Gardening Vs. Dollhouse

Yes, I really have been spending a lot of time in the garden and it does show. I've cut back those plants that will do no more and are showing signs of nighty-night. I've transplanted a good many plants and planted bulbs, especially on my poor lost kitty, Tweedles, grave, who died last year ago Monday of a heart attack while she was at the vet's getting a haircut. Tweedles got new daffodils.

I've taken down the humming bird feeders and sterilized them and put them away, as the hummers have left for their winter vacation in Buenos Aires, lucky birds. I've cleaned out the garden shed and prepared the tools for next year's use.

My husband, Ed, and I have put out an Autumn display of straw, pumpkins, scarecrows, witches, and black cats. The neighborhood children love to see what's new and we add something everyday for them to find.

There is still much to do, including restocking soil on the stepping stones so they won't stick up so much we'll trip over them.

But, of course, you know, I've not ignored the Garfield completely. My new French doors for the 2nd floor balcony has arrived and I've prepped that and it's ready to paint. I need to cut it's interior trim myself. I've been working on a landing for the library. Initially, you'd enter from the bedroom in front of it and walk down 2 dinky steps. I'm still using the steps, but am fashioning a small landing with rails and banisters to look a bit grander. Right now, I have spindles stuck in some florist foam to hold them straight and am painting them. I have the newel posts stained and varnished. Once I finish the spindles, I will cut the banisters and stain them and put them all together.

The door that comes from the bedroom into the library is a standard Houseworks door, but was too tall to fit the spot. I had to take 3/4 inch off the door and the trimwork That was pretty tricky, having to cut a bit off the top and the bottom because of the panels inside the door, but it made it. Then, I stained one side and painted the other...the line that separates the paint and varnish was tricky to keep straight, but was managed with a lot of work.

I am trying to sell my little 4 room farmhouse and The Alison, Jr, so I am cleaning them, packing up the furniture and making them ready for Open House. The ad came out in today's paper. I hate to see them go, but, since I live in a birdhouse, I have no room for them all.

I'll get back to you again later this week to tell you of my progress. In the meantime, may you have a happy day.

A Week Off

This will be a tough one, but I've decided I need to take a week off from the Garfield Manor to do some work around the house and garden. This is the perfect time for me to cut back some plants, divide and transplant, and to purchase and plant new things. I need to amend the soil from the good compost pile and remove completely some things that just don't work. The garden centers are having sales and good deals are everywhere, plus, my buddy, Melissa, has a bundle of things to pass on to me. I can't play house and happy gardener at the same time....either one, I'll get carried away and will ignore the other. I don't understand or practice "moderation". As Annie Oakley says, " With me, it's all or nuttin' ".

Oh, I know, I'll sneak in here at night and diddle around with something about the dollhouse, but, it won't be worth discussing. I won't say that I'll avoid posting anything here either, but don't expect too much.

It's going to be difficult for me, I know, as I so love working on this beauty and don't want her to feel neglected. But, I love my garden and it DOES feel neglected, so I need to make up for that.

Bear with me, please, it won't be long.

The Steps in the Library

Wow, I forgot to post yesterday. Oh, well, there wasn't much done anyway.

Today, I'm working on another adaption to the original plans. In the library, there are to be two steps coming from the room in front of it...two dinky little things that don't have much class and don't look all that pretty or safe. I want to change that. What I'd like to do is to have you come through that door to a platform with railing on two sides of it and then step down the two steps into the library. I've drawn a picture of what I want it to look like and I'm pretty sure I understand what it is I'm going to do, but there's going to be some playing around with it. I haven't decided if I want it to be a straight walk down the stairs into the room, or if I want to turn left on the platform to go down the stairs. If I turn it, I'll need to reposition a fireplace that I wanted on the inner wall to across the room to the outer wall. That is probably what I'll end up doing. I like the fireplace on the inner wall best, but I like the turn of the platform better. Confused yet? Maybe by tomorrow, I can show you.

Nothing Done, But I Bought a Few Things

I had a dentist appointment this morning, first thing. UGH!!! They're prepping for a crown and it ruined my whole morning. All I managed to get done was clean up my worktable, so I can mess it up again.

This afternoon, I spent some time at my friend, Mary Jo's. She has an old Beacon Hill for sale. She started building it many years ago and life made her stop. It sits in her garage half finished, has all the pieces neatly stored in bags, and she doesn't want to continue with it. If you seriously would like to discuss it, I'll have her get in touch with you.

She had a trunk full of furniture and accessories too. I picked out a lot of them and bought some really nice things...a bed, lamps, chandeliers, knick knack and vases, tons of picture frames, carpet, fireplace accessories, and I can't remember what all.

It was a lovely afternoon, productive for my collection, and I got some great cookies to munch on. Tomorrow, I'll get back to the Garfield.

I've Been Lazy Today

I've not spent much time with Garfield today. Just taking a small break. I was able to install the window seat with no trouble and I did get on the third side to the Dining Room bay window and spackled inside and out at the joints. The spackling has been sanded and painted and it all looks great. I still have the fabric trim to put on the crown area...will probably do that tonight. It was even more difficult getting my hand inside to spackle, sand, and paint. Again, I was doing tricks with mirrors backwards.

I read a hint from Larry Marshall about diluting wood filler with denatured alcohol, so I practiced that, making it into a paintable substance and using it to fill in those tiny holes and notches that are left from punching pieces out of plywood. What a wonderful trick!!! and I plan on going all around Garfield and cleaning up those window edges and repainting. Thanks, again, Larry.

That's where I've stopped. I'm tired, the back is hurting, the meds aren't working, and there's no sense working on it if I'm not up to par, so I'm watching old movies and living in the past. Back to life tomorrow.

Tons of Garfield Fun and Photos

Wow, how 'bout some pictures, folks ! I'm trying to cover 3 subjects here..

First is working on the Dining Room Bay Window. I have 2 of the walls to the bay up, spackled, and sanded. I'm going to paint them in a little while. After the paint is dried, I'll start the crown moulding trim, which is fabric, and leave extra just hanging there for when I get that last wall up . Talk about a pain sanding, I had to do the interior sanding with a mirror sitting in the middle of the room, reflecting backwards and my hand stuck in the empty wall space. NOT fun, but, certainly entertaining. I have the window seat ready to install. I used the seat platform intended for the tower window seat and trimmed it down some to fit this bay. It's painted green, the same as the walls in the bay. Instead of using the same side wall panels provided, I just made some new ones, plain wood, nothing fancy, painted green. It dry fits like a glove. I've made a pattern of it's shape and, later, I'll put a cushion on it...or, leave it to "grow" plants inside. I think a hanging fern in the window would be pretty. It's not time to worry about that right now.

The next few photos are by request of the different sides of the house. I repeated one photo, but can't figure out how to delete it, so am just leaving it. Looking at these photos, I am overwhelmed by what a big baby this house really is!!!

And the last 2 photos are of the color project board for the 2nd story hallway. I misled some people with the blue color, making it sound like a lighter blue than it is. I'd thought I'd tested more colors, but ????? So, what's here is a darker, richer ( complimentary ) tint of the blue downstairs in the Parlor on the far left. Next is a tan, then terra cotta, and last, on the far right, bronze. I'm still leaning towards the blue. In real life, I think it looks much better than the other choices used. Te terra cotta's not bad, but the carpet is where the baby blue will be, so blue it will probably be.

I thank every one of you for answering and caring about helping me. Bless your hearts, the response to my cry for help was tremendous and so very useful. Ideas galore and none taken lightly, I assure you. It humbles me that you are following the progress of my Garfield. Proud? That too, I confess. ( It also made me realize that, if I were ill, you'd have sent a casserole too. ;) )

It's early yet and I don't know what I'm getting into today yet. I will try to finish up the Dining Room bay and then move back upstairs to the hallway. It's time to stop talking about it and getting to work. Thanks, ya'll.

The Dining Room Bay Plus Stuff

This is the printie wallpaper I am tossing around in my head to use for the 2nd floor hallway. I'm considering having it cover the bottom half of the wall with the fairly dark tone of the baby blue used in the Parlor tower on the top half of the wall. There would be a 1/2 " wide chair rail between it and the paint line. Remember that I have a baby blue carpet runner on the staircase and it will run the 2nd floor hallway, too. PLEASE tell me what you think. I want it, I really, really do, but I have still not convinced myself that it'll work. You won't make me mad if you don't like it.


No need for other photos...nothing exciting to see. I have one side and the center of the bay window glued in and spackled. I'll sand and paint those after the spackle dries well, inside and out, and will start a bit of the fabric trim. I'm working on the pieces for the window seat that I'll install and then add the final side piece to the bay. Not putting that last side in until last will give me some room to maneuver around in there. The space is smaller than my hand and, as I've said before, quite awkward.





While I had the spackling out, I also filled in the holes where the floors meet the walls on the exterior to assure a smooth outside wall. It's not necessary inside, as the trim pieces will cover those gaps. And, while I am waiting for the spackle to dry...I wait longer than I think necessary sometimes to be sure... I'm working on those never ending pieces of trim in the Dining Room and Library.





The library has 2 steps down from the room before it. In the company's master plan, they are simple steps. Since I've not let anything be simple up to this point and am always changing something, I've decided that these steps need to be a bit more elaborate that provided. I'm going to fashion a small landing with railing and banister, so when you come from that front room, you'll take 1 small step down onto the landing, hang a short left and come down another step. I think it'll add a bit of grace to the entrance into the room and won't look as hazardous as the simple steps appear.

Not much else going on in there. I have some new plants I must get it that I bought on my day with Melissa and some bulbs to plant on a kitty grave. There are some other outdoor chores that must!!! be done now. Autumn is moving in and there's no time left to procrastinate. Today is "Color Sunday" in the mountains of Colorado. While not in full color yet, the aspens are turning their golden yellow and it's something to be marveled over, even if by only a photo.

The Dining Room Bay Window

Today, I begin what I believe will be a battle with The Dining Room Bay. It will be painted with the Wedgewood green paint and the crown moulding will be the same fabric trim that I used in the room. There will be a window seat in the bay, also. The parts are being painted inside and out....several coats have already been done on the interior side with a couple of sandings in between to insure smoothness....the grain tends to rise at first. I'm doing a couple of coats on the exterior, but the final painting will really happen before exterior trims and maybe even the roof...we'll see.

The battle will be because of accessing the bay from the inside for the final painting, crown moulding, and window seat. There is limited space to get in there and work on it. After I get the parts glued on to the house, I'll need to spackle at the joints ( inside and out ), sand that spackling, and then paint over it. It's gonna be tough getting to it and doing the best job I can and it'll probably be a blind application of the fabric trim. I'm actually looking forward to tackling it, just to see if I can.

I will be able to reach in only from the open back side and from the window on the side of the house, but that's not going to make the area easy to see and do at the same time. This is where we all wish we were Munchkins to get some of the work done.

I'll keep you posted.

Not Much Here

Oh, I've only been sanding, painting, and staining. How many times can one make that sound interesting? I've got a big pile of parts, I'm cleaning them up, sticking them in their spots to see how it'll look and either staining or painting the part, and placing it in a little tray until it's time to glue them in...there you go. It'll stay that way until tomorrow.

Today, my good friend, Melissa, is taking me on a birthday adventure. My day was August 31st and our schedules haven't worked together until today. I have no idea where we're going, how long I'll be gone, what we'll be doing, or anything else. I was told to wear comfortable shoes and nothing else. I am so very curious about what's to happen. The best I can say is that any time I am with Melissa and anything she has ever done for me has always been fun and heartfelt. She's a special lady to me and it's gonna be good. I'll let you know.

Scrapping and Journaling

I spent the better part of yesterday at my friend, Angie's, house, working on my scrapbook for the Garfield. I got four pages done, with journaling, and am almost current with my progress in building the house.



In my idle time before and after going there, I sanded and sanded trim pieces that will go into the Dining Room and Library...44 all total. Each window has 4 pieces, each door 3, and there are 2 doors that need sanding. Even though the store bought doors come pretty clean, there are always some rough spots, especially on the inset panels. There are also kitchen bay pieces and tower pieces.



The kitchen bay is to be assembled directly on the house and it'll be at such an angle that getting into it to decorate will be terribly awkward, both reaching and seeing. I had wanted to cover the walls with the same fabric, but realize that will be harder than I want to mess with, so I've found a matching paint and will get her done that way, needing only touch up once it's assembled. Even that will be a pain. I've chosen an acrylic called "Wedgewood Green" and have started the painting of the section that'll need it on the body of the house and the bay sides pieces.



Today, I'll do more staining and then varnishing. I hope to have a nice pile of trim ready and spend a day just installing it.

Back to the journaling part...a member of one of the online forums had asked if anyone kept a journal. I have the scrapbook, which I do "wallpaper" the pages, but I don't do any fancy details. I use the little journaling cards and document the photos. I've also been keeping a notebook that has pages of this blog that I print out every so often. I need to kind of catch up on that actually. And I have a notebook/inventory of each house I have built with a running cost of the construction and then the furniture and accessories. My very first house, 30 years ago, the journaling was started in an already bound book. I ended up with 3 volumes of books..."The Dogwood Plantation" trilogy. HA.

The End Wall

I have not committed to the wall coverings in the 2nd story hallway, though I have printed out the "wallpaper". Since it takes so much ink, I'm pretty sure that I'll use it, but am waiting for me to think more positively about it. In the meantime, I'm doing other things that can be done.

I've added the end wall to The Garfield....it closes up the Dining Room and the Library..and I finished covering the walls to both rooms. I'll root around and find the trim pieces or use whatever trim components that will be extra and get them cut, stained, varnished, and installed.

We all know how many mini things there are that often get overlooked or need re-doing, how many thoughts of something we'd like to try, and how many ideas pop up while we're doing something else. Like many people, I keep a running list of "things to do" on my work table, a 8x10 legal pad, and it is full of those thoughts. At this point, there are 3 pages of "things to do" and I guess it's time to do some of them, while I'm waiting for my mind to make itself up about the walls in the hall. I could probably fill up a month's time doing the little things.

Yesterday, my husband started on his annual Autumn yard display. He gets some hay bales and decorates around them for Halloween/Thanksgiving/Autumn. The neighborhood kids and cats love them. While he was doing that, I got out the "around the house" decorations and started putting them out. It involves packing up knick knacks out right now that'll be in the way and too cluttered. They won't be seen again until after Christmas. CHRISTMAS!!!! Not all that far away and it's all made me realize that I'm going to have to completely put up things in this spare room to make room for Christmas boxes of decorations, presents, supplies...you know how it is. It means that I'll have to put away most of my dollhouse tools and supplies because they'll just be in my way. Like I said...tiny house...and, for me, Christmas takes priority over anything.

Well, I certainly can't put away Garfield...I couldn't even get it out of this room without major pains, so it'll remain on it's 4 ft. long table and I'll pack up it's supplies and toys and store them under that table. I'll have to move The Alison, Jr. out of the dining area and into the spare room to make room around the diningroom table. I have another 2 months before it's absolutely necessary. I now have a card table up. I use that for my working space, spreading out parts for staining and painting, cutting and assembly. Once it's put up, my working on the house will be limited until January, when everything Christmas gets packed up and stored for another year.

So, back to Garfield, the next few days will be small chores and nothing very exciting, but, I'm sure, will have lovely effects on the house. I'm going to ty my hand a plaster casting, using the pin I found in the antique store. As Holly has pointed out, the dining room will look good with 2 of those and the casts will be easier to work with, but I do need to learn a few things about it first.

Today's a scrapbooking day...I'll be updating my Garfield book with photos and journaling. Isn't it amazing how many things we have to learn to "play house"? Wish I could get paid for all this knowledge and expertise.

Walls, Doors, Walls, Part 2

I have succeeded in ripping this Garfield new ones....walls and door frames, that is. The original doors were about 2" wide, not enough for any good sized resident to get through comfortably. They now are Houseworks door suitable, after doing a lot of trimming. I did have to trim some of the casings too, to make it all work, but it'll look just fine. I don't know if you can tell, but in the 4th photo, the light shines on a wall that is behind the door. That's the wall in the master bedroom I was telling you about that gets walked slap into when you go in the door. It's about 1 1/2" behind that door and you'd have had to make an immediate left turn to enter into the bedroom proper. The wall extends up into the 3rd floor tower and is essential up there, but not for the second floor. I will have to assure good glue contact between it on the 3rd floor to maintain the structure of the tower. .....it'll be out of there as soon as Ed wakes up and I can make a lot of noise sawing. ( It's only 6am and he's in the room next door. SSSHHH ) Yes, there is a space empty over each door. I will make frames for transom windows there for each, though the plans only called for one.

I am now free to stain those doors, after a little more cleanup sanding, and paper those walls. I have to decide which paper I want.....one is a printie, the other is paintable wallpaper that Kim Hammond sent me. I will be complimenting the baby blue carpet runner on the stairs and what is yet unlaid on the hallway floors with whatever my choices become.

Oh, there WILL be a trim around the rims of the stairwells, both on the ceilings and the floors to cover up the rough/mixed colored/material edges. That's still a long way from now. I've got to get it right first before I decide what needs to be hidden.

Doing these walls was very frustrating and hard work, but I am so-o-o pleased that I made those changes. The originals just didn't make sense to me. I've tried to look at it from the prospective that real people live there and need to be comfortable. Leaving the Master bedroom as it was originally planned would have many a person say a few unkind words and maybe even cause an injury. It's all safe and logical now.

Walls, Doors, and Walls

I have spent the day trying to get the walls for the 2nd floor to work right, but am doing things that are NOT part of the directions. To get to the walls, I had to first make sure the floor fit correctly, which took some whittling and trimming. Finally, after lots of whittling, the floor fit perfectly. On to the walls, which took more and more whittling and trimming. I'm moving a wall and had to trim some of the top of the staircase newel and banister that presses up against the master bedroom wall. Bought a door from Hobby Lobby and it'll have to have the casings trimmed some to fit, but it'll go. The wall to the second bedroom was tougher. It was crooked, tabs WAY too big, the doorway was too small to fit a store bought door and, when I trimmed the wall and attempted to fit it into the stairwell, the doorway and transom window ( both held on by only a small piece of wood ) broke off. Oh, well, I can fit a piece in there, but I don't know now about the transom. Finally, I got the wall to fit perfectly in it's spot and with the master bedroom wall connection. Now, I'm fitting the doors to fit the spaces, removing only enough casing to make it work.

Now all that sounds quick enough, but it took hours, not just the work, but life continued along with it. Tomorrow, I'll have the doors finished and can move on to painting and wallpapering. I'm still days from gluing those wall to the house.

Boy, is it fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Newel Caps and other Miscelleny

This is the first floor landing. Sumaiya asked about the newel caps and I promised her better photos of them. The flat square was provided with the Garfield kit. I found the brass jewelry "whatever you call them" and the wooden mushroom looking caps at Hobby Lobby...a bunch in a baggie for a dollar or so. ( It's obvious I don't do photos well; there's a lot of glare showing little white flecks that aren't really there. ) I will, of course, do the same thing for the 2nd floor staircase. The bead mats I found came in real handy for this...I had to add the brass thingie to the wooden cap first and then top the square piece. The mat kept things from rolling around.

I've started sanding the second floor partitions. I don't like the door arrangements, so I'm going to do some destruction before I do the construction.

First, to enter into what appears to be the main bedroom to the left of the staircase, you get off the stairs and turn left immediately into the skinny doorway. If you go through that door, you instantly face a wall for the tower, which is absolutely necessary, if only for the 3rd floor. I'm going to whack that wall off, at least to the point where I can fit a standard Housework's door into the spot, though I'll have to trim down the door casing some. It'll mean I'll have to build a 3" wide wall section to connect it to the stairway partition, but that's no problem. It all looks easy enough and worth the shot at doing it.

Next, is the entry into the other bedroom, which is also though a skinny door. I'll do surgery on that door frame, too, to allow for a Houseworks door to be used, again needing to trim some of the door casing. There is a transom window that'll need some adjustment or maybe completely covering up, though I sure like and want to keep it. I need to get there to make that decision.

Neither of these adaptions are going to be tough, but they'll take some time and patience. The master bedroom wall that I'm trimming is attached already, so cutting it will be in a limited space, fitting the tools and my arm in there will be awkward, and I'll probably have to stand on a chair to reach it ( or put the whole house on the floor, which would certainly be safer for me, but open game for Aimee, the cat. The other 3 will leave it alone, I'm sure )

Then, again, I must decorate the hallway walls before I install them and I keep changing my mind with what to do. I'll pop up with the final answer while I'm tearing all the walls apart. The hallway has both a french door and a removable bay. Unlike the first floor entry bay, I'm going to keep this bay removable. It's not in the same order of the directions, but I'll work on those while I'm working on the hallway, so I can keep my thoughts all together. Besides, building this baby hasn't been completely by the directions to this point. Why start now?

I've realized that I've not always explained what I was doing, which was the point to the blog in the first place, so I'm going to try posting every day, even if some of what's been done is minor and not worth a hoot. I love, I love this Garfield house. I hope that you are enjoying watching it go up. I sure am.

Looking Down From The Second Floor

All three views are looking down from the 2nd floor. The photos looking up were fairly dark and you couldn't see much. The carpet runner is a simple flannel, cut to 1 3/4" wide with a satin ribbon on each edge. The color matches the blues on the 1st floor and the walls in the hallway on the 2nd floor ( but they're not yet painted. ) I did add newel post caps, except on the 2nd floor itself. I'm waiting to add the walls first. I know I'll knock them off if I don't wait. In one of the photos, you can barely see a brass ornament between the stair and the post cap. I'll take better photos of the 2nd floor staircase and hope they'll show up.

One of the 2nd story floors ( the part over the Dining room is done and ready to install. I had some problems with the ceiling of the 1st floor side and had to do it twice. I'm waiting until I get the main floor section done and installed before I show the photos. It won't be long.

I've been pretty busy with other things that indirectly affect the Garfield. I cleaned up my dust bunny covered computer area and installed USB pots so that I can connect both the photo printer and the camera. The dust bunnies were the hard part. Some of them could have carried off my cat! After doing that, I realized I need to be brutal and clear out some spare wood parts and other things around my work area.

I'm also getting out my winter clothes and putting up summer...it's snowed in some parts of Colorado and it's getting down in the 40's at night, so it's time.( How that affects the Garfield is easy. The clothes are in storage boxes under the twin bed in this room and I had to move supplies that are blocking the way to get under the bed.....I told you, it's a small house. )

One day this week, I'm going to a scrapping party at my friend, Angie's, house and my Garfield scrapbook will get caught up. I've printed out many photos and I want to get it up to date or it'll get carried away from me. Plus, I need to print out some pages from this fun blog and keep that up to date too. When I die, whoever gets Garfield will get these books telling it's story. ( While he's way too young right now, I'm secretly hoping my grandson, Mark, will one day have a little girl and it can be hers. )

Something else that I must do, but has nothing to do with Garfield, is to cut down some foliage in the garden and I'd best do it now!!! It's a mess and I need to clean it up so the Autumn plants will look better, so I'm putting the Garfield work aside for a few days. ( I can't play dollhouse ALL the time, though I wish .............................)

Well, off to act like I'm doing all those things.

From All Sides

My work area was a mess, so it was time to clean it up, put everything back in it's place, dust the Garfield, and start fresh. These are shots from each side of the house; exterior doors are NOT glued in place; fabric is hanging, waiting for the back wall; the upstairs fireplace is not stationary, waiting to see if I'll further decorate it. I removed the staircase and partition from the Parlor. I'm carpeting the stairs right now and finally adding the decorative parts to the newel posts.

I'm also working on the ceilings of the second story/floors for the third story.The directions have me installing those when complete and then the walls that separate the stairs/ bedrooms. I've not decided if I'll need to decorate them before I install them, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to, to make it easier reaching inside this baby. This house has such awkward angles that decorating would be so difficult if I completed the building before I painted/papered it. I have not followed the directions to the letter, obviously. It won't let me.

In the photograph that shows the front of the house..the one where you can see both exterior doors... you also see a good 1/4 of this room. It shows how much space I ( don't ) have to work with in this small 2 bedroom house. The Garfield dangles over the twin bed that's in here and to the front of the table it sits on is a card table that I use to work on, with boxes under both tables holding wood, parts, tools, and whatever. In front of that card table is where I am right now, at my desk, typing away. On the wall to the side is a cabinet full of all my crafting supplies and my own personal closet. Thank goodness I'm the only one that uses this room or the chaos would be much greater.

Today, I'll finish the staircases and the ceiling/floors and maybe sort more of the supplies and spare wood. I'm usually an organized person, but I've let that get away from me this past month. (My husband is pretty much recuperated from his accident and I don't need to ignore my own needs as much.) I want the house to sit around and talk to me, too. I need to learn where it wants to go from here, what to make the rooms do, and what they want to look like. I want to think about the lady who lives here-her name is Novella-and how she spends her time. And, of all things, I need to read the directions and do some dry fitting.

Thank you for your visit. I always enjoy it when you stop by.

We'll Call It The Library For Now

So, here I sit with 2 rooms half finished and they'll be staying that way for a while. The directions are sending me to work on the 3rd floor floorings/2nd floor ceilings...2 different sections that need to be prepared.

The blue flowered room will be the library. The shelves were closets in the plans, but I liked the idea of bookshelves, so there you go. The fireplace is one purchased from Hobby Lobby. It's really the same tan color of the bookshelves, but shows up white. It cries for some decoration and I'm waiting to decide what that will be before I glue it in ( IF I glue it in. ) The trim work will all be the Cabernet stain. I am going to buy the French doors rather than use those provided and there will be casing around the bookshelves.

As you've already seen, the room below is the Dining Room The post is just to keep the floor level until I can install the end wall, which is a long time from now. The fireplace is one that came with the kit, with some modifications. The "marble" is a photograph of rose colored Tennessee marble. ( Appropriate, since I was born in Tennessee. ) There will be wood trim around the base of the hearth.

I have to get those floors done. Since the floors will be for the third floor, ones not very important to the "living areas" of the house, they will be nothing too fancy. I have a lot of sanding to do and I think I'll be marking them with lines for planks and staining/shellacing them. In between waiting for the stain or shellac to dry, I'll work on the baseboards, crown moulding, and steps for those 2 rooms.Once the floors are complete, I'll flip them over and work on the ceilings that will be for the 2nd floor. Kim Hammond sent me some "paintable wallpaper" that I plan on trying, using that which looks like plaster. She couldn't have sent it at a better time and the wood that will be covered is not very nice looking, so the paper is going to cover a multitude of ugly spots. Thanks, Kim!!!!

I'm in the process of carpeting the staircases, but will save that for a later time, just in case I change my mind about what's happening there. I can't seem to commit myself to what I want yet; you know how that goes.

As I've said repeatedly, I am thoroughly enjoying myself building this beauty. I'm spending several hours every day on it, but not all at once. I paint, go do something, glue, go do something, on and on. And, I spend a lot of time thinking about it, not adding paint or glue until I'm positive it's what will work. I've realized that there are many people following the construction of the Garfield and your comments make me very proud. I truly appreciate it and welcome your thoughts and ideas. ( Got any for that fireplace??? )

Thank you for visiting.

Dining Room Update...

I'm on hold again...the directions for the house are sending me to the second floor for a while. I did have to get what you see here decorated before I add on the back wall.....I have things to do upstairs before that happens.

The "wallpaper" in the Dining room is a material I found at Wal-Mart, as is the coordinating trim. ( Looking at the photo, I see a crooked spot that I'll correct...can't have that in Ms. Picky's house! ) It's not my original plan. Staring at the room for hours caused me to change my mind several times. I am almost finished with the fireplace that will go on the wall you see here. The doorway on the far right is not the original. I didn't care for that door and have a Houseworks door ready to go in, but that'll be quite some time, after the exterior is finished being painted. I plan on continuing with the Cabernet stain on all the trim and will also be working on that this coming week.

The gold pin is something I found in an antique/whatever store. I'm hoping someone can tell me something about it. There is the word "agnew" in small letters on the back....no other identification. There is a small bolt in the very center. I'm hoping that I can fit a chandelier through the center and it'll hang in the center of the dining room.

Directly overhead on the second floor, I am back to sanding, and preparing pieces. I have to install 2 closets, again cover walls, and prepare the french doors, even if I don't install them yet. I must get into those small spaces before I put on the end wall, so I'm working in many areas at once. I need a bigger table, room, house, world to do all these things at once.

I am having a ball..........the ideas keep popping in my head and I need to write them down as fast as I think of them before they fly out again. As I've said repeatedly, I'm very serious about this construction as never before. I plan on making the features in this house as exquisite as it's would have been 100 years ago.