Time for a good story

I followed a tutorial in the December 2010 American Miniaturist to make more books for the bungalow shelves. Gayle Baillargeon shows how to make long sections of books in 1:12 scale in the article. I just made mine much smaller and had to be a little less detailed but they look good and very real. I also made a couple of stand alone books to add some dimension. I had already put several printie books on the shelves. Now I have enough variety to look good, I think.

Long day...

but the pantry is stocked. While I was shopping I found some American Girl doll stickers on clearance. Two of the doll stickers look like the dolls my daughters have so the mini daughters in our mini house got dolls today. (The dolls representing my daughters are two of my earliest dolls. I've improved a bit since then, lol.)
The other AG sticker sets had clothes and accessories. I got a guitar similar to the one I had when I was young and some clothes that work in the 1970s house, too. This house is a recreation of the one I grew up in.
The only actual mini work I got done was to give an aged paint finish to the rocking chair on the porch. Wood tones with a leather seat didn't make sense for a porch rocker.

I think tomorrow's a "free" day so maybe I can mini then. :)

Finally the final photos

The bedroom and living room photos aren't the most updated - I can't find those photos. I changed the artwork over the bedroom bench to a large framed piece and added a wedding photo to the dresser. The living room has a few more items on the shelves including a framed photo and brackets to support the mantle.

Shingles are finished!

But I cheated...sort of. I didn't use all those l stained before. I decided I wanted I asphalt shingles so I cut shingle strips from sand paper. After gluing them on I dry brushed stain over them to add some color.

Big Changes!

Last night was very productive - the porch, dormer and roof are all assembled. I have shingles and roof brackets and a bit of trim work to do on the exterior.
The bathroom is painted country tan like the exterior trim. It looks gray in the photo. This room needs towels, toilet paper, trash can, rugs, and lots of personal care products.
The bedroom is the brightest room in the house but not too overpowering. The walnut woodwork really contrasts beautifully with the paint. This room needs curtains and some personal accessories to make it look like Ben and Ally really live there.
The sewing room is a very pale green. I need to touch up the paint in the right corner, I see, ;). This is a very plain room. I think I need to do built in cupboards along the left wall.. or at least a large dresser or cabinet for Ally's supplies to be stored.
This is the rug I was originally planning to use in the dining area. I need to check out the site that Kathi suggested because I'm not entirely happy with this rug option. Thanks, Kathi! It also looks like I could put a small built in buffet or shelving unit on the right wall, extending from the cabinets. Something to consider...

Several of you have mentioned how quickly I'm working and I've been so proud of myself for slowing down, lol. The last half scale house I did took only a few days. If you count the time I spent working on furniture in addition to the build and decorate time I will have spent nearly a month on this project. I tend to have most of the details worked out in my head before I start so the projects tend to go quickly, barring too many unforeseen difficulties. I've had to correct several "user errors" as I go this time but the results are going to be just what I pictured in my head.

A note to anyone planning to build this kit - I have never had a new mdf kit with so much warping in the pieces. No matter how many squares I use to get perfect angles I just can't get it to completely cooperate. Since this is supposed to be an old house that's being restored I guess that isn't all bad. (I've never lived in an old house with perfectly square corners and walls, ;-) ) But it's still frustrating.

Still need to move up but....

I took time to put the ceiling paper and crown molding in the downstairs rooms. I also mounted the ceiling light fixtures. So that all meant I had to set the furniture up again. ;) I'm debating whether to use a rug under the table in the kitchen. I think it would add some color but I'm just not sure. I also don't know what type, if any, curtains to use on these windows. Suggestions?
The ceiling fan is just right for the living room. This room needs a doorknob and possibly curtains as well as more accessories for the bookcases but it's effectively finished. I love this room. I could quite happily live here. The colors are very much my personal style.
Here's a slightly more finished version of the porch. The arches are installed and the steps are in place. I think I need a porch swing or glider or at least a bench on the right side of the porch and a small table between the chairs on the left. They need someplace to put a glass of lemonade or iced tea. :) I also need a door knob for the door.

I really like the color combination (thank you, Kim, for saying the same thing!) The ivy green and country tan look really nice with the tan and gray stone. I'm trying to use colors found in nature. It's going to be a very peaceful looking decor.

Just a quick update

Porch progress - The door is in and trimmed, inside and out. The windows on the lower level are now finished, too. The porch steps are in place. Now we're ready to move up.

PS Thanks, Kathi, for the information about the stained front door. I took your advice. :)

Stained glass "windows"

Some things are easier to do in a smaller scale house when the ceiling is still off. One is accessorizing the built in bookcases. Another is hanging artwork and the faux windows. I found an appropriate Arts and Crafts style stained glass design online. I printed it out on transparencies and mounted the cut out images on mirrored poster board. I added mitered trim stained like the window trim and they look very much like the windows that should be on the fireplace wall.
Ben and Ally seem to be enjoying their living room so far. I guess they don't mind the missing front door and the glass in the window, lol. For that matter, they don't even have a ceiling yet. ;)
The desk area looks good, too. The doorway to the kitchen won't have a door. It's more of an archway.

Now that I've had some play time with the mini accessories it's time to get back to the actual construction. The next step on the instruction sheet is to finish the porch. I think I need to assemble, stain and install the front door and then get to the porch.

Back tomorrow with updated photos.

I did get the foundation finished

I got my daughter settled with some chicken soup, tea and cold/flu medications. Poor thing is really miserable. She's spending the weekend in bed. I did have a bit of time to finish up the foundation once I got home. I love how it turned out! The upper posts are not yet glued on. I just wanted to get an idea of how it will look. The small town my daughter's college is in has a lot of bungalows. I got some research on exteriors in today, too. :)
Someone on one of my forums asked about built ins in the bungalow. I found some photos online for inspiration and this is what I decided on. The bookcases give me lots of room for accessories to personalize the space and are authentic to the architecture of the house. I could have done benches or glass door cabinets or some combination and still been true to the style but I like the balance of the two identical bookcases.

Hubby has to work tomorrow after church which is no fun for him but it means I will have more mini time. Tomorrow I'll start on the upper story and maybe finish the front door. I'm thinking a deep red for the exterior. It would contrast nicely with the green siding and tan trim. Anyone have any other suggestions for door color? All suggestions will be considered before making the final decision.

Making sense of all the little bits

Now that I've actually started the build, the instructions make much more sense, lol. It looked very intimidating at first and I've built a lot of dollhouse kits. Assembling the rails was one of the more time consuming projects.
But they are now finished - they've had one more coat of paint since this photo was taken.
The porch column bases are assembled and painted, too. Today I'm working on the stonework for the bases and the foundation. It's going to look just like it did in my head! Always a plus. ;)
I mounted the wall cabinets while I could keep the walls flat. The wall color is a bit brighter yellow than it shows up here - soft yellow but not cream. The base cabinets and appliances are not glued in place. I just wanted to see how everything would look.
Making sure everything is square while it dries. After I work on the porch I need to tape the upper story together to mark paint lines.

Note: Just got a call from one of my daughters. She's really sick so I'm making a road trip to take meds and chicken soup. Guess the stone work will be tomorrow's project. Have a great day!

Shingles, shingles and more shingles

Did I mention shingles? There isn't much I like about doing shingles - except for looking at the finished roof, lol. These have now all been stained and are drying. At the top of the photo you can see the first coat of paint on the exterior pieces. The siding will be the green. The trim will be country tan and the post bases will be tan and gray stone.
The lower level interior walls have been painted. The kitchen will be "hope" yellow and the living room paint color is a custom mix of leaf green, hope yellow and antique white. The base coat is straight leaf green.
I used a sponge brush to give a plaster like texture to the paint.

Three pictures don't look like hours of work. The shingles took a very long time and the interior walls have 2-3 coats of paint.

I hope no one plans to eat at the dining room table for awhile, lol. I've taken over!

It's here and only 1 day late for my birthday!

First the Fed Ex man came with a package for my husband. Then the mail man came but didn't bring a dollhouse. Finally, the UPS man (my hero, lol) brought my bungalow kit. I had given up on the kit and decided to start staining the interior doors and trim so I'd be ready.
While I had the stain out I did the floors. These floors don't come with nice wood floors like the other RGT half scale houses. I used a pen and a ruler to make my floor boards. And, you know me, I couldn't resist playing with the furniture to see if the layouts I had in my head would actually work. And they will! Here's the living room - the walls are just leaning. I haven't started construction.
This is the general layout of the kitchen. There are overhead cabinets to hang, too.
The bedroom will be in the middle room in the upper level. I need to trim my rug but everything will fit. The sewing room will be through the door on the right.
To the left of the bedroom is the bathroom. These pieces are plastic ones that I bought from an ebay seller. Each piece was a different shade of cream/white. I painted the tub and toilet to match, stained the cabinet, made the cabinet top look like marble and then added a "glass" bowl sink made from a suction cup. The area under the sink is where the stairs are supposed to come up. I decided not to use the stairs because they take up too much space. This room will have a linoleum type floor so the patched area will be covered.

This is by far the most complicated kit I've ever assembled. The resulting bungalow is going to be awesome but I'm going to have to force myself to take things slowly. So I'm finished for today. I'm planning to read through the instructions again and start fresh tomorrow.

A little time for minis - ;-)

Some time ago I made some vintage style metal lawns chairs in one inch scale for a back porch swap. I thought that style would be perfect for the bungalow porch - something a young couple who enjoy older furniture might like. So I got out some thin metal and some heavy wire. This is the chairs just after assembly.
And here are the finished chairs. The olive color will look great on the front porch.

Well, the post office tracking says my bungalow is out for delivery today. The mail man didn't drive up to the house with a package but maybe the box fits in our large mail box. Hubby will bring the mail up after work so I guess I'll see then. (Much as I want to get started on the bungalow, it's really cold today and I can't quite bring myself to walk down the drive, lol.)

Ally's home!

She arrived today. She came with very pale blonde hair and no facial features painted on. I "colored" her hair and gave her eyeballs and eye brows. I also painted the detail on her watch and gave both Ally and Ben wedding bands.

My wood trim strips for the bungalow also arrived today and the house has been shipped. It really might arrive for my birthday.

I'm glad I had all those good things happen today. I spent the afternoon in the ER with hubby who's been having chest pains. About 6 months ago he had a complete cardiac workup but the pains are getting worse. The stress at work has also dramatically increased so that could be a major factor. Anyway, all test results at the hospital today came back in normal range so he got to come home. Tomorrow we'll try to get him an appointment with the cardiologist.

Meet Ben and check out his laptop

Ben is a G scale model railroad figure. He's perfectly scaled for the half scale bungalow. I got his desk set up with a file folder full of paperwork and a laptop. Now he just has to wait for his wife to get here. :-)

Well, I thought it was finished!

By now you all know that I can't leave well enough alone, ;0). The desk just looked like it was missing something...and it was. The drawer over the chair area wasn't there. Now I'm truly happy with it.

Stained glass?

This is not a great photo but it's the view from the top looking down on a floor lamp I made yesterday.
This will be the ceiling light fixture for the kitchen.

These were so simple to make. I used inexpensive tiny suction cup hooks from Dollar Tree for the shades. The "leading" was done with a black Sharpie permanent marker and I used a toothpick to apply glass paint to the tiny sections.

Then I used a variety of materials to construct the actual lamps. The floor lamp has a wooden base with a flat bead as trim. The pole is a fancy toothpick and I used a small bead as the light bulb.

The kitchen light has a jewelry finding tip and part of a button for the ceiling mount.

I also made a light for the dining room and a ceiling fan for the living room but I'm having trouble getting decent photos.

I used beads and jewelry findings to make lights for the bedroom. They are a different style but still appropriate for the style of the house.

I'll keep trying for better pics. :)