Beachside Bungalow - Top To Bottom

This week I concentrated on the final steps to completing the structure of the Beachside Bungalow. That included shingling the roof and finishing up the tile floors in the rest of the house. 

We'll start with the shingles because in spite of the many dollhouse roofs I've done over the years, it was my first time using real shingle dye! One package is supposed to be enough for 1000 shingles - perfect because the Beachside Bungalow kit includes 950 of them!

I picked up a couple disposable aluminum roasting pans from the dollar store and poked holes in one of them. This allows for easy soaking and then straining of the shingles. I let them soak overnight in the dye, then spread them onto a metal screen in the garage the next morning. The weather was hot so they were completely dry in one day. Unfortunately, many of the shingles were also purple, not gray or black like some others. I recaptured the dye and soaked them again overnight. They were darker the next day, but many of the shingles still seemed not to have absorbed very much of the dye, giving them a purplish sheen. Because there was not much dye left, I decided to apply them to the house "as is" and then mitigate the purple once they were on the house.

One note here for those of you who have yet to try shingle dye - the instructions said to mix with 2 cups of water (about one water bottle). I used bottled water because our water here is very hard. I didn't want hard water to factor in in a negative way with the process. There was barely enough liquid to cover the 950 shingles and I sorely wished I'd bought another package. It costs anywhere from $7.50 to $11.50 per package, not including tax and shipping, so not exactly budget friendly. Roofing a dollhouse can certainly add up, so it's great that this kit includes the shingles.

Some shingles absorbed less dye, causing a purplish hue.

I used Kraft cardstock to make flashing. Flashing is nice when you need to cut a lot of angled shingles around dormers where the two roofs meet. It takes away worry about seeing gaps if your accuracy in cutting is questionable. It's also helpful to install it where you want the shingles to butt up to a clean, straight line as in where the dormer walls meet the angled roof. It adds a little realism, too, so why not? My preferred method of applying shingles is by using a Surebonder hot glue gun and glue sticks. It makes the job go so quickly and there's never a concern over curling shingles or harmful fumes!

Under my craft room's bright white LED bulbs, I was still seeing an annoying purple hue to the shingles. To try and mitigate this effect, I decided to apply a Minwax gray penetrating stain over the top using a paint brush. In spite of being very stinky, I think it really did help to color the shingles better and knock down the purple appearance.

Before

After application of Classic Gray stain.

I do like the way the shingles look now, but I can't say I'm in a big hurry to use shingle dye again - I've had outcomes just as good with stain pens and acrylic paint. But I have learned never to say never unless that is exactly the thing that I want to have happen. It was a valuable experience and dying shingles seems to be a rite of passage for miniaturists.

Now for the tile floors in the rest of the Bungalow...

Last week I shared how I made natural stone tiles in the Opus Roman pattern for the great room. But in the rest of the house, I wanted something a little more subtle. Often, beaches are in warmer climates, lending themselves to homes with Saltillo or clay tiles. That's the look I was trying to achieve. In last week's post I also talked about how I made templates for every room, then transferred the templates onto  mat board. I also used the same painting/glazing method for these tiles, though in very subtle colors. For the tiles I used Illustration Art Board again. See links to materials in last week's post.

Base coat.

Chalk paint, acrylic paint and satin glazing medium.

Finished with subtle color variations like a sky.

I cut the tiles in 1" squares to emulate 12" tiles in real life. To find the dead center on the substrate, I drew a 1" grid. This also helped me to keep my grout lines straight, as did using 1/16" spacers (Woodsies) as I laid the tile. I really like tiles laid on the diagonal, as it feels a little fancier and more interesting to look at.

Spacers help to keep grout lines even.

It's always nice to have a border tile running in a different direction.

Just let the tiles overlap the edges.

You can cut them flush after the glue dries.

Testing the fit.

I continued with the bedroom and the powder room floors...

Unlike Opus Roman tiles, this type of installation will require a good deal of grout work. I painted the grout lines and sides of the tiles so that none of the white, unpainted art board would show. The next step was to seal the tiles. I sprayed on several coats of satin varnish, letting each one dry.

I used lightweight household spackle mixed with a little ivory acrylic paint to tone down the whiteness. Like all my previous tiling experiences, I found it frustrating trying to remove the grout from the top of the tiles without having it also be inadvertently removed from the grout lines. Upon further consideration, I may try using joint compound the next time I have a grout job. Because it is denser, it may just do a better job of staying put in the grout lines. I'll keep you posted...

Meanwhile, I got the job done, then sprayed the floors again with satin varnish. It's got a little shine without looking too shiny like slippery porcelain tiles. If you want a porcelain tile look, just use a high gloss varnish as the final sealer.

My grout lines are ALMOST straight! :O)

Finally, after all the work preparing the floors it was time to install them! I double checked the fit again, removed the floors, applied a good layer of Tacky glue to the dollhouse floor (being sure to get it to the edges), laid the floors in, smoothed them, covered the surface with scrap cardboard, added weights on top and left it to dry overnight. Whew!

Here is the second floor with the tile floors installed in the stair hall, bedroom and main bathroom. Notice how the baseboards in the bedroom are stained wood to match the other trim.

And in the main bath they are painted to match the trim in there. The break in the baseboards was left so that the vanity will slide in and sit flush to the wall.

The wee powder room...

The great room got stained baseboards, too. In the right corner the baseboard does not meet the wall. This is because the fridge will go here obscuring most of the baseboard anyway. I was able to use up a scrap piece here. All along the right wall will be the built in kitchen cabinets. Once I see where they will end, I may have to add another tiny piece of baseboard to finish off the wall to the opening.

With the exception of the back edge trim, the Beachside Bungalow is finished and ready for the interior and exterior details!

I'll start by turning my attention to the kitchen and powder room. I am looking forward to dusting off my 3D printer and my Cricut Maker to help me a lot with these important rooms! I have some exciting ideas, and I just hope I can make some of them come to fruition without too much toil and trouble!

First sketch of the oven side of the kitchen.

One last thing that I hope will inspire your creativity this week...

Tasha texted me the other night after she'd accidentally run the clean dishes through the dishwasher twice. She asked me if I remembered the dishwasher magnet I made when she was little. I vaguely remembered making one, but not really. She said I had made a clever "Clean/Dirty" sign using Barbie plates. Guess I should have taken a picture back then because my memory can be unreliable! In any case, she asked me if I'd make her one that she and Brent could use. I said I'd be glad to and here is what I came up with: A simple box with a sliding door to indicate a happy "Clean" plate, and a sad "Dirty" one. It's got more of the 1/8" mini magnets on the back and will stick to the front of the dishwasher. I hope it will prevent future confusion for her!

Happy "Clean" Side with half pearl smiley face.

Sad "Dirty" side with dinner's red peppers, fig and carrots left in sauce.

1/8" Countersunk Magnets. These little guys are strong!

Displayed on my dishwasher.

Hope all your projects are happy, inspired ones from top to bottom!

xo xo,

Jodi

Beachside Bungalow - Opus

The Latin word "opus" means "A work", so it is fitting then that the tile flooring pattern I decided to use for the great room of the Beachside Bungalow is called the Opus Roman pattern. It was certainly work to learn it and to lay it, but in the end, feels like a real work of art! This week I'll show you how I got here and share the pattern cheat sheet that I created to make this work a little easier.

I began by making floor patterns for every room in the house. It is a lot easier for me to work on a template outside of the house as opposed to reaching into a small, tight space all while trying to see. This is especially true when I am laying any type of flooring that is a one piece at a time procedure, such as tile or herringbone floors. As many of you know, it is much more involved than laying one large sheet of wood or paper flooring.

Here's a simple tutorial by Jessica Cloe on how to make a paper pattern for your floor with nice photos.

Several sheets of graph paper due to the size of the room.

Because I'll be laying tiles, I transferred my patterns onto matboard. This provides a strong but thin substrate for tile work. 

These 8.5 x 11 inch mat board sheets come in handy for so many things!

You may have to tape several sheets together, depending on the size of your room. I used masking tape to connect enough sheets to fit the size of my pattern. Once taped, I turned it so the tape was on the back, then cut my pattern from the mat board sheets.

Make sure to check the fit and adjust before you go farther.

Sheets are taped together on the bottom.

For the actual tiles, I like to use Illustration Art Board. These are nice for painted tiles as they are meant to get wet. They may curl up a bit but will settle back down again as they dry. The combined thickness of the mat board (substrate) and the art board (tiles) is 3/16", which should work well in any dollhouse project. That brought my floors in perfect height to my door thresholds.

To achieve the natural stone look for the tiles, I used my tried and true method of acrylic craft paint, glazing medium, a piece of kitchen sponge and water.

I painted a base layer of ivory white first...

Then wet the sponge, removed excess water, dipped it in paint, dipped it in glaze, then began to pounce and blend until I liked the look.

This was my inspiration photo. I was close, but still needed a little something.

I added a couple more colors and more pouncing...

Right side before the extra colors, Left side after.

That should be more interesting!

The Opus Roman pattern consists of four different sizes. I created a cheat sheet with all of the details:

Now it was time to cut the tiles. I like to lay my transparent ruler on top of the art board, lining up the measurement on the right edge, then pushing my straight edge up to it for cutting. To cut, make sure your Xacto blade is perfectly straight up and down, then make several light passes. This works great if you're right handed. If you're a leftie, just reverse it. This method gets me the straightest edge I can achieve when cutting by hand, though it's still never perfect. With this tough art board, you'll need to sharpen or change out your blade often.

I wasn't sure how tight I'd be able to get the grout lines, so I painted my edges, just in case.

After a little practice without the glue, I began laying the pattern. Once I felt like I had the idea, I brought out the glue. I still wasn't sure about the grout lines, so I painted them, just in case.

After a good bit of time working (and while listening to works by Mark Twain on audiobook), I was getting a feel for it. It was actually fun and relaxing!

In spite of my great efforts to make straight cuts and lay the tiles perfectly, I still had a few gaps that were more than I could stand. Instead of attempting to grout with spackle, I opted to try my Plastic Wood wood filler instead. The Natural already has a warm tone, and is much less messy. If you look closely you can see where I filled in some cracks.

To help the Plastic Wood blend in better once dry, I applied a wash using one of the tile colors. I brushed a bit on the discolored area, let it soak in a moment, then wiped away the excess. It was a success!

Once finished I gave it a few coats of satin spray varnish.

And here is the finished Opus Roman tiled floor! It's so much fun to try something new and challenging!

And installed in the great room. I think once all of the kitchen cabinets and island, sofa and area rug go in it will look great! I'll need to add baseboards, too.

I hope you get a chance to try these fun tiles for yourselves, one day! I have added this post to the Tutorials page for easy future reference.

Next week, I'll share the very different tiles I made for the rest of the house, along with the shingling.

Stay safe and make minis, my friends!

xo xo,

Jodi