New Orleans Kit - First Challenges...

Before I could continue working on the Real Good Toys New Orleans kit, I needed a little organization. My very kind husband hung the new melamine shelf on the wall and added four very strong braces right into the wall studs. I have confidence that I can display a number of heavy projects up there with no worries. So, because I am organized everything in my little dollhousing world should go very smoothly, right? Oh brother...

I'm sure many of you are like me - going around in circles trying to figure out if you need to start with the chicken or the egg. I finally just decided to solve that riddle as I went. I jumped right in with the wallpaper, opting to go the round wire method instead of potentially dealing with another MDF/tapewire nightmare (search for "tapewire" in the blog search for all of the gory details). Opting is the semi unthruthful word, and I really just forgot to do the tapewire. I'm calling it a serendipitous save from the universe.

I had some textured ceiling paper sheets in the old wallpaper drawer so I thought I'd give it a try on the living room walls. I was worried about having too many wallpaper patterns competing, so this was a great solution. Solid matte color with a little texture. It has a vinyl coating which is great for wiping off any seeping wallpaper mucilage without damaging the paper. I applied it to the walls first, then painted with two coats of acrylic paint.

Before and after painting.

This photo shows the texture better.

I used the same textured paper in the kitchen, except painted it in white chalk paint. For the dining room, I used a combination of two complementary wallpaper patterns. Off to a great start, right?

I couldn't wait to do the dry fit with the poly-resin arched door frames. Finally, I'd get to see them against the finished walls and then congratulate myself an a well planned build. That's when the trouble began...

Remember the chimney breast/false wall I built? Well, I made the fireplace and bookshelf openings based on the amount of space I had left over after fitting the one arched door frame that I had on hand at the time. The other two I needed were on the way... But they are from molds and therefore should be exact, right? Um, no. Not even close!

So my homespun fireplace is pushed over too far to the left and sticks out from the wall...

And the door hole does not exactly accommodate the arched door frame. Hrmpf.

And, my measurements of the dividing wall between the kitchen and the dining room were off... because in the drawing program where I carefully laid out all of the walls (so that I would be able to use the already on hand kitchen cabinet kits), I FORGOT TO DEDUCT THE 1/8" WALL MATERIAL and I measured the wallpaper width from the end of the wall and not from the end of the trim. Duh! Rookie blunder 101! Not to worry, after all I am a professional, right? Ha! Keep dreaming. Well, at least I am a problem solver and if things get too funky it really is just a dollhouse, right?

So we trim back the wallpaper.

Modify the arched doorways by cutting off the parts that stick out and remove the part of the door frame that is now too wide for the dining room to living room side.

Mark and sand down the doorway to accommodate the much differently sized, newly arrived poly-resin arched door frame.

Glue and clamp...

Fill, sand, fill...

Fill, sand, fill...

Still more filling and sanding...

And still more filling and sanding left to do...

And just when you are ready for something to go right, you look at said homespun fireplace and can no longer kid yourself because you HATE it! It's too tall, too squished, the Michael's hutch top on the mantle is out of scale and the whole space is too tight with the bookshelves! Your sconces are just going to look stupid! So there is no other choice but to re-build the entire thing from scratch. And in some weird way, you are actually relieved because you did not settle for "meh".

A good thing to do when you are pouting trying to work through a problem is to paint. Sand and paint, sand and paint.

And stain stair treads,

And start on window trim.

And then spend the next three days helping your elderly parents pack up their entire lives because they bought a new house in Arizona and while you are so happy and proud of their bravery you have no idea how you will cope with how much you'll miss them.

xoxo
Jodi