The 2nd Bedroom

This door leads into the 2nd bedroom and the trim in the hallway is not done yet, as you can plainly see. I just wanted to show some progress here, though I feel like I've worked and worked and gotten nowhere.

I added a small piece of wood over the door where a transom window would have been. As I've said, the Houseworks door is taller and it leaves little room for a window.

The bay is removable and, while you can't tell from the inside, you sure can from the outside, but I think a decorative trim piece will fix that. We'll see later on down the line. I have only this piece of trim in the hall and will be finishing that up in the next few days. I'm on hold as Hobby Lobby ran out of baseboard and I need to wait for them to restock and they're not too quick about those things.

Give me a few days and I'll have more to show. There is MUCH to do in this hallway!!!

Little things

Nope..no photos. Nothing looks any different in the house; all the work has been on the work table, except for a little painting in the Master bedroom.

I started on what was to be the transom windows and had to change the plan. The Houseworks doors are bigger/taller than the original doors. Allowing for the higher size and the frame of transom windows, I would have been left with too small an area for a window, so it's becoming just wall. I've finished the painting of the blue side and, today, will work on the other sides' colors, maybe get them fitted into the space.

Yesterday, I bought the last pack of baseboard at Hobby Lobby; will go back today for either the fireplace or crown moulding. Clear vellum was 1/2 off and that's what I'm going to use for "stained glass" in the French doors and oval windows. I need fresh ink cartridges for the printer, which is fine. I have plenty of time and I'll need it still for researching. Someone told me about doing this and I am spending a lot of time looking for the right look.

I'm dragging in the Garfield, working more in other areas of my big house, but I am getting piles of trim pieces stained, varnished, and ready to install. I like to let it pile up and then just have a day with installing.

While it's still in the future, I'm thinking about this tower that is in the front of this house. I think I want it to have a fieldstone look on the entire outside of the tower and in the interior of the third floor, so I'm cruising the supplies needed for that. If I'm going to do it, I need to before I work inside it, which is not all that far away, plus I should do it before I add the siding, which IS a while away.

To be continued........................

Optical Illusions

It is NOT crooked!! Okay, I admit that I cut it a bit crooked, but I have 1/2" trim pieces, top and bottom, that will cover that and it'll work. I have checked with one of those trims and the little gold medallion like thingie on the paper lines up perfectly!! It just LOOKS crooked. However, on Saturday, it really was crooked and I had to pull off the piece of wallpaper from the both walls and replace it. Lucky for me, since this was a printie, I had printed out extra paper, just in case, so I had enough to replace what I removed.( If I'd needed to reprint, I'd have had to install new ink cartridges. )

There I was, one arm through the hallway bay window, the other arm though the French doors, wetting and removing the printie wallpaper. I had used "Zinsser" border adhesive to get them up there and they were a piece of cake to remove them. ( I love Zinsser products. ) Got the wall cleaned up and started over. I measured all the way through the process and realized it's the printie that is crooked....sorry, Jennifer's printables. Once I realized it was not me, I felt so much better and quit cussing.

Because of this little snafu, I had to change my plans of putting up the trim in the hallway and, instead, started painting in the bedrooms. I papered the 2nd bedroom first. This paintable wallpaper dries quicker than the printie wallpaper and I was able to paint almost right away. I had only the inner wall to do and the paint went on easily....True Value's 4oz jar of tester paint. I'm glad I chose this happy yellow, Bee Pollen, as it really does brighten up the room. See where the opening is? Where the room light shines through? That's where part of the roof goes and I'll have to wait until the roof is done to do the crown work. In this room, I have to install the door, transom window ( which I'm working on ), the fireplace, baseboard, and, lastly, the crown moulding. FYI, the door to the very right leads into the library.

Next, I worked on the Master bedroom. This has a 1/2 wall of the paintable wallpaper ( Thanks always, Kim ) The paper takes less paint than the wood, but it's all done now and I can move on to the trim. This paint is also True Value's tester paint, "Nana". The order for this is the door and transom window, the window seat in the tower area, the fireplace..which I'm going to buy instead of build...the baseboard, the chair rail, and the crown moulding. Again, in some places, I'll have to get the roof on first.

I am delighted to be this far and, for the next few days, will be staining, varnishing, and gluing. I have a lot of shopping to do, as I have only small pieces of trim and need the new fireplace. I'm going to attempt the stained glass look in the transom windows and the little oval window in the 2nd bedroom and have some research to do. I'm making the windows from scratch, because of my kit bashing. While I fumble my way though a stained glass look, I'll work on the other trim too.

It's coupon week at Hobby Lobby!! YEAH!!!!!!!!! I'll go get something each morning and send Ed each afternoon. I need a LOT of trim. I'm slow, installing trim, making it as right as I can, especially the crown moulding, but I think this is where being precise really counts and most of what makes the room look so real.

And, while I work on this floor, making it look like a home, I'll be thinking about the 3rd floor, the attic, and trying to figure out how to make it work. I also have to accept that soon, because of the holidays approaching, I'll have to clean and put up for a while, as this little spare room is the only place I have to work with for Christmas boxes. BooHoo.....but I'm a Christmas freak, so the reason is okay with me. I'll use that time down for sanding the millions of trim pieces and roofing that will go on the house.

Suddenly, It Looks Like a House

What a difference a floor makes! It looks like a house now. Note that when I edit the photos and change the balance, the colors change a bit. The Master bedroom is coral, not orange, and the second bedroom is a true yellow.

There are a million things to do here, as expected. I need to spackle some rough edges, fill in some gaps, add another small wall between the 2 bedrooms, and lots of trim. I'm letting it sit glued as you see it until tomorrow to insure the the glue holds fast, then to work I go.

Oh, I think it look so beautiful and, again, I find myself just sitting there looking and writing down chores and notes so I won't forget my ideas.

I will first complete the hallway. I need to finish the wallpaper, install the French doors, the bay window, 2 doors and transoms, and add the crown and baseboard.There will be "L" trim pieces at the base of the center walls that will overlap onto the ceiling below. It'll clean up the transition look.

In the Master, add the partition between it and the other bedroom, more papering and painting, the window seat, the fireplace, and the crown and baseboard. There's also a small spot on the floor that needs satin......I'd removed the wall there and haven't filled it in yet. And, in the second bedroom, there is more papering and painting, the fireplace, and the crown, and baseboard.

As I've said all along, I've felt like I've build this from the inside out. There have been so many tricky spots, corners, nooks, curves, and hidden places that building the whole house as designed and then decorating would have been terribly frustrating. Those of you who've built ahead of me know what I mean and those behind me, be warned. It's a puzzle to say it lightly.

I'm leaving the blog until Monday when I'm sure I'll have had tons of things completed by then. There's a pile of trim on my worktable I'm sanding and about to stain and a long list of "to do's". So, I'll turn this chair around 180 degrees and get to work.

Second Floor Progress

The "progress" is v-e-r-y slow. All I've done today is paint the walls, paint the walls, and, then, paint the walls. That's it, except......

I found all the pieces needed to make the window seat, the 3 tower windows, 1 wide window,a fireplace for the Master Bedroom, and the small oval window. The window seat is supposed to have little pieces with decorative tabs punched out. All I can find is one piece so I'll use leftover beadboard for the sides of the window seats. I lucked out, found one already stained and varnished, just have to cut it to size and touch it up. I already have a fireplace that I bought from a friend of mine (Thanks, Mary Jo ) . It's the one we can buy with the green marble. I love the marble and I'm going to clean up/rough up and repaint the mantle and sides and do something different with it.

Tomorrow, once the paint and painted wallpaper are all dry, I'll add the ceiling/3rd story floor and the inner walls to the bedrooms. THAT'S the part that excites me.

Just a Mess on the Second Floor

Oh, everything is all a mess and looks confusing. On the right is the number 2 bedroom with stripe embossed paper on in, floor to ceiling, with 2 coats of "Bee Pollen" paint. On the left is the master bedroom with only one coat of paint in the tower area..it will all be paint in the tower...and the white paper is embossed fleur de lis with no paint papered just to chair rail line. The entire wall, paper and wood will be painted "Nana" and then the chair rail in between. The chair rail will be decorative, but I haven't picked it out. In the middle, is the hallway. See where "Peanuts" in the funny paper is? That's where the inner walls will be. This'll take me another few days to finish up, but I wanted to show you something. Sorry, it's a mess, but...well, you know.

Everything is drying off right now..sticking or the paint drying and I'll just leave it until tomorrow. I have nothing planned for my day, so I should get a lot accomplished. Until later.

2nd Floor Interior Work

It's not exciting to look at spackle and paint, so I'll save you that here. I have the wall corners spackled and sanded and wiped down on all junctions of the 2nd floor interior. All is smooth and ready for paint or wallpaper.

The ceiling was divided into the 3 areas..hallway, Master bedroom, and second bedroom and are all painted. The hallway is painted a very lightened coordinating blue "Expressionist", the Master bedroom is painted a lightened shade of "Nana", and the second bedroom, a lightened shade of "Bee Pollen". All of these paints are from True Value's collection of "Color Made Simple" which are actually test colors...4 oz jars of paint to use to see if you like a color before you buy a gallon or so for a larger space. They are perfect for the miniature house. They go on easily, dry quickly, and are enough for the 2-3 coats that are usually required. I lightened them with white paint and then, thinned them a bit with water, so not to make them too thick and you really can tell the difference.

Coming up next will be to paper the walls with the paintable wallpaper that Kim Hammond sent me ( Thanks, again, Kimi!!) The second bedroom will go first using a textured striped paper. I have more than enough of this and will get it on the walls, allow for drying time, and then paint the paper. I'm going to hit a snag here and will have to be careful with a gap that is made by the slope of the not yet installed roofing. The bizarre construction areas of the Garfield will strike again. This is a photo of ANOTHER house and you can see the odd area at the top of the wall that I'll have to fill in the wallpaper to match. How fun will that be?

On the far right of this room, right where the photo ends, is the door into the library. On the far left, where the photo ends, is supposed to be a door leading into the Master bedroom. I have filled that doorway in and there will be no door at all. Doing so will give me added wall space. A fireplace will go in this room, also.

The Master bedroom will have another paintable paper with fleur de lis on it. I need to fix up the window seat for the tower and either make or buy a fireplace for it.

Each Houseworks doorway has been adapted to fit into the altered doorway ( they were way too small) and I have the basic transom windows ready, but both will need some tweaking. I also have French doors for the hallway to stain on the inside and paint on the outside, not to mention the windows and their trim, some stained, some painted.

All this work should keep me busy for several days...through the weekend, I'm guessing. I don't want to show any of the spaces until I'm done...call me odd ( my sister does ) but I prefer not to show off the ugly, only the completed pretty.

This is an area that I am thoroughly enjoying, in spite of the cat and the problems with the ceiling. And it seems, considering how I'm going to go about it all, that everything will fall into place at the same time. I love it when that happens.

I have looked at just about every photo of the Garfield there is online-many of them your's, dear reader, and have scrutinized each room and technique, some of which I've borrowed. Every one is different, really no two the same, which has made building this so interesting. Once I get this floor done, my move to the third floor will, again, prove to have many quirks, which will take some heavy thinking about how to approach it. I know of a few of the pitfalls, but if you'd be so kind as to warn me of what's to come, I'd appreciate it. No need to tell me how to fix it, just what to look out for. Forewarned is forearmed.

Thank you for being here. I so enjoy your visits and comments. Your advice always gives me courage.

2nd Floor This and That Construction

There's no need for photos here..nothing exciting or pretty.

There's always something to do before I can do what I want to do. In this case, I want to do the Hallway, but there are things that MUST be done in the 2 bedrooms first, doggone it. I figured that out when I was having one of those moments where I just sit and stare at the house, at what I've done, at what I want to do, and, then, at what I need to do. They are good moments, but often become frustrating when I find all kinds of things that MUST be done.

I've decided the color of the bedroom next to the library will be yellow. There's only a small oval window in the room, so it'll need brighter colors. While I haven't picked out the paint yet, I have found some scrapbooking trims that I want to use in there. They'll give the room a touch of daisies, always a cheerful thing. This room needs some patchwork...tabs sticking out need sanding down and spackled, slots need spackle and there's a few rough edges that need sanding and spackling, all to be done before I paint. One of the hallway walls backs into this room and I need to paint that too, before I can put it up.

I still have no idea what to do with the master bedroom and since another of the hallway walls backs into it, I need to paint that also before I put it up. I'll be thinking on that while I work on the 2nd bedroom. The master bedroom also needs some cleanup, patching, and sanding, so there's plenty of time.

Both rooms will get a fireplace...in fact, EVERY room on the 1st and 2nd floors will have a fireplace and I hope to have some on 3rd floor, though they could end up being wood burning stoves.

While I'm working on the 2nd floor, I have to think ahead to the 3rd floor. I hear there's lots of "iffie's" and confusing concerns up there and I need to keep them in mind while I'm in the floor below.

All the above work will take several days and I don't know if I'll write about them or not on a daily basis. "We'll see" ( I hate those words ). Until I know more...............................

The 2nd Floor Hallway

This is a shot of the bay window in the 2nd floor hallway. It's not finished, no trim or anything, and it's just sitting there, not glued it. It's supposed to be left removable; I'm considering making it permanent. That decision is down the road.

The inside of the bay is painted the same "Expressions" blue as the walls. The wooden trim pieces on the bottom are punched out pieces from the railing and will carry the design in the staircase through the hall. There will be a cushion there for comfort.

I did have the ceiling/3rd story floor ready, but my cat, Aimee, used it as a scratching post and ruined the ceiling. Yes, she's still alive, but I haven't seen her close to me for a while. She knows she's in trouble. I've decided, instead of trying the paintable paper again that I'd just spray it with a textured paint and that's complete. In doing do, some of the paint got underneath and damaged the completed 3rd story floor. BIG SIGH HERE. So, I cleaned it off with denatured alcohol, added another coat of the Cabernet stain, and 2 more coats of the varnish mix..50/50 denatured alcohol/Bullseye shellac. So, keep laughing, some of the stain seeped through to the ceiling side and I'll have to touch that up...actually, that doesn't bother me, since I'm going to section the ceiling into the room sizes, each having a complimentary color ceiling for that particular room. Flip, Flop, what a lot of work.

That's where I sit and will stay until tomorrow or maybe even until Monday to be positive the varnish is dried solid and nothing else nasty happens. I think I'd break down and cry if one more thing happens to the piece of wood.

It gives me time to come up with color ideas for the 2 bedrooms off this hallway...I have no idea what I want and I should decide soon, if I'm going to do the ceiling. I hate painting upside down.

Until my mind's made up, the door to the room will be kept closed...no cats allowed.

Done In The Dining Room...Finally

Oh, this room took so very long..I am glad it's done!!!! The window trim in the bay was near impossible to attach and I'm not all that happy with the job. I hope draperies will cover what makes me mad. I had to use a mirror to get the trim in and that can be so confusing. Left is right and right was tough. I will be putting either a cushion there to sit on or using it for plants.

The back door is not glued in yet. There's work to be done on the exterior around there, plus I want to put in a stained glass instead of just plain glass. The fireplace is one that came with the kit with a few additions to it.

After all the time spent in here, I'm at a loss of words to say now. Just tired, I guess. I should have more to say, but am ending this here for today.

Next, the hallway on the second floor, but it'll be a few days before I pick up where I left off. I have other things to do and, honestly, just need to get out of the house for a while. I'll go back in on the weekend.

Dining Room recap

I know, I said there'd be photos, but the paint's not dry on the trim and I can't glue it wet. I'm working on the trim in the Dining room...baseboard and windows. I'm also diddling around with the stupid back door.

You know, I didn't like the original door, so I bashed the wall to allow for a Houseworks door, which does fit, but the door drags. I'd also added the thin mahogony veneer on that beautiful floor and I need to sand the bottom of the door until it stops dragging. Sand a little, place it in the spot, open the door, say something rude, take it out, sand a little, put it in, open the door, say something rude, on and on. I haven't got it right yet, but it'll be done before bedtime.

I also have a snafu with the "crown moulding". I used a 1" fabric trim, which overlaps where the top of the window trim and bay window trim are and I have to whittle them down to fit in and look nice. It'll work, it'll just take some fussing.

This is the aggravating part of building this beauty...having to tweak things until it works, whether it's bashed or not. You can't get too aggressive with it or it'll be all wrong; it just takes time and....I begin to hate this word...patience.... a virtue not very high up on my ladder. It's such a good feeling when a thing works, but getting there is not always the fun part. Yeah, yeah, memories are made of this, I know, but it just is so time consuming.

The tweaking is where people who don't "mini" don't get it. Too many think that you just glue it on and there you go, but it's more often than not a long process until it's right. So, until tomorrow, when I can just glue it on and there you go..............................

After The Punch and a Touch of Excitement

The many, many pieces of parts that I punched yesterday are now sorted in plastic baggies, waiting for their turn in the house. Would you believe I have 4 more pieces of plywood to punch and will work on those later this evening. ( There are 39 total, plus the 4 acrylic pages) I ran out of patience and baggies yesterday and had to go buy more. Found the baggies, but couldn't find what aisle the patience was on.

I did buy one of those cabinets from Michael's at the garage sale. I don't know what I'll do with it. It's more appropriate for a kitchen, so I may just bash it for parts to something. And I bought a few knick knacks with plans to send them to some friends, but nothing more in the mini line.

But, EXCITEMENT happened. When I asked the lady having the garage sale about the dollhouse, I was disappointed that the house had gone to an "early bird". She told me about another lady who was interested in having a show of miniatures. Oh, I was thrilled, since I have looked and looked for someone in town that does miniatures and have found no one. She gave me the lady's name and I called her when I got home. She told me there IS a group of ladies in some semblance of a miniaturist's club here in Grand Junction and will get one of the ladies to call me. And, she was serious about a show and I offered to help...a place to have it is the problem. I know nothing about organizing one, but I know of a small shopping center with empty stalls that may allow such an event. Tomorrow, I'm going to try and find some places that would be practical. I'm so excited about it, I could pop!!!

I have no one to talk mini to except for you wonderful people on line, but we all know that face to face can have more to it and I look forward to having "play dates" with people here in Grand Junction. I feel like I may be walking into a new world.

Today on my Garfield, I haven't done very much. I painted the window cutout section and glued on the acrylic to the windows in the Dining room. After the Denver/Jacksonville football game, I'll work on the trim pieces for the windows and baseboard. I'm not sure if I'll paint them or use the Cabernet stain. I'm leaning towards the paint, but will hold up examples of each and ponder about it before I take a glue brush to it.

It's getting colder ( freeze warning for tonight ) and the arthritis is digging in...I can only work short times at the Garfield before it starts to bother me, my back and right sided joints especially. This condition will never go away, darn it, and I never did find what aisle the patience was on...could be a long winter.

Tomorrow, I promise some photos...it's been a while and it's time to show and not just tell.

One More Session of Punch

Would you believe I STILL have some pieces to punch out??? Well, they're going to get it today...I need the room. These final pieces are of the roof, the porch, and the millions of trim pieces for the porch and roof. I am keeping count of the pieces...at the end of the building, I'll tell you how many pieces...I'm thinking close to 7oo. Anyone else out there know? Mine will have many not used..remember I had to order extra plywood sheets since some were missing, so there'll be some pieces floating around that'll end up in my scrap wood bucket. Once I get them punched, I'll do a simple sand, just to rid them of the nasty splinters, and then put them in labeled bags.

Besides doing the punch, I'm painting the interior/exterior of the 2nd floor hall bay. I've changed my mind about leaving the bay removable. I don't like the look of the seams where it meets the house, so I'll end up gluing it to the house and use the French doors at the balcony for access. It's not like I'm moving big pieces of furniture in the hallway. I will want to get whatever window treatment I choose in place before I do the final gluing. I'm also following the plans and having a window seat there for my lady and the cat to sit and read a book.

There is, of course, a little roof that goes on this bay window, but I'm going to wait until it's attached to the house and the final coat of paint before I install it. My hopes are to have siding on the house, but I've not made that final decision yet, so those pieces will go in a bag labeled "Still to do".

Sometimes, I make great plans of what I'm going to do on a day...I even write it down do I'll have the right order. I get started, do a little, and end up just sitting there looking at the house or room and make new plans, move things around, try out a piece of furniture, or, lazily, just stare at it, doing nothing. I've had a lot of those days lately, sitting there, fantasizing what I'm wanting, or even making up a little story about it.( I keep saying I'm going to write that little story down, but I never do. My friend, Kim, has done that and she's inspired me some, but not to the point where I've put it to paper.) Other days, I can just rip it out and get more work done than I ever imagined.

I found another dollhouse ad in "garage sales" today and am going there...NOT for another house, but in hopes of neat stuff to put in the Garfield. A couple other errands and then it's punching time!!!

See ya later, alligator

Bits and Pieces plus the Bay

I went to the new Habitat For Humanity store here in Grand Junction. It's a big improvement from the dive they used to have. I found an old bottle of stinky perfume that I threw away, but kept the cap. It'll make a great ceiling lamp fixture for someplece. I haven't decided yet, just put it in the box of things I'm going to use sometime.

I had ordered the laser cut room dividers from Miniatures.com. Oh, I loved them so!!! but could find no place to put them, so I returned them in exchange for some more French doors, some doorknobs...the Opryland knobs...and a few other things.

I've got the bay for the 2nd floor hall complete and sanded the edges well and spackled the seams so they won't show. Oh, how I love spackling stuff!!!! It should be dry in the morning and I'll sand and paint the inside and out.

My other time spent with the house today was housekeeping. It gets so dusty and I'm trying to keep it and me neat. Easier said than done. That's it for today.

My garden looks good, but I still have good planting time, so I divided some more plants and plan on doing more. It's hard to devide my time between all the things I love to do.

The Hallway Bay

I'm putting the puzzle of the bay window piece by piece in the hallway.This is supposed to be a removable assembly, in order to easily access the hall area. We'll see if that proves practical or not when it's finished.



I had previously sanded all the parts to this-10 not counting the windows. I had to square up the tabs some to assure a tight fit; no big deal. Then I started gluing the pieces to their designated spots and used masking tape for keeping them together. And, so I wait, and wait, and wait. ( In the meantime, I'm writing this and printing off some of the photos on my camera's disc to put into my scrapbook, then deleting from the disc. I still have then saved in my Kodak program online. )

This is a photo of the hallway so far..it's a little dark, but I think it's just the lighting in the room and I didn't use a flash.I think it's going to be real nice when it's all done. Lots to go, but making headway with great excitement. Building this house makes me so happy.

Still In The Hallway

I'll have some photos tomorrow of what I've done today, but I need to get new batteries first. Sorry. I have the 4 walls painted the blue...so nice and clean looking...and I cleaned up the corners at the tabs to make sure everything fit snugly. I measured and cut the wallpaper and got it up on 2 of the walls. I can't do anything more on the walls until I get the ceiling put in, as it holds up the 2 inner walls.

The doors and trim have been stained and, tomorrow, I'll work on the transom windows. That's about it for the day. I had several things to keep me away from the work on the house today, darn it. I'm loving the ideas I have in my head and can't wait to see them working.

Sorry there's not much more to entertain you today. I should be able to get more done later.

The Second Floor Hallway

This hallway really started several "chapters" ago with "Walls, Doors, and Walls"..parts 1 and 2. I fought with trimming the ceiling, the doors, the walls, and even the staircase getting everything to fit. It's all been in the dry fit stage while I did the library. Today, I took all the doors, walls, and ceiling out and what you see here is the area with a newspaper drop cloth, taped to the floors.

I'm sure you remember me sweating over my paint and ( printie ) wallpaper and I've made my choices with the wallpaper I showed you and the darker blue paint. I've sealed the wood with a light coat of Bullseye spray shellac and applied the first coat of paint to the 4 walls. It did bring out the grain of the wood some, so I sanded it smooth, painted again, and sanded one more time. I've since done 2 more coats, a total of 4 coats of paint and it looks good enough to move on to putting on the wallpaper. ( I'll start that tomorrow.)

The walls are about 8 1/2" high, so I'll put the paper on the bottom of the wall going up about 4 1/2" high. Where the walls and paper meet, I'm adding a 1/2" stained flat strip of wood. Nothing fancy. Where the opening of the stairwell is......1st floor ceiling meeting the 2nd story floor, I'll add stained corner guard, which will cover up the confused look of the 2 surfaces, giving it a nice clean cut look.

Once I'm finished with all that, I'll stain the doors and make the transom windows that will go over each door, then I'll work on the ceiling. ( I'm waiting on an angel friend to send me some paintable wallpaper to be able to finish the ceiling ) I want to add some sort of design to each of the transom windows for a crafted look.

This hallway has both a balcony with French doors and a bay window, which can be made to be removable for easier access. I'm going to leave it removable, unless it looks badly and will then glue it. I need to see how it'll look.

I've been looking forward to doing this area. I think it'll have a delightful effect on the center of the house since I'm carrying the same blue ( but with different shades ) up the center of the house.

Back To Work On The Garfield

Before I tell you about my work on the house, I want to tell you about 2 yard sales I went to on Saturday. The first advertised dollhouses and there were 3...1 was like a fort for the backyard, the second for a Barbie, and the 3rd, made from plans by the child's Daddy, was a huge 8? room house with stairs and balconies, hallways and doors. "Daddy" did a great job, but it stopped there. No decorations were done except for one room done in life size wallpaper, overwhelming the room with huge polka dots. They were asking only $30 and, if I'd have had the room in the birdhouse I live in, I'd have scarfed it up in a heartbeat. It could have become a true beauty. It reminded me of my very first house built 30 years ago from plans, The Dogwood Plantation. Miss Scarlet would have been happy there. I bought some of it's furniture, well beaten, colored on with crayons, hardware missing, and some without legs. They can all be easily fixed according to my imagination. For $5, I got a high head/foot board brass bed, 2 upholstered sofas, 4 upholstered chairs, 2 chests of drawers, 1 dresser with mirror, and an end table. With my purchase, a little girl gave me a free cup of hot chocolate, too. The second yard sale provided another interesting piece for a ceiling medallion...an old brass belt buckle in a circle with flowers and leaves on it. Since flowers and leaves are on the library walls, I'm thinking the medallion will go in there.

Well, I told you about what I did in the garden and I won't repeat myself, though I do have that habit. I didn't completely ignore the garden, working in little bits in the library. When we last were together in the library, I'd had the walls covered with blue rosed fabric ( tan background ). I'd turned the closets into bookcases on both sides of the French doors, and was creating a small staircase and landing. The plans called for 2 dinky steps to come from the room in front of the library down into the room. It seemed rather meek and ugly, not to mention unsafe with no railing. ( No offense, Greenleaf ) I wanted something with more style so I built a small landing, 2 1/2' X 3 1/2", with 2 steps down on the side. The wall to the landing and the spindles are painted the same linen color with the floor, banister, and steps stained in Cabernet. I was wanting a fireplace on that wall to share the chimney, but it was too crowed, so I put the chimney across the room and will just create a new chimney. These houses were built oddly with chimneys everywhere anyway.

I get all confused with placing the pictures. I wish Sumaiya would come to Colorado and teach me. Anyway, the 2 black and white photos are what Greenleaf wanted the room to look like..see the dinky steps. The other photo is what I've made it look like. The other photos came out too dark, but at least I got one good one in there. There green/white curtains are NOT in the dollhouse, but on my windows in my room. I don't know where the purplish glow comes from; perhaps a poltergeist is in there. To the left of the French doors is where the niche is that's so very difficult to get my hand into and decorate. It's about 2" wide in there. Can't even turn my hand over. Holding molding was a pickle. Check out that belt buckle ceiling medallion!!!

Trimming this room was a real pain in it, especially in the far deep corner. I'm afraid the pieces don't fit perfectly, but they were installed using no eyes, just hands. No way could I put the trim piece in there and look at the same time. The only way I can see them is if I peek into the window across the room from them AFTER I did the work. ( Another Greenleaf design quirk )

Note to Greenleaf-please don't consider these things I call "quirks" as bad things. These old Victorians were full of quirks, so, none of them do I consider bad quirks, except for the fireplace on the stairwell. I'll never understand where you thought the smoke would go.

The crown moulding was another awkward piece to do. I used plain flat trim instead of actual moulding, because the door casing took up some of the crown room and I couldn't figure out anything else that would work. Too small for a transom, a decorative panel would have looked silly, so I just used what would work. Even using the easiest piece of wood, with no need for proper edges, just flat against each other, it was hard to do since I couldn't watch what I was doing, even with a mirror. I was in more positions than a magician.

I think the room has turned out beautifully, with the feeling hat I wanted. I bought some cheap books for the heck of it to test the look, but plan on making some in the future with highbrow literary tastes. I am so doggoned proud of this room and am fighting off the urges to rummage around in my boxes of furniture and put some in there. No, now, don't even try to talk me in to it. I'm going to wait a long time till it's done. I don't want it to be in the way and maybe mess something up.

I will try to get better photos to you though.

The Past Week Off

My week off from the dollhouse and working in the garden has come to an end. Tomorrow, I get back into high gear in the Garfield. It's been pretty good timing, too. We're starting to get rain and that would keep me inside anyway.

I've got a lot of work done out there..lots of daffodils planted, some pentstemon, a butterfly bush, transplanted some things, cleaned out the garden shed, threw down dirt into the stepping stone path, cleaned all the hummer feeders, scrubbed the garden ornaments, cleaned and oiled my tools, blah,blah, blah.

I haven't been completely idle with the dollhouse and have some nice things to show you tomorrow when I start back "officially". I'm rather proud of myself.

My sincerest sympathies to Wanna, who lost her sister, and Judy, who lost her Zebadiah, her 13 yr old friendly? feline. Both losses are tremendous to your hearts and I know the pain you must feel. I will not tell you how it will get easier, but I will say I know they still love you and they never go away. Bless your hearts.

The aspens are yellow yellow against the dark green of the pines. Colorado is beautiful this time of year and I'm going out for a drive in it, even in the sprinkling rain. Cedarfest is up the mountain and I plan on buying some apples.

Tomorrow, I'll be back at home in The Garfield.