Dare I Say It? The Dollhouse is… DONE!

I guess technically, I don’t see the dollhouse as ever really being “done”. I will be constantly adding or changing the house as I find small objects that will be added. And I still want to add clear plastic “doors” to keep the level of dust down and prevent any prying eyes and fingers from invading its interior.

But, I have gotten the dollhouse to the point where I feel that it is done. It has been renovated and painted. Its windows, doors and staircases have been replaced and updated. Flooring has been laid, built-ins completed and the house has been furnished and ready for someone to move in.

When I first moved the house to the living room from the basement, I took this photo to use as a reference when describing or referring to specific rooms. I will include it in the posts over the next several days as I reveal the work that has been done.

Today, I want to show you the outside, or more apt, the front of the house.

Here it is, in all of its simplicity. I’ve done only a minimum, as I’ve run across a shortage of funds right now. Three major things missing are the porch railings, the widow’s walk railings and shutters. Purchasing these particular items are going to cost somewhere in the realm of the three hundred dollar mark, so out of the budget right now (I actually have work to do on the real house I live in!).

They will be easily added when funds are available without impact to the interiors, so I am not concerned. I did make and install the flower boxes and seeing as it was ready for the fourth of July, I wanted to include a flag. I had enough leftover railings from the interior to fit the small balcony, I plan to match the railings on the porch. I also have a small working porch light that I have to figure out how to install.

So, this is the first in a series of posts to show you the house. I have taken a ton of photos and also created some tutorials on how I did a few things that I will also add as I write.

For now, I will just leave you with more photos of the front:

Please keep coming back! And if you have questions about anything you see, please let me know in the comments section.

Strawberries! And Another Vanity Restore

First, let me just brag about the crazy awesomeness of my strawberry patch! A couple of weeks ago, the patch was covered in little white flowers and last week I harvested about a pint of sweet berries. Me and The Kid went out last night to check the pumpkin patch and I thought to give the strawberries a quick check! Yowza!

I did find a couple more of those pesky snails, so it would seem I need pesticide. Or some natural bug killer. One more thing on the TO DO list!

Oh, here is a quick shot of the pumpkin patch. These were started from seeds kept from last year around Halloween and sprouted in the kitchen. We were worried at first that they wouldn’t grow, but should have known better!

I have also been working on another vanity, originally I had hoped to keep it for myself, but the house is already overflowing to stretching the seams! This had a great story behind it, the man who I got it from told us that it was built in US-occupied Japan and was built with old growth oak. There was a lot of beautiful wood in the piece, unfortunately, it had been sitting in his damp basement for way too long and had a lot of wood and veneer damage. So, I salvaged what I could, which was sanded and re-varnished. What I couldn’t replace was replaced by maple plywood and painted a high gloss ivory. The handles were painted a matching color and replace. I also painted the last 40″ square mirror to match and it looks spectacular. The matching bench seat was all oak, so it too, was sanded and re-varnished. I covered the top with a gorgeous two toned upholstery fabric and viola!, perfection!

Isn’t it beautiful? I love the way the two tones play off of each other. (You can see the reflection of the as-of-yet still-unsold doll house! :-().

A quick shot of the kid helping with the vanity. I am the luckiest mom to have been blessed with The Kid. He is the antithesis of what I was at his age! Thank heavens!

And not to go on and on, but isn’t CraigsList just the best thing ever?! I don’t know what I am going to do with it, but a student of architecture was giving away one of his projects and I had to have it! Not quite the normal scale of 1 inch to 1 FOOT scale that most dollhouses are, none of the existing furniture or fixtures I have will work in this house. And did I mention it was HUGE? It stands about 4 1/2 foot tall and the base is 4′ x 4′ but it is FRIGGIN’ COOL!

The Kid has claimed one of the remaining Victrola cabinets and has been working on it. I think it will turn out even better than if I had done the work. He has a great imagination and loves the wood working. If it just weren’t already getting so hot and muggy!

More stuff on the way! Come back soon!