Saturday, August 23, 2008

The Garfield Manor's Dining Room

Sorry...no photo today, but there's not much to see at this point. It's still in my mini-brain. After some thought on how to approach the Dining Room and putting a plan of action down on paper, subject to change, I'm sure, I've begun work on the Dining Room. In the plans, Greenleaf labeled this the Kitchen, but I prefer to ignore a Kitchen in this house, placing it in an unseen area, and am making this a Dining Room. It has an odd shape, just as the Parlor did, and will need to be decorated as it is built. There's an angle and small area in a corner that will be tough to get to if I put up all the walls first. I dislike the door provided and have purchased another with a window and transom above it that does not fit in the space provided.....I WAS aware of that at the time of purchase. I'll be playing with that wall to make it work.

But first, I'm tackling the floor. Initially, I sanded and stained the base flooring provided to see what it would look like and I hated it, which I kind of suspected I would, so went out and bought a sheet of 1/8" maghogny veneer. After looking at the grain, I felt it was too large to look real in the house, so I flipped it over to a smaller grain look. I made a pattern of the odd shaped floor, traced it on to the veneer, and cut her out. I've sanded it down to a fine smooth feel, dry fitted to the base and walls and am ready to stain it today. The dry fit caused some trimming to be done, especially at the tower area, needing the slots of the wall it slips into to be enlarged somewhat. It'll work and I am excited all over again!!!!

Tomorrow, probably, after I get the floor stained and glued down, I'll start back with the photos, making sure you can see the odd angles I have to play with in this room. I have so many ideas for this Dining Room and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you.