Lighting Up the Hall

Um, I'm kind of embarrassed because I made such a stink about not being able to get my wall sconces to work earlier this evening.  But Irene from Hambleton Hall held my hand and gave me some terrific advice.  By the way, have you checked out Irene's dollhouse blogs lately?  If you haven't, do yourself a favor and get yourself over there right now.  Well, finish my post first and then go.  OMG, Merriman Park looks like a tar-paper shack next to the Devine Miss Irene's sublime creations.

The bulbs on the sconce on the left side of the fireplace have already burned out!

Oh, yeah!  Got the sconces working, thank-you-very-much.  Aren't they lovely?  Know what advice Irene gave me?  It's really high-tech stuff but I guess you're up for it:  she advised me to 'strip the wire insulation with my fingernail.'

Yup.  That's all it took.  Worked like a charm.

You know, I think I even read that in a dollhouse 'How-To' book  In my defense --I've never done this before!

Boy, do I feel dumb.  Oh, well, I'm pretty--so who cares if I'm an air-head?

Tough Work!

Most people hate certain things like going to the dentist, or the tax man, or even to the grocery store...my own personal Hell is having to go to the Scrapbooking Store.  Ugh!  I am not hating on you if scrapbooking is your hobby, so please! no nasty emails!   I just hate the Scrapbooking Store because it's merchandised by vendor, which is so lame --do scrapbookers really care what "label" their puffy glitter paint is?  Who cares?  It's not like they have Chanel puffy glitter paint, or teddy bear stickers by Lanvin....Wouldn't it make more sense to put all the bridal crap together and all the Halloween crap together?  No, let's merchandise by vendor so we'll have Halloween crap in seventeen different areas! 

It just gives me a nervous break-down walking in there!  Plus, it's located in the same Mall that the Department Store where I work in Display is at.  And I'm off this week, so the last thing I wanted to do this morning was hop the train and head to the Mall. 

But the Entrance Hall of Merriman Park needed a nice ceiling paper so off to the mall I went.

After wandering around aimlessly for what seemed an eternity, I settled on white card with a subtle, embossed pattern.  

Ceiling rose by Sue Cook Miniatures

You might also notice that the lights are hung.  But don't get too excited, most of them aren't working.  I tried. I really did!  I even figured out how to remove the plugs (there were no directions on the packaging).  When I pulled the plugs apart, I could not believe how miniscule the wires are!  Some of them seemed to have lost the 'bare' part of the wire and I couldn't figure out how to strip the casing from the wire --they are so fragile!.  I tried putting them back together anyway but of course, they didn't work. 

Sorry about the glare! 

None of the four wall sconces work.  But I did manage to get the chandelier fired up, believe it or not!  (Thanks Ray)!  Ray suggested I put a little 'junction box' in the floor above to keep some extra wire in case I need to take the fixture down to service.  A 'trap' in the flooring will hide the box.  Worked great!

Not content with the walnut stain on the door!  I'll have to try again on that...

In spite of the disappointment of not being able to get the sconces working, I'm pretty happy.  I think I'm at the point where I can start gluing stuff down permanently.  But I'm debating whether or not I should pick out some of the moldings with gold...and if so, do I use real gold leaf or is gold paint OK?  I'm also a little worried about making the mitered cuts for the cornice --I've done it in 'RL' but never in small scale!  But I'm sure I'll figure it out. 

Martinis coming up!

Painting

Today I managed to prime and paint (first coat, anyway)  all the components that will be white.  Well, it's not exactly a true  white-white --more of a 'clotted-cream,' if you will.  (I read somewhere that they didn't have pure white  "back in the day," as my friend, Thomasina says).  I suppose that would be expected, when our beleaguered ancestors had to mix their paints from cow's milk and lead, and bird droppings  --and God knows what else...

(Speaking of the All-Mighty, thank you, Lord, for spray paint!) 

A chill, North wind was positively howling through the environs of  Minnesota today, which made spray-painting an amusing prospect.  I think I got more paint on my new-ish True Religion jeans than I got on the Entrance Hall components.

So, it's getting down to the actual putting of the room together.  Only thing left, really, is the wiring.  Merriman Park is my first dollhouse and some of the technical aspects of the project are a little shall we say daunting!  I am planning on running the wires through the fireplace chases and through the "attic' & 'basement' spaces and out the back to socket strips.  Ray W. gave me some great advice today in regard to wiring --and sorry, Ray, I didn't realize until now that you were such an eminent figure in the miniature world!  So your interest in my little project is doubly appreciated --and  also humbling.

OK, everyone: I ordered the 'wrought iron' splats from Sue Cook!  Thomas Jefferson would absolutely  plotz, but I can't wait to install them on the staircase of Merriman Park!

I almost forgot --I also made today a fireplace surround from some of the left-over 'marble' paper and some scrap illustration board.  I had to use the white marble as there was no black left.  (But I ordered some more black so I could easily change it out, if needed).  Opinions?

Thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone who has taken the time to comment on this blog and even send me personal emails with your well-appreciated advice and criticism  This project sometimes seems like I bit off more than I can chew but your kind words have compelled me to slog on!

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.