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Thursday, February 4, 2021

Natasha's Kitchen

Some of you long time readers know that my obsession with miniatures came sometime at the end of the last century. In secret, I was decorating and furnishing my daughter Natasha's first real dollhouse. I'd drop the kids off at school, rush back home, pull it out of it's hiding spot (under a cloth tarp in the laundry room's crawl space), and get as much accomplished during those school hours as possible. Christmas was coming up fast, and I was so new to every aspect of dollhousing. Wallpaper, trims, flooring, furnishings - what a dream! The house came as a pre-built plywood, two story structure with six rooms and a tiny porch. So much to do! Those short hours passed so quickly, and before I could believe it, it was time to hide it back in the laundry room again. Christmas came, she loved the dollhouse, and the whole family got involved in finishing the rooms and making little things to furnish and decorate with. But what a gift for me, too! I was left obsessed with an amazing and all consuming hobby. The rest, they say, is history...

Not long after Natasha got the dollhouse, she grew out of playing with it. That was the end of a short era for her. Now she's all grown up, 33, and while she likes to look at my projects and marvel at their tiny wonder, she has a busy life and has not been overly excited about miniatures. She's wonderfully encouraging and supportive of my interest, but hadn't shown a desire for her own to play with. Until recently.

There's a magical time in the lives of our adult children when they begin spending their weekends at Home Depot, improving their living spaces and becoming full fledged adults. Her texts now regularly include photos of furniture, design ideas and the style of kitchens she dreams of for her first house. The other thing to know about Tasha (as we call her), is that she is an amazing gourmet cook - something she definitely did not get from me!

Last fall, we started designing an imaginary kitchen for her, saving and comparing ideas and helping her to narrow down and identify her style. Meanwhile, I began to look for the perfect room box in which to create that kitchen for her in 1/12th scale. When I hinted that she may just get a mini kitchen for her birthday in July, she was immensely excited! And that, of course, made me extraordinarily excited! The goal is to give her a mini version of her dream kitchen. One that she can decorate for the seasons with tiny culinary replicas including fruits, produce, decore and wonderful mini cookware. It'll make giving future gifts so much fun! And maybe... She'll even go to shows with me!

Tasha's niche seems to be a little modern, a little rustic, open, not fussy, and with a slight nautical feel.

To house these exciting ideas, I found a unique-to-me room box on eBay. It seemed to have just enough space inside for a well equipped kitchen without being too obtrusive a structure for a new-to-miniatures person. It had a unique gable roof - unusual for a room box, and would be fully enclosed with a polycarbonate front panel that could be removed to play, decorate and clean, if I hinged the front roof panel.



Initial plans for her room box include a number if things she'd really like to have incorporated into her dream kitchen. Like her mother, she is very practical, loves a combination of modern and traditional styles, loves function mostly over form, and appreciates subtlety over crudeness. She wants to be involved in the periphery, making key decisions as I need input, but mostly she wants to be surprised. I've shown her some elements and gotten feedback, but she's got instructions to keep away from my blog!

To be absolutely certain of the layout and sizing, I made graph paper drawings of the space - all three walls and the floor. The back wall, 14" wide, will include a central gas cooktop, built in double ovens, a glass front cabinet and open wooden shelving.



The left side wall, 9" wide, will house the sink, dishwasher and more open shelving. My first challenge, and an affirmation of why I like to take the time to plan spaces out on graph paper, was the window. At first, I thought using a very large, 5-1/2" wide x 5-1/4" high modern looking window would be good. After drawing it in and seeing it with my eyes, I realized it was too large and really dominated the space.





Using a smaller, single window, I was able to enlarge the open shelving a bit and came up with a lower cabinet design I liked better, too. This one centers the sink in the space.





For the right side of the kitchen, I don't have a full wall to work with due to the area required for accessing the double ovens. Here, I decided to incorporate a wet bar, leaving space between the ovens and the wet bar for essential apron storage. Tasha loves aprons, and I am prone to finding really cute ones to give her as random "thinking of you" gifts. It would be fun to try and replicate some of them in the build. The wet bar was one of the elements that I really wanted to get Tasha's input on. So until we could collaborate, I created a generic template.



You'll also notice that I made a graph paper template of the floor. That way, I could really see how much floor space there would be with 2" deep counters. Is there space for an island? Yes, but the space actually left for bar stools is questionable. If the countertop overhangs enough, maybe there's room for two. The space between the counters and the island is the 1/12th conversion of the 1:1 standard space of 42". In one inch scale, that is 3.583 or approx. 3-19/32". Seems like a lot until you actually look at it. Often, you are able to shave a little off the 1:1 standard in your 1/12th conversion and it will still look reasonable. We'll see in the end if there are stools or no stools, but this is another confirmation for me that I should always take the time to make the graph paper drawings. It saves a lot of disappointment and frustration later on.

Since it was Russ' birthday last weekend, and because Tasha and her fiancé Brent have had Covid (and therefore antibodies), we felt safe about having a masked and distant gathering here with them. I was able to confer with Tasha about the wet bar, and with her input, came up with a combination of these two in the design for the last wall:





Now that the basic layout has been settled, I can turn my attention to the structural tasks. The walls in this kit are only 8-3/8" tall (not including the gabled walls). That will never do! A good, modern kitchen must have a minimum of 9 foot ceilings in real life. You can see in my drawings that I made lines at 9" and 10" on the graph paper to determine how tall I'd like the walls to be.   


I added 1-1/2" strips of plywood to the tops of the walls to bring them up to 9-11/16" high. That should help to make the space feel more grand, and clear the way for open trusses in the gabled ceiling. She was very excited about that idea! Now I hope I can pull it off!



You probably noticed that the herringbone floor has been finished, too. Well, almost. When I consulted with Tasha, she was in agreement with me that the kitchen might feel more modern if there were less contrast between all three wood species. That can likely be achieved with a darker stain. I'm going to try the dark walnut that I used on the front edge strip and see how it goes. 

In my next post, I'll share all the info about the floor, including resources for the material, and how I got 'er done. Hopefully, I'll have the sink window and skylight holes cut, and the hinge installed on gable roof. Sawdust... Here I come!


Have a great week my friends! Hope it includes something creative!

xo xo

Jodi

38 comments:

  1. I'm in awe of your plotting skills. Now I know why I always run into so many unexpected surprises and setbacks in my builds; total lack of forward planning!
    Doors and windows in a dollhouse room are always problematic, with one entire wall missing already, you need all the space you can use against the remaining walls.
    You've already made good progress, and the most fun bits are just ahead. I'm excited to follow along!

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    1. Thanks Megan! I only began to force myself to this level of planning after the devastating disappointment I felt when my vision for all I wanted to accomplish in the RGT Barn Bash didn't work out. There was simply not enough room for a combined living room/kitchen and that ruined the whole project for me after I'd spent so much time/effort/money and did not realize the issue until it was too late to change things. A hard lesson, but one I won't repeat on a project that is so important to me.
      I'm glad you're coming along on this one and I hope I can make it fun and interesting! 💗

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  2. Jodi, I am always in AWE of ur projects- sure wish I were as talented as you. I struggle with measuring and with scale but continue to try. I sooo love minis💜💜💜

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    1. Thank you Pgb! I struggled with a lot of the skills in the beginning, too. Just keep at it! Every new challenge will help you master every aspect. There are so many helpful folks giving tutorials on YouTube that you can find help and tips on just about every subject. Your passion and determination to keep trying is going to help you persevere!

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  3. We always learn so much from you. I'll be channeling you as I work on my Manchester kitchen. I am loving that steel blue that seems all the rage now. It was my 35 year old's birthday wish to refurbish her childhood dollhouse that was lingering in the barn, covered in dust that brought me down this long path of my miniature obsession. And while I have the two girls and 3 granddaughters, they all have their own passions, but are supportive of mine, which keeps me out of their business--if you know what I mean. I am excited to see Tasha's dream kitchen. As all of your other projects, it will be amazing.

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    1. Thanks Ann! It is a wonderful feeling to know that sharing on the blog is helpful! Tasha knew she wanted Navy blue immediately, but I was shocked at how many shades of Navy there are! We narrowed it down and she chose a good one!
      Doing a project for someone else just make it more fun doesn't it? It sounds like you got hooked just like I did!
      The Manchester is going to be such an exciting project, and even more special because you are going into it with so much more experience and know how! I'm looking forward to following along! Have a blast!

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  4. This is going to be wonderful! I can't wait to see you bring this to life. The amount of detail is amazing.

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    1. Thanks Sheila! I hope I can make some progress and figure out some of the challenges this weekend!

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  5. Es increíble la dedicación que le has dado a la planificación. Has contemplado todos los detalles. Va a quedar genial .

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    1. ¡Gracias Isabel! He sufrido las consecuencias de una mala planificación antes, así que si Dios quiere, puedo evitar la mayoría de ellas esta vez.

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  6. We have parallel paths, although the farmhouse that I furnished with my daughters went into storage when they lost interest. But it was instrumental to my miniatures hobby now. Also my project last year, the shop we call Mini Montavilla, was a gift to my daughter and represents the shop where she works. I am impressed with your approach to Tasha’s kitchen, it will be fun to follow.

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    1. It sounds like it, Sherrill! I wish I could find old photos of that dollhouse, but so far, all efforts have been fruitless. We did not buy our first house until Tasha was in high school, so sadly, we were short sighted and in the interest of convenience, gave the house away when moving from one small rental house to another. I would probably be horrified at my workmanship back then, anyway, lol! I'm happy to have you along for the build and hope it will help inspire you!

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  7. Hi Jodi! It seems to me that once you get your plans all drawn up you go at lightning speed! The floor is beautiful... but might be even more beautiful with a more subtle shading between pieces. I hope the stain works the way you are imagining! The layout looks wonderfully efficient and "state-of-the-art"! What a space! And the fact the the "box" has a gabled roof is awesome! the trussed beams are going to make this so so Chic!!! I can't wait to see it develop! :):) Stay safe and keep making minis! :):)

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    1. Thanks Betsy! It always seems like the beginning stages have the most visual impact and give the impression of great progress. It's the finishing details that I seem to stall on! But not this time since I have a solid deadline of July! The first coat of the darker stain looks promising!
      I will be consulting with Russ this weekend to see if he's got some good material on hand for the trusses, otherwise, I think I might just order some balsa to try. Fingers crossed that it works out the way I hope!!! 💗

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  8. Jodi, no me extraña que estés emocionada con éste nuevo proyecto! Trabajar en la cocina de los sueños de tu hija es fantástico, además ya tenéis otro nexo en común ahora que definitivamente ha pasado a ser adulta de verdad!
    Tus comienzos, siempre tan minuciosos y planificados, estoy segura que darán un magnífico resultado.
    Me hace mucha ilusión seguirte en esta nueva aventura!!
    Besos.

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    1. ¡Muchas gracias Pilar! Este proyecto es emocionante en muchos sentidos y era justo lo que necesitaba para centrarme en algo más que perder la esperanza en nuestros líderes y su integridad. ¡Pero un nuevo año, un nuevo presidente, un nuevo proyecto y hacerlo por alguien que amo me vuelve a levantar el ánimo! ¡Estoy tan feliz de tenerte conmigo en la búsqueda de esta alegría! 💗

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  9. Es todo un proyecto y además compartido con la persona ideal.
    Suerte y espero ver todos los avances con vosotras.
    Un saludo

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    1. ¡Gracias Marian por el aliento y por estar aquí para seguirnos! ¡Es mucho más dulce cuando se comparte con personas que son importantes para nosotros!

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  10. It's so good for you that Tasha renewed her interest in miniatures. You'll both be involved in a marvelous project. I like the very well prepared plans. It's always great to follow your work.
    Stay safe!
    Hugs, Drora

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    1. Thank you, Drora! It is an amazing feeling to deepen our friendship with our adult children, and sharing an excitement for miniatures surely does that! I am so blessed to have your encouragement and to have you here with me on this journey! 💗

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  11. This new project turns out even better than I hoped for... what a wonderful idea to create Tasha's Dream Kitchen in miniature. And I also like the idea of changing it to the seasons - I foresee Christmas and Halloween cookies, egg painting for Easter, cool drinks in summer... so many possibilities (and opportunities for future gifts, very clever). It's so touching that you're doing this for her as a combined collaboration and surprise. Seeing the photos showing your daughter's exquisite taste this kitchen roombox will become a true treasure.

    And as always I'm in awe with the fact how organized and well structured you are. I wish I had just a tiny bit of this in me... *LOL* But seeing how easy it makes decisions and finding the right direction right from the start I can only say you're my hero when it comes to structure and being organized. Have fun with this very special project!

    Hugs
    Birgit

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    1. Thanks Birgit! I hope so much that she loves it and will enjoy playing! Minis are better than a zen garden for the soul, right?!?
      I wish I felt more organized - already made one major mistake of foresight and had to come up with an alternate solution! My brain just does not feel as sharp as it used to, lol!

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  12. Envidio tu capacidad para diseñar tus proyectos, siempre son perfectos.
    Estoy deseando ver los avances.

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    1. ¡Gracias, Eloisa! Cometo muchos más errores en el camino de los que me gustaría, pero afortunadamente, ¡los ángeles siempre están cerca para darme soluciones! ¡Estoy tan feliz de que tú también estés aquí!

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  13. What a great project Jodi! So fun to make something specific to someone else’s preferences but as a partial surprise. Not to mention the challenge it presents! It looks like a great kitchen. Have fun with it!

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    1. Thanks Shannon! It is fun to try and capture someone's else's fancy, and when you nail it, and they feel like you understand them, well, that's the real gift right there!

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  14. A new wonderful project. I see you have everything planned out well. The floor is amazing. I'm curious to see more.

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  15. Hi Jodi, Giving Tasha a miniature model of her dream kitchen really is a great idea. Good luck with this project. You seem to be off on a good start. I look forward to how this will develop!

    Huibrecht

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    1. Thanks Huibrecht! I was delighting last evening that I had a direction to go in and knew exactly what to do next. I hope it continues!!!

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  16. What a wonderful project!! I love kitchens, they are maybe my favourite rooms in miniature, not in RL lol! And it makes it even more wonderful that you are doing this for your daughter, I bet she´s over the moon. You have had a great start, I love all your plans, can´t wait to see more!! Love to have you back 😉. Btw, that floor is stunning!!

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    1. Thanks Alex! I love the idea of modern kitchens but am also anxious about how tidy they need to be. Maybe after this one I will make a proper old and messy project where I can just go willy-nilly, lol! It's so nice to have you here with me for this experiment!

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  17. I am so excited to see this new project, Jodi. I find all of your postings so inspirational and have learned so much from every one of them. I am afraid that I have not yet adopted the pre-planning discipline but I think that it is something I will do from now on. I understand what you mean about starting strong and petering out. I, too, love to start a new project, then I reach a point where I look around and say: " Okay - what next?" Unfortunately it's always before I have actually finished the one I am working on! I definitely have more than a little bit of ADHD going on! Thanks for sharing! - Marilyn D., New Brunswick, Canada

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    1. Ha ha! Thank you, Marilyn! I am glad I am not the only one who can't seem to finish. With my "wandering eye" for minis, it's a wonder that I have been faithfully married to the same man for nearly 34 years, lol! 😉

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  18. What a lovely idea and how exciting a project. Finding and adding just the exact items will be fun. I'm looking forward to following you with this. Already, I'm intriqued!

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    1. Thanks Irene! I have already bought things for Natasha's project that I could never justify buying for myself! What a fun and guilt free way to collect tiny wonders! 😁

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  19. Sorry I'm late Jodi, I missed this post. What a great idea and an exciting project. I'm looking forward to seeing it progress.

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    1. Thanks, Polly! It's so wonderful to have you along! And not to worry about being "late"! I am often the last one to the party, too, lol! 😊

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