The Gothic Hall and the Attic Parlour

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all doing well! Thank you once again for your kind feedback. It means a great deal to me to have other miniaturists enjoy my work. The past few weeks have been busy with the never ending renovations and work has been crazy, but I found time to finish the Gothic Hall and Parlour in the attic.

Gothic Hall

The Parlour 

The fireplace I made was originally all mahogany, but I wanted something a bit more elegant, so I used some marble paper I purchased years ago.

The Gothic Hall is the room between the Nursery and the Bathroom with the attic staircase landing. I had a hard time deciding what this room would be . Originally I thought about a small sitting room, then office, and finally, mostly because of the design, I decided it would serve as a prayer room. I'm not getting into any religious discussion, but I will say that the Dewells share my beliefs: The table will have the religious book of each main religion living side by side peacefully. 

I love Gothic churches and decided to divide the staircase area and the prayer room with Gothic arches. I started by taking a piece of 3 inch basswood and cutting out the arch shapes I wanted with an x-acto knife. I didn't like the space above the side arches, so I cut out openings to add some architectural detail. The second step was adding molding to the arched openings. Again, I scored the molding every 1/8 inch, about half way down, and was able to curve it.

In the next picture, you can see the supports I used to hold a 1/2 inch strip to make the arch piece look wider. I took some cocktail toothpicks, cut them and glued them into the top opening to add a little interest. I didn't put a back to the piece because there is no way to see it.

 When the glue was dry, I added some molding to the front of the piece. Usually I cover the curved molding with Gesso to fill the cuts I made for curving but I liked the detail it added so I just painted the piece as is.

 Next, I had to make the columns to support the arches. I used a 5/8 inch dowel to make the columns and attached the railing pieces to them.

 The next picture is the dry run before I designed the rest of the room. This is when it became clear the room would have a very religious character.

After the arches I took out my books and looked at churches to come up with a design for the window over the staircase. I was going to make a skylight, but decided to make a large dormer instead.

 To build the window I made a frame with 5/8 strip molding and I took a 3 inch wide piece of basswood and carved out the arch details at the top. I used molding to accent the curves and I used the smallest dowels I could find to make the column detail. I just glued them together lengthwise.

 Here is the window in place. All the windows in the manor will get panes of stained glass, but this window will be all stained glass. I have not put a roof on the dormer yet. I'm still deciding if I want to make it skylight so I can have daylight coming in over the staircase. 

 And here is a close up of the arches and window after faux-finishing.

The wall over the staircase was quite large and I wanted to make something interesting with it. I decided to paint the Dewell family tree. You have all heard me say how much I hate painting, but i think I did a pretty good job of it

 I started by looking at pictures and painting the tree. When the tree was dry I tried...tried...to paint faces. In the closeup picture you can see some of them look like Wallace and Gromit, but considering I don't like painting, don't to it much, and the tree is only 4 1/2 inched tall, I am quite pleased with it.

The Dewell who live in the Manor are on the top left branch

 The family crest was a present for one of my best friends.When I made the Chinoiserie panels I was asked how I painted the designs. Honestly I have no technique. I look up what I want to paint on line and in books and I try to interpret it.  I use Delta Ceramcoat paints and the smallest brushes I could find.

View before the arches were installed

 When you are standing on the side of the house you can look through the door frame of the Morning Room and you get a good view of the tree and the banisters.

Morning Room and hall view

The Parlour was also a bit of a challenge. I cut out the back of the roof to make room for large windows. You would have views of the ocean from both sides and I wanted to take advantage of that. I built the windows and a fireplace and had a test fit,

 The only sad thing is that the only way to see this room is through the doorway of the Chinese Tea Room. You can see the back windows and the fireplace and that's it! The side window cannot be seen at all

Here is a look at the elements for both room when I was ready to paint them,

 Instead of making a deep dormer I added a balcony being the back windows. The manor will be brick and stone. I am using the Magic Brick system. I painted the balcony wall the colour I want the grout, then I applied the tape that came with the Brick kit.

 I added water to the powder until it was icing consistency, then applied it over the surface, waited 5 minutes, and removed the tape. Here it is dry and varnished. I love the look, but will age and colour the bricks when I do the front of the manor.

This balcony wall was also a colour test. I used the beige I painted the kitchen ceiling for grout colour and also for the stonework. I think it will look better when I'll individually paint certain bricks and age the walls

Next, I made the floors for the rooms and the 2 corridors. For the Gothic Hall I made a pattern using 2 types of wood and I played with the grain direction....it took forever!

Gothic Hall Floor

Parlour

 Since the Parlour would barely be seen, I wanted to make a bold floor that would stick out.

 I used 3 types of wood, played with the grain direction again...really played...then I added 2 coats of shellac. Here is the finished floors connected by the hallway floors.

Finished Floors

 The hall to the left leads to the Morning Room and Nursery, and the other hallway is behind the bathroom. The last thing to do before assembling the rooms was to put a ceiling in the parlour. In the picture below you can see I screwed in a piece of wood on which I glued the double thick illustration board ceiling.

When the ceiling was done I started gluing all the elements down. Here is a look at the Parlour through the back window...a view you'll never see again,

You can see unfinished elements from this view. This room was a lot of work and I decided it was not worth finishing walls impossible to see...although I haven't ruled out finishing the walls at a later date.

 And here is the only view of the Parlour. When the room was assembled I noticed you could see the structure through the doorway. I added a 5 inch wall on each side of the doorway creating an anteroom. It covered up the structure, but it made the view even narrower.

 And here are the pictures of the empty rooms. I wanted chandeliers in every room, but in the Gothic Hall I think I'll hang stained glass lanterns between the side arches and I'll get some floor candelabra.

Gothic Hall. The wainscot was a present from one of my closest friends, as well as the ceiling which is the same as the Chinese Tea Room, only all white.

Parlour behind Chinese Tea Room. I'm happy the floor worked with the anteroom walls.

View of the dormer through the Nursery door

Hall behind Nursery

And that is what I got done since my last post. Technically, all the interior rooms of the Manor are finished...so it's time to redecorate! I have to redo the Library Floor, and I have to say I am not happy with the Music Room. It's okay, but not what I envisioned. I will make a new floor, add wainscot,and make more caryatids. I have also been thinking of the Loggia. I know what I want, but just have to figure out how to do it...and of course, there are the shingles for the roof...

 As I mentioned earlier we are still renovating our house and work has been gruelling so I don't have as much time to work on my miniatures, but as soon as another room is finished you can expect a new post. I hope you all have a great day, week, month...and while I don't put up new posts often,  I'll definitely be following your wonderful projects.
Thank you once again my friends.

Big hugs to all,

Giac

Nursery and Bathroom

Hello Everyone,
I hope you are all doing well. First of all, thank you SO MUCH for your incredible feedback on the Chinese tea room, I was blown away by your kind words and want you to know that I appreciate all of you, old friends and new, for taking the time to comment. Honestly, after that I was a little worried about how to follow up on that room. I hope I won't dissapoint!
Once again, I am sorry to have taken so long between posts. I wish I could post once a week, but between real life renovations and more complex miniature ideas, it takes me a little longer to finish a room. However, I did manage to get 2 rooms done the past few weeks.

I finished the Nursery


Nursery

Nursery

Day Nursery



Night Nursery

 And the Bathroom


Bathroom

Bathroom Fireplace and tub

First of all, the Nursery. I had completely underestimated how long this room would take to build. The dimensions of the Nursery are 21" x 18". I decided to split it into a day and a night nursery. The night nursery is 18" x 8" and is a step up from the rest of the room. My starting point for the room was the puppet theater. After much trial and error I decided where it would look best and got to work.

Front of Theater and built in cabinet

 I started by cutting out each side of the theater in double thickness illustration board. I decided I would also build a built in shelf and cabinet to house my Nursery China and some toys. I used 1/2 inch lumber to frame each piece. You can see the "support" structure in the next picture,

Back of Theater and structural elements

 I had some wainscott panels I purchased and used some for the back of the open shelves. The doors on the bottom do not open, so I glued molding directly onto the illustration board and painted it.


Built in cabinet before painting

When all was dry I made red curtains using the pretty pleater. I glued them to the theater walls so they don't open. I'd rather they hang well and not lose their shape. I left an opening and will put a marionette bend over the stage. I had cut out a square in the subfloor and used leftover marble I painted on illustration board to make a chess floor. I wanted a chess set that the children could interact with...another idea inspired by Alice in Wonderland

Finished Theater and built in. I also made the coat rack to the left of the door using cocktail toothpicks

Before I installed the theater, I glued the wallpaper to the primed walls using regular wallpaper past. The paste workes great with Les chinoiseries wallpapers which are made of good thick paper, but I had a piece of blue non Les Chinoiseire dollhouse wallpaper I put onto the ceiling of the room and the paste showed.


Fixing a disaster

I didn't want to paint it, for fear of getting paint on the wallper on the walls, so I purchased a calender of coastal paintings and used it to create faux ceiling windows. I wanted them to look like paintings, not real windows, so I made sure the calender was of painting and not photographs. I glued them down over the ruined paper, then took illustration board and cut out the openings for the pictures, painted it my white ceiling color, and glued it down. A little molding and I was happy. I used a sunrise for the Night Nursery and a bright blue sky for the Day Nursery. You can see the finished ceiling in the first few pictures of this post.

The next step was the room devider. I glued down a piece of MDF to create the step up and then I made the floors for the room.

 I used lumber to cover the mdf. Every piece of molding or lumber in this room was painted before installation. I often had to do touch ups, but it is so much easier to have everything pre-painted...once I finally decided ont he color palette. I glued in the post at the back of the room and worked my way to the front.

 The railing sections were measured, built and painted before they went in. When I got to the end, I took a piece of mdf and cut it to match the angle of the roof line. I glued it in and added lumber to join the top of the room.

The final step was cutting arches in 1/8 inch basswood to fit between the centers of the posts. When all was dry I took out the pretty pleater and made some curtains. My idea was that the curtains would be closed at night so the heat of the fireplace would stay on the Night side of the Nursary and keep the children warm.



. 

View of Night Nursery from the Day Nursery

Another project I wanted was a roombox over the mantel. I love Alice in Wonderland and decided to re-create "Painting the Roses Red" I started by making a box out of lumber, then I used scraps of the calender I used on the ceiling to fill the box

The scenery

 I then used 1 inch lumber to make the castle wall and painted it grey. To create the hedge, I covered illustration board with suede fabric and painted it with green paint. The rose bushes are pieces I cut off from a sponge brush, inserted onto a toothpick, and painted.

Making the card gardners

 The "card" gardners are made from the thinnest lumber I could find, beads for the heads, and a piece of thin metal I had which I bent into the shape I wanted for the arms. I left one side of the metal longer on 2 cards to look like they are holding paint brushes. I painted on the clubs with a toothpick. The roses are very small beads that were flat on one side, but had a diamond texture ont he other. I painted them white, then went over with red paint to make it look like they were painted.


The finished roombox next to a penny



The roombox installed

Next to the fireplace I created a seating nook. I wanted a cushion for it, but the T shape made it difficult to upholster. After many trials and errors, I took a piece of foamcore board, cut out the shape, glued on some foam around the side, and covered just the side with my fabric. I cut illustration board for the top part of the cushion, covered it with foam, and glued ont he fabric. I used a needle and thread to tuft the cushion. I started on the bottom, pushed it through the cushion, then pushed it back through about 1/16 of an inch to the side. I took both threatds on the bottom and tied them tight. Next, I glued them together and installed them. The only part missing in the Nursery is a half scale table and chairs for a children's tea party. I might try making puppets that look like the Mad Hatter, March Hair (my favourite) and the Dormouse

The top part is on the left, you can see the tufting knots

 While all this was going on, I also worked on the bathroom when I had to wait for pieces to dry. I had the laminated cardboard tiles and mahogany bathroom fixtures from Bespaq. I had to paint 3 different colors of green on the walls before I found one I liked...you can see earlier attempts in the first picture.

I also had the Bespaq fireplace. I cut out the firebox and re-did it so it would be deeper and look more correct. Originally, I had planned to have only mahogany crown molding, chair rails,and baseboards. I glued on the floor tiles (a plastic sheet) and the wall tiles using wallpaper paste. There was a gap on each side of the fireplace wall caused by the piece of 1/4 inch mdf for the angled wall, so I used my doorframe molding to cover them. The top of the wall bothered me. The long strip of green made the room look odd, so I used the doorframe molding to create section and then also created some on each side of the bathtub

I had planned to remove the cistern and add a pipe to make it look more victorian, but through research I realised a one piece toilet was appropriate for 1900, so I decided to leave it intact and avoid making a mistake. At first I was worried the tile would not work for a victorian bathroom, but in the end I think it worked pretty well.

And now, as usual, here are the empty rooms

In the last post someone asked what kinf of china I would have in the Chinese Tea Room. The pieces on the corbels will be white with blue, green and red painting...I think, but for the table I did something I've never done before...I commissioned an artist to make me a dinner set. My very first commission!  I met Julie Dewar at the Montreal miniature Show and fell in love with both her and her work. I sent her a picture of a tea set I saw online and asked her to interpret it and create her own version of it. She painted a Cherry Blossom design on a yellow background. The pattern is so small I could not get a good picture, but you can at least see how amazing it looks int he room



Imperial cherry Blossom dinner set

You can see close ups of the set and more of her great work on her website at Westwinds miniatures. Julie, you are an amazing artist and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, I know they were a lot of work, but they are amazing and make me very happy!

And that, my dear friends, is all for now. Next, I will work on the office and staircase landing on the attic floor. I hope you all have a wonderful week, or weeks, and I look forward to catching up on your blogs. I have learnt so much by following all of you and I thank you for your kindness and your friendship. Keep up your amazing artwork

A big, big hug to all,
Giac