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