Lawbre Greenhouse Construction Progress

Happy spring everyone! Though you would not notice any difference if you were here in the northwest US with me. It is foggy, gray with low lying clouds, very chilly and drizzling with tiny droplets of rain. Would someone please tell the sun and the flowers that it is time to come out now??? Ah well, at least here in my work room I am doing spring things - building the Lawbre Greenhouse kit!

While I would never want to discourage anyone, I am compelled to say that it is no wonder why you do not see many photos of this completed kit. Nor can any blog posts be found about building one. It is fiddly, complicated, has loads of parts, takes an extra amount of patience and, while it has extensive instructions, some of them are not very clear. It is "vintage", long out of production, and not cheap if you do happen to find one. I purchased both of mine from eBay: this kit with the potting shed/greenhouse and a stand alone greenhouse only kit. But I am a glutton for hard things and can never pass up a kit from times past. Let me expound on the assembly process...

Kit Components

The first thing you need to do is to pull apart the instructions to remove the included building template sheets. With these, you will make a board to pin the parts to for assembly. You'll need large sheets of foam core boards to attach the templates to, then you'll have to cover the templates in waxed paper so you do not ruin them with glue. This is because for the long sides and roof sides, you will need to use the template boards twice. For the Potting Shed and Greenhouse kit, there are four sheets: long wall (x2), roof side (x2), end wall and door. In the freestanding greenhouse only kit there is an additional template for the end wall with no door.

My Foam Core boards were 11" x 14" x 1/8" and were the perfect size. Luckily I already had them in my supplies. I used an Elmer's Glue Stick to adhere the template onto the foam core board, then covered the template with waxed paper using Zots to hold it in place.

I followed the instructions, using "T" pins to hold the parts in place while the glue dried. I used Gorilla Wood Glue for the wood to wood adhesion and Fast Grab Tacky Glue for the "glass" jobs..

At this point everything needed to be painted before inserting the "glass" (which is just some sort of plexi material). The wood is nice but needs a good deal of sanding. I am not super happy with the glossy finish for the black paint: it is Wrought Iron by Patio Paint. It is weather resistant so I should have considered more carefully before settling on it. It isn't terrible in person, but the gloss finish and photos aren't the best of friends.

In between all the gluing and painting I started on the greenhouse floor. I didn't have many of the clay bricks left over from the potting shed but I did have a lot of Magic Brik sticker roll in my stash. I covered the MDF floor in primer, then stuck down the brick sticker in several rows.

I made a mistake when I used a mystery baggie full of powder to make the bricks with. It was not a good mortar. I think I had made the same mistake a while back and didn't like the results. But because it was a while back, I forgot and repeated the same mistake. Can I blame menopause? It was too gritty and too runny and wanted to pull up with the sticker. I should have used joint compound. At any rate, it was not the look I wanted but I decided I could rise to the challenge and make it work. Instead of uniform brick it turned into an ancient and worn out paver look. Whatever.

Mortar spread over the sticker paper

Pulling off the sticker sheet along with some of the "bricks"

Once it dried I sanded and cleaned up the grout lines a bit.

To make the bricks coordinate with the bricks in the potting shed (at least in color tone), I repeated the color palette from my last post. Then I applied whitewash, then sealer, then spackle for the grout. I applied a grayish wash once everything was dry. It still needs more aging, but I'll save that for when I apply the final aging to the entire structure. That way it stays uniform.

Initial coloring

Applying matte sealer

Turned out well enough for a greenhouse floor

Once the floor was ready I began to assemble the walls. I am playing with the idea of leaving one of the walls removable so that it is easier to set up and take photos. Only two of the three walls are glued to the floor now.

A daisy chain of rubber bands held the floor tightly to the walls while the glue dried

I left the door to open in or out for scene flexibility

The third wall is not attached

I made a valiant start on the roof, but that is a whole new level of complicated!!! I had hoped to have it finished for this week's post, but the process is going much slower than the walls had gone. Hopefully, next week, I'll have the roof plus the landscape board to share. And I also hope to share some exciting updates on the real life family room progress!

Until we meet again, I wish you blooms and buds and a bit of sunshine!

xo xo, 

Jodi

Finishing Up The Lawbre Potting Shed

Hello again, my friends! When last we parted, I was making progress on the potting shed part of the Lawbre Greenhouse and Potting Shed kit. While Russ spent his after work evenings on cladding the real life family room ceiling with whitewashed tongue and groove boards, I was busy "working" on the potting shed's roof, ceiling and window. I think I got the better end of the deal - poor Russ has some sore shoulders from all that overhead nailing!

The kit comes with a pre-assembled window which includes non removable "glass", This makes painting a very meticulous process. A small angled brush and frequent rinsing (to keep a damp edge and dried paint from interfering) were essential to keeping paint on the trim and not on the "glass". 

It is a good quality window with nice basswood, but, unfortunately, is absent interior trim. The pre-cut window opening in the kit was a little larger than needed, so first I lined it with 1/16" x 3/8" strip wood. This made for a much better fit and gave the window frame something solid to glue into.

I framed the interior window opening with 1/16" x 1/4" wood strips. Then I created a sill using 1/8" x 3/8" wood strip, just slightly wider than the frame. I want to be able to display some small pots on the sill, so the overall depth should work out well for that.

The joy in minis is in the details, wouldn't you agree? And while I really am trying to keep this project super simple (so I'll actually finish it), I just couldn't pass up the opportunity here to add a little extra oomph. By adding a few extra pieces of trim to the lower half of the frame and an itty bitty handle, it created the illusion of a functioning window. Simple but effective.

I almost added a screen to the exterior lower frame, but the mesh pieces in my stash had larger openings and weren't a favorable scale to pass muster. I'll keep mulling the idea and looking for a good piece, though.

I also beefed up the door frame to look as though there used to be a door hanging here. I imagine the gardener removed it so one could carry things to and from the greenhouse easily with occupied hands.

Now it looks like a realistic door jamb.

Now it was time to get the roof assembled and on. I used inexpensive tongue depressors (minus the rounded ends) to clad the ceiling, mimicking roof sheathing. Then I added 1/16" x 3/8" to all the roof edges to mimic fascia boards. I really like the smooth, clean look of them on dollhouses.

The kit comes with a solid, particle board, angled, roof support piece, but I had saved an inspiration photo with an open truss support that I really loved. I had 1/2" x 1/2" balsa on hand which made cutting the angles really easy. 

It is a simple support, but it really opens the small room up and allows you to appreciate the space. The interior dimensions are 13-1/4" wide  x 5-3/8" deep and about 9" where the outer walls meet the ceiling. The apex of the interior ceiling is 12-3/4".

I added trim pieces to the interior and exterior where the roof met the walls and then gave everything more coats of paint.

All that was left to do on the potting shed was the roof. I considered a few options, but in the end, settled on a simple "metal" roof for it's quick and easy qualities. The surface prep was simple - just a nice thick coat of primer. I edged the roof in corner molding for the angled sides and 1/16" x 1/4" strip wood on the flat edges. I painted them black first prior to installing them.

I added 1/16" x 3/8" strip wood across each side of the apex and filled in the gap with quarter round molding. The "metal" roof look was finished off by adding three 1/16" x 1/4" strip wood ribs on each half.

The last step to call the potting shed construction complete was to paint the roof black.

My next mini session will involve constructing the Greenhouse portion of the kit - an exciting project and a challenge that I am looking forward to! 

But first, I have homework: real life work to further our family room renovation. You see, once Russ had gotten nearly finished with the tongue and groove ceiling cladding, we discovered that we were 19 boards short!!! Really??? I had already done like 90 of them!!! 

Luckily, we still have plenty of material. I am in charge of whitewashing and varnishing so I'll be busy for a few evenings. Looks like the greenhouse will just have to wait. I hope to get back to my work table by spring (which is, thankfully, on Friday)!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you are enjoying your mini endeavors as much as I am enjoying this one!

xo xo,

Jodi

Too Many To-Dos!

Hi Guys! Russ and I are just back from a wonderful and heart filling trip to see family, friends and some awe inspiring parts of the American West! So many things ignited my mini passion that I came home filled with inspiration and motivation to tackle everything on my To-Do and Wish lists. The only obstacle has been... knowing where to start! I should probably do the laundry first!

Before we left I had so much excited, nervous energy that I was having trouble sleeping. I took advantage of the extra hours and started on the Lawbre Potting Shed and Greenhouse. The greenhouse structure is built totally from stick lumber and has to be constructed on a foam panel and held in place with "T" pins until the glue is dried.

The potting shed portion is comprised of 3/8" particle board and is easy to assemble, so I begin with that.

Because I have a vested interest in reducing the "stuff" in my work room, I dug around in my wood stash to find something I could use for both the interior and exterior wall cladding. I found a couple different sized bead board sheets and luckily had plenty! I applied it horizontally to look like clapboard.

I also had a couple sheets of vintage white brick to use as flooring. I picked a few colors of acrylic paint and randomly painted, then whitewashed the bricks. I used OneTime spackle for grout and will age everything with washes or chalk dust once the roof is on and the window is in.

I'm hoping to start on the greenhouse walls this week but I can't give the project my full attention for several weeks. You see, we have to turn our attention back to the real life house renos now that Russ' crazy work project is finished. With a bit of smooth progress and renewed motivation we should have the family room wrapped up in a few weeks. Then I have some new tools to set up in my workroom, more mini stuff to list on eBay and a side project for a friend. See? Too many To-Dos!

But one last exciting thing...

Auntie Em's in Glendale Arizona just happens to be right on the way from my parent's house in Lake Havasu to our friends' house in Carefree. If I had the time I could spend days (and soooo many $$$) in there! It is absolutely jam packed with amazing minis! Emily, the vivacious and friendly owner (who is in her 80's) is still there to talk minis! I always seem to find something on my wish list, and this time was no different! 

I know, I know! I need another project like I need a hole in my head but come on! How can I resist a Sid Cooke?????? It'll go on the dream shelf to tempt me with all my other treasures until inspiration wipes out my common sense. 😊

Progress on all my dreams might come slow, but knowing that I am working on something everyday is comforting! I'll be back to share some kind of progress soon!

xo xo,

Jodi