New Orleans Walls + Floors + Fixtures

The next chapter for this ol' New Orleans kit was preparing the interior divider walls for installation. I needed to come up with some wainscoting for the bedroom walls. I wanted something a little more detailed than the simple bead board I used in the stairway hall. What material do I have? How thick and wide should the trim be? Is this going to impact the next steps and if so what adjustments to the design or materials do I need to make? How will this meet the next wall and will the trims work nicely together? Luckily, I was able to find suitable materials, and even more luckily, I didn’t make a mistake and leave myself short like the stairwell boards, which hopefully, have been camouflaged enough that it won't be noticeable.

Once I had the basic design and confirmed I had enough materials, the rest was pretty straightforward and methodical. I made panels for each section of the bedroom walls from 1/16" basswood, then made a frame overlay using 1/16" x 1/4" wood strips. The bottoms got 1/16" x 1/2" so they'll make perfect sized bases for the baseboards, which will be installed last. To the centers I added fancy Greenleaf door popout panels (leftover from the flower shop projects) and more Unique Miniatures embellishments.

I constructed the basic boxes for the built ins on either side of the balcony door, then gave the right one "doors" using Houseworks wainscot panels and the left one faux drawers with more UM embellishment frames.

Here's the test fit with tops made on the built ins. I am still debating about shelves for the left side, and have since painted what will be inside the built in recess the teal wall color (in a later photo). I also installed the hardware, gold to match the chandelier to be installed later, and the door handles. I won't install the wainscot top cap or the doors until after the walls have been installed.

Once the bedroom walls had been finished as far as I could go I switched my attention to the bathroom walls. I cut the faux brick subway tile wall panels and wainscot trim, then set up the back wall and side wall on my cutting mat to test the fit. Once I was happy, I hand painted the tile panels with white chalk paint three times, sanding really smooth in between. Then, on three consecutive days, I layered on the triple thick spray glaze to get a nice tile shine. I won't install the panels to the walls until they've had several more days to cure.

I've been saving an idea for the cabinets and sink for a long time, and am excited to finally be getting to work on it. I have a Town Square dining room hutch set and I'll be using the two side pieces from that for the cupboards, one on each side. The Bespaq dresser will be turned into the vanity sink.

They all need to be painted and customized, so against all common sense, I took them apart. What we won't do for an idea!!! On the cupboards, I removed the mirrored backs, glass door inserts and the glass shelves, loosening the glue with my hair dryer. For such nice pieces, the glue job was truly sloppy. It took a long, patient while to carefully remove the glue from everything and sand smooth again.

For the vanity sink, I removed all the drawers and doors, then loosened the top with more heat and a gentle force. Because the piece's countertop is already at 3", I decided on an undermount sink. I cut and sanded the hole, checking all along the way for fit and center. I am going to attempt a faux marble top like I did on some of the vanities I experimented with last year. The sink, a bisque bowl, will be painted white and then get the triple thick glaze sprayed on in several layers. I'll add the drain as I did with last year's vanities, too.

For the bathtub, I am using yet another Chrysnbon bathroom kit, though I have a different toilet to use this time. I have not found a suitable alternative bathtub in style, authenticity or price since I began collecting for this project in 2016. I played with the idea of a shower, but every mock up made the bathroom close in on itself, and to place a tub/shower in the back meant losing the closet and the vanity impact - viewing it from the side just would't look as lovely. So I will place the Chrysnbon tub in for now, and keep replacement options open in the future. Kristine - please design and offer a fabulous tub in your Shapeways shop, will you? My little TinkerCad program is way too limited for something that curvy!

All of the bathroom pieces are getting sprayed with black satin. I have the first couple coats finished and drying, but this time of year have to take things slowly. It's been a cold and wet week!

The last big project for the second story is the flooring. I made the template for the areas getting Houseworks walnut wood flooring, same as what I used on the first floor, and then got that installed with the stinky Quick Grip. I like using that better than E6000 for the flooring because you only need to apply it to one side, which makes it easier to adjust if your first lay down attempt isn't perfectly aligned.

I'm adding tiles to the bathroom floor as I get a few minutes to work on it, but I can tell you my tile job is not going to be perfect. I guess since it's my first time with this stuff I'll give myself a break and hope the really noticeable mistakes will be under the fixtures!

Some experienced mini builders may have noticed or wondered why there will be wood floors under the walls. I'll have the answer, and hopefully, an ingenious  alternative to those annoying and unrealistically out of scale thresholds on dollhouse doors in my next post.

Hope you have a wonderfully fulfilling week!

xo xo,
Jodi

Chipping Away

This week's post is going to be a day or two earlier than usual. I don't have anything that is finished to share, just some in progress stuff. Russ will be home for the next couple days, so where I'm at is about all I will get done on the New Orleans this week. But I do have an exciting discovery to share! It's exciting to me, anyway! More on that in a minute. First...

I had purchased some outfits from PaolaeSaraMiniature Etsy Shop right after I got my first ball jointed doll. They are really lovely, unfortunately, not all of them fit or looked good on the Zjakazumi doll. But fortunately, they worked perfectly to hang on hangers for the closet! And there were just enough that with the reflection, I think it will create a reasonable impression of a full wardrobe! I think the concept is going to work, though I still have to finalize the optimal placement of all that's inside.

A peek in from the outside dormer window

A peek in from the bedroom

A glimpse with the wall up and the door propped open

And now for the exciting discovery... A couple years back, I discovered Bespaq Direct on eBay. They sold scratch~n~dent Bespaq furniture, sometimes for as little as $4.00! If you were planning on painting or recovering anyway, you could find some beautiful pieces at affordable prices. As of this writing, they have sold off all their inventory and are no longer offering items on eBay. Bummer, but at least I got some good stuff put away for future projects! I had purchased four chairs and a table for the dining room, only to discover later, that with the room so small, it would look better with just two or three. So, since I wanted a small chair for inside the closet, I pulled one out.

The chair is New Walnut with ivory silk fabric. The reason the set was discounted is because the glue joins where the fabric panels and the wood met were poorly done. I was going to recover them anyway, so this was not a problem. I pulled off the front and back panels and discovered I liked the chair even better without them!

I have always coveted the Bespaq Victorian Balloon chairs but never could justify shelling out $45 each for them. If I were a billionaire, I'd make Warren Buffet jealous of how thrifty I can be! Without the panels, they look surprisingly close! So what to do about the glue residue?

I sanded off the glue with a super fine sanding sponge, being careful not to take the finish off any place except for the very inside. A light sanding removed the glue and left enough of the walnut stain that I was able to match it to the rest of the chair's finish by applying a coat of clear nail polish.

But I wanted something fancier. Using my Krylon gold leafing pen, I carefully painted just the inside edge. I still didn't really think the ivory silk cushion was very interesting, so since I planned on recovering it anyway, I tried an experiment. With alcohol ink! This was the exciting part! Using a soft artists brush, I applied a little at first, and when it looked as though it would work, I applied more liberally. It dries super fast, so not much worry about over soaking. I just love the results!

So much so that I treated the other three chairs to the same makeover! I like them so much better, and what a quick and easy solution to a color problem.  The silk even retained it's shimmer! More experimentation will have to be done on different kinds of fabric, but who knew alcohol ink could be used as a fabric dye!

The rest of my progress was not as exciting. I received the replacement porch lights for either side of the balcony. I spent a couple days repainting them in aged bronze like the front porch light. Once I installed them I was able to apply the interior wallpaper over the wires.

I started on the built-ins and door install for the bedroom, and am deciding about the wainscoting design.

In the stairwell hall I finished the door and window trims and am currently working on the wainscoting and finish molding. There's a lot to do in this room with having to finish up the stairs and railing, but I.m chipping away at the To-Do list little by little.

So much to do and so little time! Hope you're all chipping away at your dreams, too!

xo xo
Jodi

New Orleans: Second Story's Opening Story

This week had it's share of challenges and frustrations working on the New Orleans dollhouse, but at least there was enough in the positive column that it seems like I made actual progress with my time. And when that happens, it feels like a worthwhile pursuit!

To refamiliarize you with the layout, here is a photo with the labeled rooms.

To give you an idea on size, the bathroom interior measurements are 8" x 10".

The Closet's floor space is 5-1/2" x 8". The door measures around 7" tall, so a standard dollhouse height. I'm actually using the kit's original front door, and you can see by comparing it to the bathroom doorway that it will be significantly less substantial.

Here is the stairwell hall. The door leading from it into the bedroom will match identically to the bathroom door. The hall walking space is about 3-1/4" wide with the overall width of the room being 9-3/16" at the floor.

I had to get everything related to the closet figured out first since it will be in the back corner and will soon be inaccessible. The interior will only be visible through it's door, which I'll leave ajar. I am hoping that with a mirror on the closet door, as well as a floor mirror inside the closet, that through those reflections, you'll be able to see inside and get the feeling of a real closet with clothing, shoes, handbags, chair and hamper. Because you won't see much, I have just painted the interior walls, added wood flooring and baseboard.

Because of the limited wall space both inside and outside the closet, I've made the jambs up myself for a custom fit. After all of the walls and flooring have been permanently installed, I'll fix the closet door in place in the best position for viewing the inside via the mirrors. I am going to have to permanently attach everything inside the closet for lack of access after the walls and roof piece are permanently installed, so before long I'll have to make decisions on all of that

The door's not really that short - just had to leave room for the flooring!

So while working out the closet details, I had to make decisions about the wall coverings and treatments. The bathroom will be all black and white with the same brick type subway tiles in glossy white I used in the kitchen. The bedroom and stair hall will be done in teal tones like the rest of the house, with some type of wainscoting on the lower 3" of the walls.

I had to make paper templates for all these funky angled mansard roof walls. Back in 2012, when I was first getting back into miniatures after my long hiatus, I learned how to do this from this video tutorial by Joann Swanson. That lady has been showing newbies How To for so many years and she is a true Giver and a Treasure! Thank You Joann!

I'll spend my mini time over the next week finishing up the wallpaper and wainscoting, hopefully the flooring, too.

Remember the really huge doorways? Well, there are no such doors that large on the market, so I decided to take a couple of the Houseworks, Victorian Glazed doors in my stash and make those work. First, I replaced the "glass" with 1/16" thick basswood panels to give me a solid door.

To add to the height of the door, I cut 1/4" thick plywood to add to the bottoms of the doors.

I had to add something to the bottom of the jambs and trims to make up for the new door height, so I made a little protruding pediment type thing at the bottoms. I also wanted to match what I'd done to the windows and doors downstairs so made a sort of  door pelmet for the tops with resin architectural pieces. The final height of the doors with the pelmet are 10-1/2".

Dining Room Window

Living Room Window

Door and Sidelight Window

Then, because the Houseworks doors do not come with interior molding, I had to make up my own to try and match for the other sides. Here are all of the parts that make up the two doors and their trims and decorations on all four sides.

I've got them all glued, painted, sanded, painted, sanded and waiting for their final coat so they'll be ready to install on the newly papered and trimmed walls. I hope when all is said and done they look grand and elegant in the rooms!

See you next week with hopefully, another happy chapter in the New Orleans saga!

xo xo,
Jodi