago, I told myself that I would now be able to go to the Kensington Dollhouse Festival. It's just an hour by train from Cambridge. But for some reason or other it never happened – until last weekend. And it only happened because I already was in London and had some spare time.

I had consulted my miniature friends on Facebook, asking for advice on how to make the most of it. The advice I received was: Go early and bring plenty of money. On the former, I had not much choice because I had something else in the morning; on the latter I asked whether credit cards were accepted, and they were. So against the advice, I arrived at Kensington Town Hall about 3pm.

I had no expectations. I had seen pictures from previous events in dollhouse magazines and on the web, but things are different in real world. I knew it was on three levels and there were hundreds of stands. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do at a dollhouse festival. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to buy anything or just look. I am easy to tempt, so I decided that I would only buy something if I fell in love with it at first glance.

I spent two hours browsing. I went around two or three times, returning to stands where I had noticed something interesting.

It was a lot like being at a book fair.

Here are my reflections as a novice dollhouse festival attendee.

Firstly, it's amazing. So many stunning, fantastic things. Most of them unique, one of a kind. Handmade. It means that mortal humans have actually made them. They have probably been doing it for decades, and they obviously have appropriate tools. And today's tools are helpful. Precision laser cutters, 3D printers. You still need your skills, and it takes years of practice, but all these wonderful things were made by passionate, imaginative, creative people. I don't have time to develop the necessary skills, so I will never be nearly as good, but I can try. In a year and a half I will be free. I will get myself a laser cutter and a 3D printer. I will make miniatures full-time and try to be as good as I can. So it was highly inspirational.

It was interesting to see the prices. I have seen fancy prices on Etsy, and since I know how much time and effort it takes to make a miniature, irrespective of the result, I am not surprised. But I do wonder what kind of people buy tremendously expensive things at a fair. Maybe you need to see them in real life, touch, feel. I did fall in love with a marquetry cabinet, but I am not yet prepared to invest half of my monthly salary in a trinket. On the other hand, why not? It's like buying expensive jewellery or art.

There were lots of things that were lovely, and I told myself: some day I will make these. Again, with some practice and with better tools. And some things I will never be able to make, like ironwork.

Miniature food was prominent; it's fun to make, and given some practice I will get good at it.

There were many 1:24 and 1:48 scale things, but I have never been particularly interested in them. There were no 1:18 scale things! It must be almost exclusively Swedish. 

There was a lot of kitch too.

There were tons of supplies: fabrics, wallpaper – tempting, but I am a recycler. I believe this is my foremost lesson from this visit: I am a recycler, and I am interested in making miniatures from rubbish rather than from expensive supplies. (I did, however, buy a piece of fabric to re-upholster a sofa I am not happy with). But it is good to know that if I need something special, it's available. 

Anyway, next time I go - which I think I will - I'll know what it is like and what to look for 

I had told myself that I wanted to buy at least one thing (fabric doesn't count). So when I saw this one thing I made up my mind quickly. Actually, I asked the seller to keep it for me for ten minutes because I needed to sit down and breathe for a while. I know it's silly to go to an artisan fair and buy an antique, but it just so happened. I am not telling you how much I paid. It's Christmas soon.

 

I didn't think it was appropriate to take pictures, although some people did. But I made lots of mental notes. One thing in particular caught my attention: Adam tables. They were either House of Miniature kits or very similar: lovely half-moon side tables with Adam pattern on tops. I don't know how that seller made the tops, but I immediately thought that I had some Adam paper left from my ceilings, and I also had a duplicate HoM kit that I could experiment with. Back home, though, I didn't want to use the kit before I knew that my idea would work. I used a cheese box for the top. The trick was to sand the edges so that wood and paper were seamless. I used decoupage technique, varnishing and sanding, then painted the edge with gold. It took me a long time to figure out how to make the base because I didn't have a suitable round piece of wood, but finally I found one when I was looking for something else. I used chopsticks for legs and even managed to cut them equally long which has always been my problem. 

 

Of course it is not good enough to be displayed at Kensington Dollhouse Festival, but I am really pleased. 

Pride and Prejudice room box, part 3

Read part 1 and part 2 of this story.

It has taken me some time to finish this room box. First I was away on holiday, then I had to do all the urgent tasks that had accumulated while I was away, and also this is gardening season rather than miniature season. But if I am to display it at our workshop, I'd rather hurry.

The next step was to make the floor, and I wanted to make something interesting that I had never made before. I spent considerable time on the web, and let me tell you, Regency floors were really boring! In the choice between period-correct but boring and not-quite-period-correct but interesting I chose the latter.

 

Since the room box is shallow, I only needed a relatively small surface. Still, it is a lot of work. I haven't kept track, but it took me several evenings, maybe ten-twelve hours of work. Mitre shears is my best friend. I stained the coffee stirrers with three different stains, also trying to emphasise the natural grain.

If you have seen my other floors, for instance, this or this or this or this, you know that I make them because I enjoy doing it. I remember a comments some time ago: "If you do this or that, it will be much quicker". But I don't want it quicker. Slow pace is the main attraction of miniature-making.

Anyway, it took the time it took.




If you look closely, I haven't done it properly since it is crooked, but most people won't notice because they will be in awe, and you won't tell, will you? The tiny corners was the most challenging part. Sanding the floor smooth took a long time. I used real teak oil rather than hobby varnish, and I like the result.

I considered wooden skirting, but decided against it: too much complicated mitring. So I used the ubiquitous wallpaper, and whatever faults there are, they will be hidden behind the furniture.

The final task was to hang the chandelier, and I am by now quite good at it. I used a scrapbooking frame once again for ceiling rose.

So, here it is. Do you think the workshop participants will be impressed?

Pride andPrejudice room box, Part 2

Read the first part of this story.

Once upon a time, Facebook allowed you to choose which picture to show when you shared your blog post. Not any more. So I put the final picture first, to be shown with the link. Close your eyes if you prefer to be surprised.

It took  some time to get there.

First, I tried various wallpaper. Jennifer's printables is a superb site where you can find period wallpaper to suit any taste. I printed a sheet of several patterns and put them in, one at a time and together. I wanted something distinct, and also something I haven't already used in Womble Hall. I have used a Regency paper on the inside fronts of Womble Hall, and I almost decided to used it again when I saw another one, similar, but not quite. I think it is delicate and just right.

For the first time, I used real wallpaper paste, just because I happened to have some. Let me tell you: it made a huge difference. I wish I had done all wallpapering in Womble Hall with paste. Too late now. I didn't bother matching sheets exactly for the pattern (as I did with some wallpaper in Womble Hall) because I don't think it matters with this design.

With the wallpaper, the room looked much more natural. (Compare with the picture in the previous post). But I also wanted panels and rails, so I used more embossed 1:1 wallpaper, for the lower and upper panels and my favourite stripy one for dado rail, picture rail and coving. There were some tricky parts in the corners, but after trial and error, it looked passable. I was glad I had decided against real wooden coving - I would have never managed the mitring. Mitring is not my strong side.

I will add skirting when I have made the floor. I have just ordered a new pack of coffee stirrers, and I will need to find some interesting and period-correct floor pattern that I haven't done before.

More than this, I haven't moved yet, but as always, I put back all the objects, including the fabulous Chippendale mirror that I had made specifically for this room.

  

From the picture - and only from the picture - I see that I need to glue the coving better, to avoid gaps between the walls and the ceiling: it doesn't look neat. 

So the floor next. I most likely won't be able to finish it before I go away on holiday mid-July, but I may add some details, such as a fireguard and perhaps some more pictures and decorations. All the objects are borrowed from Womble Hall so I will have to make new eventually. 

Come back soon.

PS I have re-read Pride and Prejudice looking for descriptions of interiors. There aren't any! Mr Bennet's library is mentioned on many occasions, but it is never described. When Elizabeth visits Pemberley, there are descriptions of views from windows, but not of rooms. Mr Collins' furniture is referred to, but what kind of furniture? So my guesses are as good as anyone else's.

Small things

Before I continue with my Pride and Prejudice room box, I will show some small recent projects, in no particular order.

For instance, I have finally ventured making baskets from string. Messy, but I am quite pleased with the result.

I attended two courses in (full-scale) book binding, and as a side effect, I have now made a couple dozen miniature books according to all rules, with proper sewing, endpapers and quarter binding. After I have made these, I cannot tolerate the old fake books in my bookcases so I have estimated that I will need to make about a hundred books. The pages are cut from a French phrase book (because the paper is thin) so you can actually read them.

I made a coffee pot from bottle caps and wire.

For at least a week, I got obsessed with wooden crates. For bottoms and ends I used cheese boxes, sometimes with markings preserved, and for sides, coffee stirrers. I aged the crates with two layers of paint, the second quickly wiped off. In the left picture you can also see a milk canister, of which I made several, using eye-drop bottles, buttons and wire.

A miniature friend gave me a handful of metal thingies used to make fabric buttons. This kept me busy for a while and will go on.

A set of kitchen knives, blades cut from steady tin foil (of the kind you find on wine bottles).

One rainy day I made up my mind firmly to make a fish tank. It took many hours, but I am pleased. The tank is a plastic jewellery box with side ends open. I printed out the background, adding all kinds of tiny plants, and the fish are also printouts. They are suspended by tiny strips of transparent plastic. The see urchin is real, just cut down to size.

A lamp made from a golf peg and a bottle cap. Almost too simple to boast of.

A cake stand made of pizza holders. I never eat pizza so these were a gift from someone who knows I collect rubbish.

 I am sure I have missed some, so I will add another post soon. Come back!