It's starting to look quite pretty now

Well I've realized that people aren't as interested in this little half scale house as they are in my quarter scale ones.  Or perhaps it's just the way I'm doing this little half scale house?  Anyway, for the few people who do seem to be interested I'll continue posting.  And it is a good motivation for me anyway to keep going so that I have something to show you.

I'm really happy to have reached the stage where I can get stuck into the interior decoration. Thursday a week ago I wallpapered the nursery.  This is a sweet paper called 'Crayon' with soft lines in pink, blue and yellow.

I also re-papered the living room - I just knew I wouldn't be able to live with that glue mark on the wall!  I'm much happier now.  And it makes such a difference to have the trim on the arch from the foyer and the bay window.  This pretty paper is called 'Conservatory'.

You might be able to see in the photo above that I did the hearths with some latex bricks, glued on with Weldbond.  It took a long time to dry properly but when it was dry I trimmed them to fit into their respective fireplace openings.  Peter and I drilled holes in the hearths and finally fed the wires down through the chimney - Pete worked out how to get them down past the areas that were giving me problems.   The fireplace fronts arrived later that day which was exciting.  I painted them but I'm not happy with the effect but it has become obvious that the hearths are in fact too narrow once the fronts are on.  So now there is some alteration to be done, after all that work.

I also put cladding on the tower, so it looks much better now.
On Thursday night I spent time 'planting' the flowers I had made whilst away for our Anniversary break. Here are the pink geraniums in their hanging basket.

And here are some of the carnations.  I have some more to make up in various shades of lighter pink.  They will all be mixed together in a bed.  On the outside of the bed will be a row of smaller plants - probably little blue Felicia daisies.

On Friday
More wallpapering was on the agenda but in the end I only got the main bedroom done.  This is a Lydia Pickett paper, called Cottage Rose.

Most of the time available was spent on the wall into the tower room, putting wood filler on the wall in the girl's room and tidying up messy bits in the second (attic) floor foyer.  When it was dry and sanded I was able to get a coat of white on it all.

More excitement on Friday when a huge box arrived from Homes In Miniature, a UK store that specializes in 1:24th scale furniture.  I only ordered the goods a week ago so am very pleased at the speed with which they arrived.  The box held a selection of handmade hardwood bedroom furniture, tables, chests and a Bespaq lounge suite as well as lighting and a stair kit.  A second box from Susan Karatjas of sdk miniatures also arrived.  This held more flower kits and lots more furniture kits.

I started painting the stairs, balusters and spindles. I will be pleased to re-paper the 1st and 2nd floor hallways and put the staircase in.  And guess what?  I've ordered more spindles and balusters - I think I'll be butchering the staircase in the foyer too and changing the ones there!  Never one to do things the easy way.

Saturday night
I fiddled with the girls' room - again!  Made the rear wall taller which of course makes the room a bit smaller.    I also made the boy's rear wall  (right bedroom) join up with the extended part of the roof.  But I wasn't happy with that so ripped out the part I had glued into the roof on Sunday morning.  Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I spent helping Nathan with his toy shop.  But on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings I made up some of the furniture kits from sdk miniatures.

For the girl's room I made up this set of furniture, though I don't know whether it will be used in this house - I have also ordered a set of white ready-made bedroom furniture.  The door will probably be glued slightly open so that you can see some clothing inside, so I haven't glued it on yet.  I haven't finished painting the drawers or filling them so they aren't pushed in completely either.

One set for the boy's room though it won't used in this house.  The room is very small for this furniture and even if I swapped the girl's and boy's rooms it would still be too close a fit.  I also have a second set of bedroom furniture for the boy's room that is a possibility though I haven't made it up yet.

On Wednesday this week I made the wall higher in the boy's room, and adjusted the side wall to fit.  The room is even smaller now but I'm happier with its appearance from the opposite (hallway) side.

With all this messing around I've used up the wallpaper I bought for the hallway including the extra couple of sheets.  I've ordered some more and hopefully it will come in the next week or so.

Each change, addition of short walls against sloping ceilings, adjustments in the attic 'foyer' area etc has of course involved filling with wood filler, sanding and often filling again.  Then sanding, painting with a couple of coats of white undercoat etc.

The staircase took a surprising length of time to adjust the length to the size for this house, paint the staircase, treads, spindles, railings, and newel posts.  It looks nice assembled but still needs the railing length adjusted and the newel posts added.  I also made two sets lots of spindles and railings to make the opening safe on the landing so that my mini people won't fall and break their necks.

Thursday
This Thursday was a good productive day.  I tiled the kitchen floor,and changed the light to a different shade.  I'm keeping the round globe shades for the bedrooms if I can install them on the sloping ceiling by putting them on a wedge or something without them looking odd..

The bathroom is now tiled on both the floor and walls as well, and the light installed there too.  The walls are white and the floor is grey with a touch of blue.

The wallpaper is up in the dining room - I love this design.  I printed it out from a book of printable wallpapers I bought.  The blue isn't as dark as this.  No matter what I do I can't get it to photograph the right colour.

Friday
The spare room is now also wallpapered. I took the border off the top of the paper and put it across the top of the straight wall.  Otherwise it wouldn't be seen with the roof on.

And the tower room is partly done as well.  I need to install the sconce light on the wall before I can do the final wall.  This is also a printable wallpaper.

The girl's room is done in two papers, both of them quarter scale papers from Robin Betterley.  The lower part is done in 'Sweetie Pie Light Pink Stripe' and the top is done in 'Sweetie Pie Sponged'.  I am looking for something suitable to put as a border along the join.  It looks so pretty!

That just leaves the boy's room, attic hallway and foyer to paper now.  The attic and hallway are full of funny angles and corners and will be very wallpaper hungry.  And of course the 1st floor hallway to re-paper.

Sorry about all the messy bits in the photos.  There wasn't time to pretty everything up beforehand today.  I needed to do some tidying up of my work area and other parts of the house - as much as I could.

I am really looking forward to adding the windows and their frames now.  They really give the rooms a finished look though of course there's still heaps to do - all the wallpaper needs proper trimming up, then there's adding skirting boards, cornices and  fireplaces.

But I couldn't resist putting furniture into the rooms to have a taste of what it will look like.

The lounge room with it's lovely table in the bay window, another table on the side wall, and at the moment a Bespaq sofa and chairs covered in green silk that I bought on eBay.  But I have bought another one also on eBay that suits the tone of the house a bit better - I feel this one is too fancy, much as I love it.

 Then the dining room, where the colour of the furniture is set off so well by the wallpaper.  I will be changing the chair seats eventually.  You can see here how the hearth is too small with the fireplace in situ.

The master bedroom, with some of the handmade hardwood furniture.  It is great quality, much nicer than the ordinary stuff.

This second photo shows the dressing table turned around to see it better.  There isn't room to have it flat against the wall, unfortunately.

The nursery with the furniture in process of painting so I've tried not to push the drawers right in until the knobs are on.  There will be a shelf for toys on the bare wall near the door.  Or maybe I'll put the chest there and shelves where the chest is at present?

The girl's room with the sdk furniture.  The shelf unit is actually a second bedside table that I kit-bashed a little bit, leaving out the drawers and filling in the slot for the middle support piece.  There's still a dressing table to come.  If it is a suitable size it will go where the shelf unit is now, and the shelf unit will go opposite its present position.

In the spare room I've put a single bed and a side table that I took from the living room, both of them are from the handmade range.

I couldn't resist this linen press - it is just gorgeous.  It might fit here in the attic hallway when the roof is on, but I'm not sure.  I hope so.  It will be fun to fill it with delicate linen.

Here it is with the doors open.

And here in the boy's room I have put a half-round table to show you.  Plain but beautifully made.  Not sure where I'll use it, maybe in the 1st floor hallway if it still allows enough room to get past it.

I bought these lovely Bespaq chairs on eBay too, for just a fraction of their normal price.  I am considering using them on the porch.

Another eBay buy at a great price is this Bespaq sofa and 2 chairs, which I might use in the tower room though it's rather too much furniture for such a little space.  I might just get another couple of chairs for this room.

I also bought a lovely hallstand from the handmade hardwood range but forgot to take a photo of it - which is a shame.  I'll have to make sure I do so for next time.  It's rather a pity that it will be hidden away in the foyer.

So there it is, a taste of how it will be furnished.  The rooms are small on the attic level but adequate.
Hope you like it.  Keep tuned!