Cuddle Up By A Fire

These two little darlings are going in the Parlor...the larger will go on the outside left wall ( where I'm blocking up a window ) and the other on the inside wall between the Parlor and the Dining room. I made both from scrap pieces of wood. I'm also working on hearths for them to sit on, but have just started those and it'll be a few days. The concrete fireboxes are printies and the tile is tilepaper glued to wood backing. I will be varnishing both before I attach the hearths to them, but I'm still waiting for the paints and stain to completely dry. The colors are all in the wallpaper and they seem to compliment the room well. Give me a few days and the entire Parlor should be done and ready for a visitor.

Come In The Front Door !!!!

Be careful, the front door is not glued in yet, just resting in the opening. I had to take the tops of the door cutouts and trim them to fit the Palladian door. The frame is painted a "Java Bean" by True Value's 'Colors Made Simple" sample paints; the door is an acrylic "Victorian Blue" and the sun is gold leaf. The glass insert, doorknob, house numbers, mail slot, and kickplate are, of course, all extras.

The plastic window replacements have been ordered and are on their way from Greenleaf. Nice people there..........

COME ON IN !!!!!!

Cupboard Installed

Well, as you can see, I've got the cupboard installed and I'm quite pleased with it. I like how I got the doves to peek through the slots..it's like they were made for it.

I'm experiencing some frustrations. I have the trim ready for the windows, but with the wainscoting up, there's a gap above the paneling and I have to fill it in with wood so it will be level and not show the gap.....a pain, but easily done. Plus, and this is the biggie, my plastic windows are all scuffed up and not suitable to hang. You may remember that I bought this kit at Goodwill for only $40...I'm sure paying for it, as now I have to order new window sheets from the company. I'm waiting to hear from them now for the cost.

As Rosannadanna says, "It's always something!"

Remove and Prepare.....Sanding, Sanding

I still have many, many pieces not punched from the plywood, so I'm going to spend this weekend getting them punched and sanded, organized and ready for whatever the next phases call for in the directions. I need to stop and clean up, organize, and make some lists again, something I haven't done in the past few weeks.

I've received my order from Miniatures.com...The Palladian door and insert, which I have to figure out how to do the glass, and the wainscoting trim, which I'll cut, stain, and finish.

Hopefully, by Monday, I'll have something new to show......in the meantime, I'l be sanding the days away.

What An Oversight !!!!!

There I was, trying to fit these 2 pieces of wood together and realized they don't match. I had thought they both were the partition and they would fit back to back for strength, but one is actually a cupboard ! Cool !!! but how did I miss it ? I know I really did read all the instructions though as I was getting started, but, obviously, this cupboard didn't register in my brain.

Well, there it is, propped up in it's designated spot during it's dry fit and certainly needs work done ( as does the partition in the foreground ). Since it's a surprise, I have some rearranging to do in this part of the parlor, as I had planned on a fireplace on that wall.....actually, I still do, just different from the one that was almost ready to be installed. I will finish it just as I have all the other trim work, with the Cabernet stain and shellac. There are 4 shelves and I will add more beadboard to the wall and that will be the backing to the shelves. All that's not a problem and, I think, will look great. I just need a different size fireplace, which will be no problem, either. It'll just take me a little longer to make another, but since it's seems as if it'll take forever anyway, one more day won't hurt.

What DOES surprise me is, in every photo of this house I've seen on the internet ( and believe me, there are plenty ), no one has a photo with this architectual detail in it. Why did no one install it ? It's beautiful !! and will add a lot to the corner of this room. I see it displaying beautiful and delicate objects. It's not too big, extending only about 1" from the corner of the wall. Well, your loss and I'm excited about it....surprised, but excited.

My delivery of wainscoting trim and the Palladian door is expected tomorrow. I have several other details ready to be installed and, in just a few more days, I should be finishing up the Parlor ( except for the windowseat area...there's other construction before I come back to that ). I see it all so clearly in my mind and I hope you, too, will find it beautiful.

Just Thinking Out Loud

Here are some shots of the main room in Garfield, minus the staircase. I am working on the crown molding, which will hide the white line on top of the wallpaper and also the baseboards. I am waiting on delivery of wainscoting trim and Palladian front door, which will have the same stain. I also need to work on the interior windows, which will be stained. I've bought the standard door for the dining room wall that too needs to be stained. All trim will go up last, before I install the staircase. I don't plan on gluing down the staircase. It fits neatly, very snug in it's little grooves. With the baseboard on it, you'll never see the grooves or any gaps. I'll be able to move it out if need be, I think.

This area is called the entry, living room, and dining room in the actual plans. I am going to make it all "Entry and Parlor" and use what is called the kitchen as the dining room. There will be a kitchen in my imagination, but not where anyone else will see. On the wall between the Parlor and Dining room, I am putting a fireplace ( The actual plans called for a fireplace on the side of the staircase, but that didn't look too practical...no chimney !!! Where did they think the smoke would go???) and another fireplace between the windows on the unseen left wall. I've seen someone else try that and it looked like it worked fairly well. We'll see soon enough after I finish the first one. I need them installed before I do the baseboards and wainscoting trim.

I still have the left wall to put up, plus the wallpaper and wainscoting all on the left side. The tower area needs spackling and repainting....it will be all the baby blue that you see. When it comes time for the window seat at the foot of the stairs, it'll be painted the blue...no wallpaper...and the woodwork stained. I love, love, love this woodwork. It is "Cabernet" stain with Bullseye shellac on it. It has such a rich, luxurious look and feel to it...it is so smooth, no little bumpy marks.

I'm filling in the gaps on the front side with spackle........everyone raise your hands if you love spackle!!! It's a good thing!!!!! So, of course, I'll need to touch up the paint out there. Eventually, I'm hoping to put up siding, but that's a "we'll see". If I do, then it'd have to have a primer anyway, so it works out. That's so-o-o far in the future, it's not worth talking about right now.

Oh, what a good time I am having and YES, I'm excited about this experience...more so than I have ever been with other houses. Garfield has become more than just building a miniature house....adding the blog has opened up a new aspect to it and I'm even creating a story for the house and the Victorian Lady who lives there, which I hope to share with you as time goes by.

Thank you for being here with me and for telling me how you feel about my little (?) house.

Garfield's floor, wallpaper, many mini etc.'s

So much encouragement !!!! I thank you all !!!

I have done so many different things for Garfield these past few days....a lot of it hardly seems worth talking about, but it's always the little things that make a house a home. I have the 2nd floor holding on by masking tape and the wall tabs..no glue yet...to help me align the wallpaper. I'm sure you'll remember the wallpaper is a "printie" and I printed it all out, including "just in case" extras at one sitting, to assure color consistency..I did this immediately after installing new ink cartridges. (It's amazing how much ink it took. The printer told me right away I needed more ink soon.) I've also started gluing up the bead board, which I'll cap with trim ( note:time to make up a new order from my fav.."Ernie" @ Miniatures.com ) This part of the wall needs to be decorated ahead of time or I won't be able to reach inside easily.The walls on the right of the photos are also NOT glued in yet, just there for support.

It's here I have to stop decorating on the walls and, yes, place that order which will include the Palladian door and insert, prepare some windows, glue the tower extension floor to the main flooring, then glue the entire floor up, prepare some crown molding and baseboards, prepare the staircase post toppers, glue those walls that are loose right now, and then go back to wallpapering. WHEW ! It's as confusing at times as it sounds and easy to get off track.

I am normally a very organized person, but building Garfield has chucked that out the window. The lack of space IS most people's with dollhouses complaint, and I'm no exception. I'm in a small house's spare bedroom with bed, computer desk, storage cabinet, file cabinet and 2 other dollhouses....The Alison, Jr ( with additions on either side) and a smaller farmhouse of unknown name. I HAVE to stop every so often and clean up, put things back where they belong, and take out the trash.

Since I don't work and have only my dear Ed ( 4 cats, 2 dogs, no kids ) to care for, my working on the house is off and on all day. "Lucky me" I say.

Garfield's 1st floor ceiling Part 2

The photo doesn't do the finished look justice. There are 3 coats of the pearly white paint on the plastic small circles ceiling sheet. I watered the paint down just a touch. It truly has the slight shimmer promised and looks like the tin ceiling tiles of Victorian days. I have, once again, tested to make sure that the tabs all fit...perfectly, after a bit more sanding in a few areas.

This is one of those many moments I get when I'm pleased with my work...I just stare and grin at the how nice it all looks.

The 1st Floor's Ceiling for The Garfield

I am working hard at NOT getting confused. The directions for The Garfield do not allow for decorating as I am doing. The term "R&P", remove and prepare, to me means removing the piece from the plywood sheets, sanding, painting, staining, wallpapering, gluing the ceiling to the plywood, adding bead board, etc. So, I am lost in the "R&P" process.

Today, I've begun the ceiling work, as this part of the house must be ready during the wallpapering process, since sections of the wall need this part for structural support. Sounds confusing, but I've got all the steps I need to do written down as best as I can.

Like the wood flooring, the ceiling needs to pieced together, trimmed in the right spots, glued, then painted. I have but just the first piece of ceiling glued and am waiting for it to dry, will trim it, and move on to the next piece. Looks like it'll take me a few days altogether to complete the ceiling tiles ( sheets ). I will then paint it with Folk Art's Metallic Pearl White acrylic paint and, voila!, it should look like the tin ceilings of Victorian days.