Happy New Year!

I got the best start to the new year - a whole day to work on minis. There are plenty of other things I could have/should have been doing (Christmas decorations down, anyone?) but my husband and I decided to spend this rare day alone relaxing and doing things we enjoy doing. So I made some good progress on the French country house.

The stairs are supposed to face the other way but the console didn't fit that way and I like having the steps come up to the bedroom door. That way the mini people have to go back to get to the bathroom. That gives them a bit more privacy, lol. In order to make it work I had to do some 'bashing.' This is the first time I've done a major alteration to stairs. So I know the final product is far from perfect and it's likely that the mini people couldn't realistically use the stairs as they are now - but, then again, rarely are dollhouse stairs realistically operable anyway.

So here they are, in all their glory. ;-) I'm actually very pleased. I finished the back of the steps with a matte board panel so you don't see the ugly step backs. The console fits perfectly, without jutting into the kitchen doorway - I think it probably holds the mini television since the couch and chair face that way.

So after spending all day on the stairs, I got a chance to do a tiny little upgrade on the chairs. I almost got out of bed last night when the idea came to me but I managed to restrain myself. I just added a narrow strip of black paper around the seats of the chairs. That little bit of paper makes them look so much more finished.

And here they are, back in the kitchen.

I've had a very productive day in miniland. Tomorrow I'll have to go back to the real world and get the Christmas things put away and the snowman things out. Monday it's back to school so I want to have all of that done before reality hits.

Last year I did a year in review post. I will have to see if I actually completed anything in 2014. Real life, aka Daughter #2's wedding, took most of my creative energy for the year. Totally worth it but I'm very glad to get back to my mini world.

Have a blessing filled day, wherever you are!

It worked!

I was able to make my modifications to the upper cabinets work. The small cabinet over the sink was supposed to go over the stove at the far end of the cabinets - my stove won't fit there and I like this layout since I don't have a window over the sink. I also left off all of the doors and added glass shelves to the inside of the larger cabinets. That gives me more display room and also gives the cupboards a more contemporary look.

I got the stair surround finished, too. The glue hasn't dried in the photo but you get the general idea. :0)

The final photo is of the living room art. My hubby just celebrated 20 years with his employer and he got a couple of catalogs from which to choose his recognition gift (he chose new golf clubs, btw). One of the catalogs was of artwork, copies of several modern artists in perfectly scaled little prints. I framed a few, painted some brush strokes on with Mod Podge and they look like the owner/artist framed some of her own works for the wall. Oh, and the frames are Dollar Tree plastic stickers that come in three metallic shades. I rubbed some black paint over them to tone the metal color down a bit.