Attic: Morning Room and Sewing Room

Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing well. First of all, thank you all so much for your kind comments on my last post. It really means a lot to me. Real life renovations have been keeping us very busy, but I did manage to make a little time for Dewell Manor. Yesterday I finished the 2 first rooms in the attic floor, the Morning Room and the sewing Room:

Morning Room

Morning Room

Morning Room

 The Morning Room is over the dressing Room, so the windows next to the fireplace look over the sea, and the other window on the opening wall panel will overlook the Rose Garden. Through the back door is a hall and the Nursery door, so the lady of the house could sit here and play with her children early in the day. Through the door facing the fireplace is the sewing room, so she'll be close by for morning fittings.

Sewing Room

Sewing Room

Working in the attic was an interesting challenge. Contrary to the 2 main floors, the structure went up before I had envisionned the rooms. Originaly the attic was going to be storage space and the morning room was going to house the electrical elements. So after I realized I would be wasting a lot of space, I decided to rework the attic floor and started making holes in the wall.

The Morning Room is in front of a window in my real life living room, so I wanted to add some windows to take advantage of natural light. I was going to make 2 small dormers, but in the end I decided to open up the side of the roof and add a section so that the fireplace in this room will line up with the chimney for the Dressing Room and the Kitchen underneath.

First I cut out the opening

next I added the back wall with the window openings and the chimney. This bump out will be finished in brick with battlements which will add to the castle-like look of the building

I used mdf for the back window wall, and illustration board with lumber strips for the sides of the bumpout. I figured cutting the mdf and getting the angles perfect was not worth the effort. Everything, inside and out, got coated in primer.

When the bump out was built, I painted the walls and  I made a false ceiling for the room. This hid the larger lumber I used for the roof structure.

I cut illustration board to the right size, then glued leftover pieces of Mdf tot he back so the ceiling would be solid, and most importantly it would minimize warping. I also used small pieces as supports

When it was dry, I used screws and glue to attach the support pieces to the roof structure. Now the ceiling was solid.

The next step was fix the bottom half of the walls. I don't like angled walls that go to the floor, so I cut illustration board to just about 4 inches high, then, using leftover mdf pieces for support and strength, I glued them all around the room. This was I have walls to push furniture against. When that was primed, I wallpapered.

The next step was to get my components ready. I made the windows and doorframes, faux marbled a Braxton Payne fireplace and faux finished all the lumber and baseboards I would need.

The first step was to finish the ceiling. I put the structure upside down and started gluing the lumber in place.

Ceiling beams and spacer

The first pieces I glued down, always using gel super glue and the Ultimate Glue, were to cover the gaps where the illustration board walls met the angled mdf roof panels. Next I added the cross beams. I decided how many beams would look nice and cut a spacer to help them all line up. When the ceilings in both the Morning Room and Sewing Room were done, I flipped it over and started work on the floors.

I was concidering making simple wood floors, but when I went to test fit the illustration board subfloor I realised , because the walls were angled and I had the nook to contend with, It was impossible to position it in one piece. I cut a 1 1/2 inch strip of the subfloor and added a border detail where the  section would meet. 

The final step was adding baseboards and lumber to the bottom half of the wall. If you look in the picture with the caption "Ceiling beams and spacer". you can see that the wallpaper was cut in sections instead of gluing around the room in large sheets. This made it easier to work with the angled walls, and all the gaps would be covered by lumber.

On this floor, only the Nursery and Bathroom will have doors. This way, you'll have a better view of the "hidden" rooms and hallways. And here are the empty rooms

And that is all for now. It's funny, but the whole time I was working on the attic rooms I was afraid they would be tight. I only realised how big they were when I put in the furniture...clearly, I'll need more pieces to fill the rooms.

 This might be my last post for a while. Jo and I are going on Holiday June 5th and will be back the week of the 20th. I'll make sure to catch up to all your blogs when I get back and keep working on Dewell Manor.

I said it before and I'll say it again, I'm incredibly touched and thank you for your support. I apologize if I don't respond to your comments, but I have to chose between responding to comments or visiting your blogs to keep up to date.
Also, a big thank you to those who chose my blog for an "Inspirational Blog" award. When I get back from holiday I will pass the award on and share 5 habits of mine. Be afraid, be very afraid.

A big hug to all of you, and keep up all your great work, you are all a source of great inspiration.

Giac
aka Honey Badger

Manor update and what I did not get for my birthday!

Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing well. I'm sorry it's been such a while since my last post, but I've been rather busy with real life renovations and it took me a while to figure out how to put together the attic rooms, but I'm hoping to have a progress report by next weekend...even new finished rooms.
In the meantime, since the 2 main floors of the manor are 95 % done, Here is a tour of the house, from left to right, the way I see it. My camera is not working right now, so you've seen some of these pictures before...I promise only new pictures next post:

First Floor

The House

Kitchen, Scullery, Butler's Pantry

Dining Room

Great Room, Game Room

Great room, Drawing Room

Entrance and Grand staircase

Music Room

Second Floor

Dressing Room

Master Bedroom

Girl's Bedroom

Boy's Bedroom

Gallery

Library

Bedroom Hall and Attic Staircase

When I look at these pictures, the first thing that comes to mind is I have A LOT of accessories to buy to fill the Manor.

The timing for this post is actually perfect. Yesterday, May 2nd was my birthday. Unlike many I LOVE my birthday and make it a point to make it all about me! This year, I wanted to celebrate 34 years of existance and mischievousness (my idols are Calvin from Calvin and Hobbs and Daffy Duck)  by taking a weekend day to myself, watching episodes of "The Golden Girls" and "Keeping Up Appearances", while eating cheesecake and admiring my presents which I hoped were chandeliers. The reality was working on the real life  renovations and the chandeliers, which were ordered January 2nd, were not ready and we have no idea when they will arrive...after the dissapointment, I did manage to have cheesecake...lots of cheesecake, and even though I had a great time with my family, I swore next year my 35th b-day will have to make up for this one!

I make a big deal about my birthday because it's the one day of the year I like to reflect and think about what I've done, my accomplishements, what I want, making sure I'm still as childlike as ever... and obviously one of the biggest accomplishements was the Manor. I have to thank you all, very sincerely, for everything you have given me the past year. I always find fault with my work, am always afraid of failure andam always my cruelest critic. Your comments, support, suggestions and kindness have kept me focused, make me always want to outdo my previous work, and thanks to all of you I am starting to feel that no matter what life shortcomings I have, I know I'am good at one thing.

Sorry if my rambling made anyone sick to their stomach. So back to the Manor. my deadline of having all the interior rooms done is obviously not gonna happen, so in true Honey Badger form, New deadline: Finishing the interior and exterior for Christmas 2012...and if it doesn't happen, I am not a competitive person at all, so it will just be pushed back. HA!

Thank you all so much for everything, when I say I appreciate all of you very much, you can trust it is sincere and very heartfelt. Keep up all your great work, I might not always have time to comment, but I see all!

Big unbirthday hugs to all,
Giac,
Honey Badger of Miniatures

Finished Kitchen, Butler's Pantry and scullery

Hello Everyone!
I hope you're all having a great week. I had the day off Friday, and spent it working on the Butler's pantry, the last part of the kitchen.  I usually just put the furniture in for my posts, but since I've shown you the furnished kitchen before I decided to take out some of my accessories for this one...I don't want to bore you!

The kitchen measures 24" x 20". As I made progress on the manor, I realized the space was big enough to incorporate a scullery and a butler's pantry.

The butler's pantry is the first thing you see when you walk  from the dining room to the kitchen. The first floor of the manor is 14" high so I decided to go as high as I could.

When I was looking up butler's pantries, the one that caught my I had a backsplash and counter top covered with one sheet of copper.The unit measures 9 3/4 inches large, and 11 1/2 inches high. The top part has 4 shelves and glass front doors with locks, and the bottom part has 4 small locked drawers for silver, and 2 larger ones for linen. the bottom drawers are glued on to a base. Because they are at the back of the room I didn't see any reason to make them functional...it is all about illusion after all.

The copper counter and backsplash is 2 pieces of 1/4 inch mdf glued together and covered in embossing copper sheets. I glued them on with The Ultimate Glue and gel Super Glue. The bottom part and counter/ backsplash was easy. What took a little thinking was the shelf section. I didn't want working doors. I don't mind putting in hinges, but the shelves are far enough that opening them and putting in dishes could be a little difficult and I'm afraid I might pull the doors off accidentaly. Once the unit is glued in place this would be difficult to fix. So here is my solution

The shelf unit is glued to the wall, and the front of the unit with the doors just comes right off. You can see in the picture above I glued a piece to go over the top of the unit, drilled holes that went through both, and glued a piece of dowell to the top unit. This way, I just lift off the door section and slip it back into place once I've put all the china in.

Here is my original drawing and the 4 units that make up the bulter's pantry. I faux finished everything in a dark walnut color and glued it into place.

So here is the butler's pantry

the scullery, finished with taps from Sussex Crafts 

the cooking area

and here is the empty room

And now the first and second floors of Dewell Manor are complete, except for lighting and a little detail work I'll talk about next time. I planned on working on the Attic floor the next few weeks, but some real life renovations might take up my time, but I will put up a new post as soon as I can.

To everyone celebrating Easter this weekend, I hope you have a wonderful, chocolat filled day, and to all my friends not celbrating, have a wonderful week. Thank you all for following my blog, for your comments and your support. It is thanks to all of you that I have stayed focused and have accomplished what I have...you are all the best!

Big hugs,
Giac

Dressing Room and Montreal Miniatures Show

Hello Everyone. I hope you all had a woonerful week. It's been a while since my last post. I just want to thank you all for your wonderful comments and taking the time to follow my work. It means a lot to me and your kind words keep me inspired and focused. So to everyone who has been following my adventure, thank you so much!

Once again I underestimated how long the Dressing Room would take. 3 weeks later I finished:

The room measure 20" x 24". The windows on the fireplace wall overlook the ocean, the back door leads to the Bedroom Hall, the door on the right leads to the Master Bedroom, and the wall we're lookin in from will have a large window overlooking a rose garden.

The room is pretty simple: Wallpaper and ceiling paper, large baseboards and chair rails. I was afraid the room might be a little boring, so I thought I'd put a little extra effort into the floor.

You might remember, when I made the Gallery floor, I glued down one piece of wood with the grain going in the wrong direction. After it was shellaced is stuck out like a sore thumb. I figured I could use different grain directions to make an interesting floor. I drew 1/4 of the design on graph paper and printed several copies. I then put the paper on the wood veneer and cut out each piece with an exacto knive, making sure I payed attention to the direction of the wood grain.

I first glued down the dark wood circles to create the medallion outline. Next I filled in each section. I cut 4 pieces at a time and glued them in place. I think about 20 pieces fit the first time , every other one had to be adjusted or re-cut. When that was done I glued the dark border around the room that matches the one in the Master Bedroom.

The next step was to fill in the the rest of the floor. I went with diagonal slats. Once again I wanted to use the wood grain to create interest. I've mentionned the wood veneers before. You just heat them with an iron to activate the glue. I prefer to touch the wood side of the veneer strip to the iron  for 5 seconds and then put it into place. When I've done about 10 inch section I go over with the iron so the edges my fingers were holding stick down.  

The final step was applying 3 coats of shellac, waiting 30 minutes between coates, and voila

I left it overnight and went over it with Dark floor wax. There is a natural color floor wax, but I like the dark one because it fills in the cracks and makes the floor look used. the next day, I glued it into place.

The fireplace is from Unique Miniatures, and was my very first attempt at faux marbling over a year ago.

The room is big for a dressing room, but in my mind a lot goes on there.

The lady of the house would sit here to have her morning tea listening to the ocean before choosing what to wear. The Corset is by Pedrete. The pictures do not do it justice. It is exquisite!

She would go over the accounts with the housekeeper, approve the menu for the day , and give her instructions for the staff

And finally she would sit at her vanity and get ready, always looking out at the water. The overmantel was made with the window and door trim, crown molding, and a leftover piece of the frieze from the Dining Room

And that's ot for progress...now for shopping.

Yesterday was the yearly Montreal Miniatures Show. I had a lovely time and found some great pieces.

I know exactly which chandelier I want in each room and was happy to find the Sheryl Renee from the Getzans for the Dressing room at the Little Dollhouse Company. The Tea set was an impulse buy from the lovely Janice Crawley...again it was perfect for milady's tea in the dressing Room. The potatoes and trouts I purchased from martha Mclean. She has spectacular pieces.

I love going to the show, but it always makes me antsy to finish construction. I'm enjoying every minute...but I look forward to the day I can just buy accessories to my hearts content. I'm dying to get floral arangements from Martha Mclean, accessories made by Julie from Westwinds Miniatures and...pretty much everybody...Well there's always next year.When I look at the Manor I think it will take me another year to finish it, then about 30 years to accessorize it.

Well, that's it for this week. I've been asked which issues of Miniaturas Dewell Manor is featured in. So far ssue 167 showed the Great Room, 168 the Entrance and staircase, and 169 the Library. i believe they are out in Europe, but not sure when they ged accross the ocean.

 Before I start work on the Attic floor I decided to build a butler's pantry in one section of the kitchen. If I'm not done by next weekend, I just want to wish everyone a very Happy Easter, and happy weekend to those not celebrating, or celebrating the week after. As always, I look forward to seeing your work. You always inspire me with your amazing talent and creative ideas.

All the best my friends, I send you great big hugs,

Giac