Wallpaper, Part II

Couldn't resist laying the marble floor down, now that it is dry.  Hope the floor is not too shiney --maybe I'll put a coat or two with a matte finish.  The Sue Cook stair brackets are just temporarily attached with wax (I love that stuff)! 

I finished the wainscot panels on either side of the mantle.  Of course there will be a skirting board as well as a chair rail all around.

I can't decide how to finish the stair landing.  Should it be marble? The front of the landing is problematic, too.  Should I add a bull-nose molding to the upper edge, or continue the skirting across it?  Decisions, decisions... I thought I'd finish the door in a dark walnut stain.

Thomas Jefferson, whose architecture inspired Merriman Park, would surely not approve of my staircase!  While he was stationed in France as American Ambassador, the French were building mansion houses in Paris with 'suppressed' staircases --they were tucked discreetly into small alcoves.  Even the grandest townhouses featured stairs crammed into the tiniest possible space.  'Grand' staircases briefly fell out of fashion and were considered a waste of space and expense.  Jefferson took that concept home and utilized it in most of his subsequent work.  So I originally planned on not showing the stair at all...

 

I'm glad I changed my mind!  (With apologies to Thomas Jefferson)!  I'm afraid the old boy would spin in his grave if I used the wrought iron balustrade from Sue Cook --but whatevs, T.J.!

 

Papering the Entrance Hall

What a day!  I started papering this morning.  Don't laugh, but after all the fuss I made about my wallpaper pattern being too large, and trying to shrink it down on a photocopier, I decided to use it as is!  Mainly because fellow artist, Simon Williams of Miniature Enthusiast fame , used the same paper in one of his gorgeous settings and it made me realize that the pattern wasn't too large after all!

I won't bore you with the details of wallpapering, but I will highly recommend using 3-M Spray Adhesive as a fixative for your paper.  This product works perfectly for wallpapering dollhouses with absolutely no bubbles or wrinkles.  The only downside is the spray flying everywhere, but fortunately, the weather turned and I was able to do most of the spraying out-of-doors.

I realized that I only had three sheets of wallpaper so no mistakes!  There are so many moldings and pillars and things, so I did not have to worry too much about matching the pattern up.  So that made it easier.

I use the 3-M spray a lot at work.  After spraying your surfaces, just place the paper on the wall.  If it doesn't go up right the first time, just peel it off and try again.  I used a credit card to burnish the paper to the wall.  (More about that, later)...

I bought this post card, now part of the over-mantle, at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where I saw an exhibition of  Venetian art of the Renaissance. 

This particular piece is Titian.  I wonder if there is anything I can do to the print to make it look more like an oil painting?  Is there some sort of miniature crackle varnish?

After applying the wallpaper I remembered I needed to pick up some lacquer to seal the new marble floor.  My dogs, Jack & Edie, also needed a walk, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and take the pups on a stroll to Minnehaha Falls Hardware Store.  But when I got to the counter to pay for the lacquer, I realized I had left my credit card on the Entrance Hall floor of Merriman Park, because I was using it to burnish the paper to the walls!  Duh!  Pardon my blooper!

After that minor drama, I started on the wainscot.  Here's how I did it:  I had already purchased panels in three sizes from Labre.  I cut illustration board to the height of the wainscot --in my case 2 3/4 inches.  (I prefer the wainscot lower than three feet unless the room is palatially-sized). Next, I worked out where the panels would go and drew them on the illustration board.

Then I cut out the rectangles with a sharp knife.  It's best to go a little inside the penciled line --you want the panel to fit tightly.  Now it's just a matter of popping in the panels...

Any cracks can, of course, be filled later.  I sliced 'joints' to mimic stiles on the wainscot panels, but you probably can't make them out in the photo.

Well, that's about it for today...The floor is still tacky from the lacquer so I can't put it all together yet!  I am now enjoying a martini, having a long look at my progress, and thinking about tomorrow's agenda.  

Stairway Sneak Peek!

Spurred on by the success of the Entrance Hall floor, I was inspired to begin working on the double, Palladian staircase!

Miniaturist extraordinaire Giac, over at English Manor Dollhouse, has an awesome tutorial posted on his blog on how to build a staircase from scratch, so I won't go into details here.  His method of using wood glue with a drop or two of superglue makes clamping unnecessary.  Just hold for a second, and...

              Presto!  One side done.... and now on to the other side!

                                   Just glue it...set it....

                                    And forget it!

The stair is set behind this Palladian screen.  But it's too early to install this component.  The pillars are from Labre.

These stair brackets from Sue Cook Miniatures will finish off the stairway...I started to glue them on but decided to wait until I can get the wallpaper printed up.

Here's the stair set against the back wall.  Now it won't topple over anymore when I bump the house!  Now I can't decide what sort of balustrade the stair should have,  wood or...

                  Wrought iron?  What do you think? 

It feels great to have gotten some things done...I have the entire week off work so hopefully there will be more progress to report in the very near future!

Marble Floor

I woke up this morning determined to start the Entrance Hall floor, which is to be black and white marble tiles laid in a checkered pattern on the diagonal.  A border of black marble will outline the space for a finished look.  I've already written before about how coo-coo I am for this type of floor treatment.  I put in an old-fashioned black and white checkered linoleum floor in my 'real life' kitchen, but alas! I have never been able to afford the 'real deal,' though a marble floor in my humble 1908 bungalow would look rather silly, I'm afraid...Oh, well at least I can live vicariously through the much grander rooms of Merriman Park!

My kitchen table and work station!

 After reading Giac from English Manor Dollhouse's excellent tutorial on creating a marble tile floor, I was 'ret to go!' as the children used to say.  First, I cut a piece of illustration board to fit the room. Then, I penciled in the outline of the border.  I added some 'guide lines' on the illustration board that I could follow in order to keep the pattern lined up.

I had already purchased some marbleized paper for my floor, so I was able to skip Giac's step of making them from scratch.  This was sheer laziness on my part because I used to be one of those people who 'faux-finished' every and I mean every surface I could get my sea-sponge on!  For real.  Ugh!

Guess that's why I opted to buy the papers --because I couldn't bring myself to go down the faux path again!

But I digress.

Anyway, then I carefully measured out and used a sharp blade to cut out all the individual tiles. Mine are one inch square.  This is probably the most difficult part.  Because no matter how hard you try, no matter how anal-retentive you are, your tiles are not going to all be the exact, same size.  (And if yours are, I hate you)!

Next, I started gluing down the tiles.  Start in the center of the room as you would in 'real life' and work your way towards the outer perimeter.

Find the center of your room by using a straight-edge from corner-to-corner and draw an X in the middle.  There's your 'starting point.'  This technique works as well on ceilings to mark chandelier placement.

The advantage to using the marbled papers as opposed to tiles cut from the thicker illustration board, as Giac did so brilliantly in his Victorian, is that you can cheat a little and overlap the tiles a little if you need to.  Of course that also means I won't be able to 'grout' the tiles as he did.

This marbled paper has a shiny finish to simulate the real thing.

Just be patient and keep going!  Use a sharp blade and a straight edge to trim across the line for the border.

I cut the border pieces two inches long by 1/2 inch and mitered at all corners.

Instead of trimming the marbled paper tiles across the front of the room, I folded them over the edge of the illustration board and glued them to the underside.

Before you know it, all the tiles are laid!  I am now going to put several coats of a clear finish over the entire floor and then score the joints with a sharp knife.  I'm really pleased with the way it's turning out and am inspired to move right along on to the stairway and walls.

Tuesday Inspiration: New Blogs

Every now and then I run across a new blog written by a fellow miniaturist that truly inspires me.  This week I came across not one, but two exceptional blogs that I think you, dear Reader, should check out! 

English Manor Dollhouse
http://englishmanordollhouse.blogspot.com/

and:

Miniature Enthusiast
http://miniatureenthusiast.blogspot.com/

English Manor Dollhouse is a work in progress which will astound you not only in its sheer size --over eight feet long!-- but in the magnificence of its splendid interiors.  If you are a connoisseur of all things High Victorian, before clicking on the link, do prepare to plotz!  Patterned marble floors, wood parquet,  elaborate paneled walls, intricately carved fireplaces --this imposing mansion has it all-- in spades!  Giac, the incredible talent behind this exceptional work of art, is lavish in his tutorials.  So you not only get to view the finished product, but also get complete, step-by-step instructions on how to do it! 

What can I possibly say about Miniature Enthusiast that doesn't already speak for itself?  If your taste trends toward the superlative elegance of the English Regency --as does mine-- you will adore artist Simon Williams' interiors,  gorgeously rendered in 1:12" scale.  Simon and I must be kindred souls; both of us are coo-coo for Sue Cook, whose architectural components we favor. And Simon can take those components and style them into period settings of exquisite, incomparable beauty.  I want all of his rooms in Merriman Park!  And wait till you see what he is working on next!

OK, that's enough gushing for one day...

Both of these artists have inspired me to get going on the interiors of my own (far more humble) Merriman Park.  Dollhouse Weather is neigh!  The night-time temperatures are plummeting here in Minnesota --there will be frost on the pumpkins tonight or tomorrow.

And I have the whole of next week off from work! 

LED Light Update

Could this light be any more obnoxious?

Remember how I have been struggling with the LED carriage lamps I purchased to flank the front door of Merriman Park?  I really hate the garish quality of the light they cast.  And then my kooky, drunkard of a neighbor passed out one night and crushed one of them! 

Well, while trolling the internet miniature shops the other day I found LED carriage lamps that emit an 'amber glow!'   I am so excited!  They are available at Minimum World in England.  I have ordered from them in the past and they come highly recommended.  Merriman Park's top story comes practically exclusively from Minimum World: the lead flashing, urns, pedestals and balustrade were all purchased there.

Can't wait until the new lamps arrive!

September has brought a rush of cooler air to these parts...it drops down into the 50s at night which any Minnesotan will tell you is perfect sleeping weather.  I've actually had to wear a light jacket to work in the morning (even though the daytime temps bounce nicely back into the 70s).  All my way of saying that Dollhouse Weather is fast approaching, and I'll be getting back to work on Merriman Park, and also on this neglected blog!

La Petite Maison

In the far corner of my backyard I built, some years ago, a tiny garden shed.   Only about eight feet square, my newly-constructed shed incorporated some vintage elements into its design: the door (with its antique copper-finished knob & escutcheon) and windows came from a salvage yard; the old tin ceiling inside came from an antiques shop.  Even the flooring was re-purposed; brought home after being used in one of my window vignettes  from the Department Store where I work in Display.

My friend Kari, who has a perfectly magnificent garden she put in mostly all by herself, once had a visitor from France, who spent the greater part of a Summer at her house.  He created a make-shift office for himself in Kari's backyard shed, and referred to it as la petite maison, which sounds so much nicer than just plain old 'shed,' don't you think?  Oh, those French...

After Kari told me that story, my own La Petite Maison got its name and has never been called anything else, ever since.

From out-house to La Petite Maison: what a difference a century makes!

I think that La Petite Maison is built on the original site of my homes backyard out-house!  Yes, out-house.  My house, The Lilacs, was constructed in 1908 and lots of homes did not have indoor plumbing at that time.  La Petite Maison is probably not that much larger than the original privy it replaced.

The garage (to the left in the photo, above) was built in the 1980's and the siding already needs replacing.  (Actually, it needed replacing when the house was purchased in 1993.  "I just haven't gotten around to that, yet," as the Bouvier ladies say amidst the crumbling decay of Grey Gardens.  I plan on doing the job myself (eventually)! and am going to give it a 'board & baton' treatment as I did with La Petite Maison.  There's perfectly no reason why I couldn't do the job tomorrow, if only I had the money to do it!

Let's have a peek inside, shall we?

  The vintage copper-finished door knob and  escutcheon match the window box.

    

One of a pair of frogs on painted, wooden sconces flank the door.

Someday, I am going to redecorate the interior of La Petite Maison.  I say this absolutely every year and absolutely every year goes by without a change.  This year, the key to La Petite Maison was lost, with my bike locked inside from last Winter!  I just found a copy of the key a week ago!  You couldn't see a thing for the cobwebs...

La Petite Maison is enchanting, lit at night by candlelight.  At the right corner of the room you can see evidence of a near catastrophe! Oops!

  
The built-in bench is upholstered and is long enough to stretch out on and read the Sunday paper (or have a snooze)!  The decor is a little (OK a lot) tired, but it's hard having champagne taste on a beer budget...

I suppose if I wait long enough, this decor will someday come back into fashion, lol!

The antique, framed botanical prints are from a set of twelve I picked up when the Lingerie Department dressing rooms were remodeled at the Department Store where I work.

A zinc nut-cracker from Sur la Table guards a book.

 Grab a book and plop down on the bench.  Would you like an iced tea, or anything?

The perfect book to keep inside a little house!

Lot's of great  doll house inspiration in this book!

My cousin, Timothy, gave me this book & it's one of my favorites.

Sometimes when you're relaxing in La Petite Maison, Edie the Sheltie or her brother, Blackjack, will pop their head in for a visit.

My brother has his own special nick-name for La Petite Maison.  He refers to it as Martha Stewart's Jail Cell! But rest assured there are no bars on the windows!

Looking out the window from La Petite Maison to the so-called, 'big' house, 'The Lilacs.'  

       
La Petite Maison is not strictly a catch-all for all my throw-away tchotchkes.  On the contrary, it is also a working garden shed. And here is the evidence:

'Acorn Brackets' from Restoration Hardware hold garden implements.

Hope you enjoyed your visit to La Petite Maison!  It's not all that much larger than a doll house, so why not build one for yourself in your own backyard?

 You can just barely make out the verdigris-copper weather vane at the roof's apex against its backdrop of  black-walnut leaves.