Pound Cake: Second Floor Walls

I didn't realize as I was taking progress photos this week that I was taking so many! There were a lot of separate steps to raise the walls and separate the spaces, so I hope you'll stick with me here for the dreadfully long update post!

Sink/Restroom Side installed, touch up paint still required.

Top floor progress picture, still more trims and ceiling/roof to install.

It all began with foam core for the walls. The roof/ceiling piece can be relatively easily added or removed now, so getting a height measurement was easy enough. Then I just had to trim the foam core down to 9-3/8" tall.

The two restroom walls were a little more difficult in that I had to replicate the ceiling angle onto the foam core. I attempted a complicated "Rise and Run" calculation, but in the end just held the pieces up to the roof piece to confirm. All was well - at least well enough that trim would make me look like a genius! A quick test of the door frame to confirm the opening followed.

Sink, stairway and restroom walls being test fit.

For the stairwell side of the wall, I added textured ceiling paper above beaded wainscot. This area will only have a peek-a-boo view from one of the side dormer windows, but I wanted a clean, finished look. Wouldn't you know my paper wrinkled a little. Such is mini life...

The restroom side of the wall received pieces of my leftover wallpaper. I didn't need much, and because of where I had cut dormers out, there were funny angled gaps where I had to paste pieces over. Not to worry - this area will be behind the door and will never be seen. Why do I only ever buy three sheets of wallpaper when countless times I needed four?!?

Above the sink I thought a window would be nice. It would give some depth and interest in the room and would also let in additional light from the stairwell/dormer window. I cut a 2" x 3" piece of foam core and glued it, centered, in the space above the planned sink unit. This gave me something to hold my Xacto blade against to cut the window hole. This would not have been necessary if I had planned the window before I glued all of the walls together!

For the wall treatment in the sink and stove area, I tried out a new tip for the Cricut - the Debossing Tool. It is meant to imprint a design into several types of material. I made a subway brick tile pattern using my graphics software, then imported it into the Cricut Design Space program. From there, you can choose to deboss the pattern. I chose deboss and resized it to fit on pieces of wall squares that I'd already created for each foam core wall. The material I debossed was the Cricut Kraft board which is like stiff poster board. The pattern is subtle with this material, but in this application for the bakery walls, worked just fine. Besides, who can complain about no painting and no laying of hundreds of tiny tiles!

To give the tiles a shine, I brushed on gloss Mod Podge. My Mod Podge had a lot of lumps and partially dried bits, so I used a filter and a cup to get a nice clean batch to work with. You can buy these filters in large packs for a small price on Amazon. They work great for filtering old paint, too.

Once the tiles were dry I was able to frame the pass through window opening.

And check the fit of the sink cabinet I made with the Cricut for the space.

Window frame, cabinet, door frame and behind toilet plumbing cabinet painted...

I sprayed the countertop in white satin and then applied a couple coats of Krylon Triple Thick spray gloss. I had a faucet from Elf Miniatures that came with the sink I used in the New Orleans kitchen. By adding the spring from a fountain pen to the spigot and a painted, tapered bead to the end, it looks more like an industrial bakery kitchen kind of faucet.

Now it was time to make sure my initial height measurement for the walls was accurate. I nervously installed the ceiling/roof and said some hopeful prayers...
Success! With a little molding, pre-cut before adding the ceiling permanently, the finished room should look like I knew what I was doing!

I confidently applied the glue and weighted the wall piece down. And waited for glue to dry...

Meanwhile cutting and painting trims. And painting/assembling the Chrysnbon bathroom kit pieces...

And here is the view down the stairs that you will never again see...

And the only view to this side of the sink window pass through, through the side dormer window...

And I made shelving and brackets with the Cricut...

Then installed the restroom fixtures and accessories...

Then the angled side wall and door frame with added transom window...

Frosted for privacy, but which I hope will let in extra light to the sink area...

And installed open shelving for all of the equipment and supplies that one would need to operate a successful bakery...

And other than touch up and trims, the bakery's kitchen is ready for living!

Now on to the ceiling and the lighting.

Back next week with more progress, I hope. Until then, I pray all of you are safe and well, and are making it through this uncharted territory that, together, as a world, are experiencing. God Bless!

xo xo,
Jodi

Pound Cake: Paper Tile Flooring Finished!

In my last post I had cut and assembled the bakery's second floor paper tile flooring and left it to be sealed/varnished when I returned home from my mom's 70th birthday trip. Since this was my first paper tile floor, I didn't know what product or method I would use. I pondered my options on the trip, eliminating the option to brush anything on. I had a couple spray options, but some testing was going to be necessary.

As soon as I returned home, I got busy. I thought I'd better make a sample piece to fool with so I made one using left over scrap tiles and "grout".  I tried both Krylon Triple Thick and Liquitex Satin spray varnish. I liked the coverage and sheen of the Liquitex satin better (not too shiny), but my nozzle, in spite of repeated attempts to clean it, kept clogging. The Krylon definitely took several heavy coats (due to the absorption from several layers of paper), but it looks very nicely finished. It took three heavy coats over three days to allow for thorough drying time. Sorry I can't seem to get a better photo of the sheen.

Sample Tile

After Two Coats

Restroom Tile Floor

Before my daughter and I left for Arizona (by way of Las Vegas), I was able to get the bakery's kitchen windows on the second floor cut and installed. I replaced the kit's acetate windows with Lexan and installed them on the exterior window trim as I had for the windows in the first floor. I also had time to try out the first dry fit of the roof pieces.

The instructions and I are having a disagreement. They want me to put the dormer roofs in place, leave them loose, and then glue the roof on. I am going to do it my way by attaching the dormer roofs and then adjusting the roof piece to pop on and off. Having the dormers glued on and leaving the roof removable will make fitting the interior walls, and all of the trim, a much easier (and hopefully more successful) job. Once the interior is finished, I can permanently attach the roof, filling in any gaps and tab slots. This will require several fittings, but I have enlisted the help of my handy husband because four eyes and four hands are always better than two!

The glue bottle is so that you can get a feel for the size of the second floor space in the kit. It feels rather large inside now, and I hope that once I add walls and appliances, it will still feel like ample space.

Here are all the tile floors, dried, trimmed and attached to the sub floor. Where you see wood is where the 3/16" foam core walls will be installed. In the bathroom and in the back of the sink side (left) of the kitchen (where the gaps are wider), I have left extra room. The kitchen side will likely have a built in cabinet to cover the extra gap and the bathroom will have a built in plumbing cabinet behind the toilet.

One thing of note here is that the restroom floor has a bit of a yellowish tone. This is the floor that has the Liquitex varnish applied. The Liquitex is not as clear as the Krylon, and luckily, in this bathroom, won't have a negative impact. But every product is right for a different circumstance. If I wanted a more aged looking floor, the Liquatex would be good. For a crystal clear finish, the Krylon is preferable.

Once the subfloor with tile was installed, I was able to add the slim side walls to the opening side of the structure.

For now, until I actually start on the exterior, I have painted the side walls licorice. It just makes everything look less rugged and helps me to visualize the finished facade. I have also added a 1/8" x 3/4" piece of trim between the floors and underpainted the dormer roofs. Eventually, I hope to make them faux lead metal roofs.

All of the roof support pieces have been added. Once the roof is on permanently, only the underside of these will be seen. My next steps will be to fit the roof and make adjustments until it pretty easily slips on and off. Then I can take accurate measurements and begin cutting and fitting the interior walls.

Another thing to note about the tile floors; I used a total of twelve sheets of Cricut Kraft Board to make the floors. For what I paid in material, including the shipping, the entire second floor cost less than $8.00 to make. Pretty economical, though you also have to consider that they were pretty labor intensive. This information may help some of you who are still sitting on the fence about buying a Cricut Maker. If you like coming up with your own creative solutions (which cost next to nothing), and you enjoy a little tedious work, the Maker may just be the tool for you.

And if you're wondering how mom's birthday was, I will only show this picture and tell you that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! ;O)

Arizona was wonderful, and it was just so great having time with some of my favorite people! As you can see, my mom, even at 70, is fun loving and loves to have fun!

Hopefully, back next week with more bakery progress!

xo xo,
Jodi