Success with Chateau kitchen

 Finally I pulled it all together today! I'm very pleased with the results and have a sense of satisfaction. 

I knew I had to spray paint the new arches, and went on the hunt for low-odor spray paint, as it's 30 degrees here in Chicago. I landed on PintyPaint  (comes from Spain) - I researched it and wanted to buy local, so I could work on this week while I'm off from work. Turns out JoAnn carries it so I scooped up 2 cans and started. At first, it seemed a bit strong, but I opened the windows a crack and had the fan on. It's dry enough in 30 minutes to do another layer.  I got a nice soft white that is matte. 3 coats and it was perfect. 

Hanging the  Ray Storey chandeliers was a challenge, I had to ensure the length of chain was the same for both, and I scrounged my old jewelry and patiently attached them. Needed to drill a bit up in the peak to ensure I could feed the wire through to the exterior roof. 

Gluing the Sue Cook corbels, the custom arches and the Unique Miniatures trim...all coming together. It's been a long time coming and I've invested lots of time (and money) into this room, and I'm happy it's done. 

Chateau kitchen arches

The arches have been cut, glued together (3 layers) and painted. I'm now ready to glue them in with the flat decorative trim between the corbel brackets. I have a week off and would really like to wrap this up. Need to install the 2 hanging lights too.

Workspace organization - Ikea cabinet

 My Cricut needed a better home than the old desk I had it on. Let me set the stage a bit. My main dollhouse miniatures workroom space is in the basement where I have the main storage cabinets including some Ikea cabinets.

When I got the Chateau dollhouse, I had to find a home for it in a different space than in the basement, since I wasn't going to work on it right away. So I located it in a 2nd-floor bedroom, which is where I do my real work - what I do for a living (I work from home). 

As I started to work on the Chateau, my need for tools, etc., came with that. It's not very convenient to have to constantly run down 2 flights of stairs to grab sandpaper or glue. So I have had a dual-use room for the last 2-3 years. I've improvised with some old desks that we no longer use (I do use some of these desks as my dollhouse miniature village in the basement). So my old desk housed my network equipment and printer and became the temporary home for my Cricut. 

I've been admiring Sherrill's craft room and her use of Ikea Havsta cabinets and bit the bullet and bought one a few weeks ago. Today I got down to business and put the one I bought together. It of course took me longer because I did a few things backward but it's finally done. I'm very happy with it! I love the nice wide size and the narrower depth of the cabinet. 

It also helps to hide the things I now have inside - printer paper, Cricut supplies, a color printer...and some mini tools. I still have to clean and organize the closet in this room. It's become a catch-all for more mini supplies (wallpaper, tools, furniture I will use in this dollhouse). But that's for another day. And please ignore the mess around my actual desk, I have to organize the old desk on the left or get rid of it. I will probably get rid of it too, but right now my rolling drawers slide right under it and it does provide an additional surface to be able to set up my cutting mat for wallpaper.

New Cricut Maker 3

I decided it was high time to step into the tech world with my miniatures. My attempts at making an arched ceiling beam for my vaulted ceilings from basswood sheets for the Chateau haven't been going well. My dear husband stepped in and made a much better version using basswood strips and a pre-shaped arch I found. These took him hours and are much more uniform than my attempts. I sanded and painted them...and was getting ready to install in my kitchen. 

Not too fast...the wallpaper in the kitchen just wasn't cutting it, and the flooring lacked umph. I found some fabulous tile paper from Les Chinoiserie that was originally for a bathroom and it was calling me to use it in the kitchen. So I got that applied to a base and then found another Les Chinoiserie paper for the walls...and I'm in love! 

Now to get back to the arches, well it hit me...Cricut can cut thin basswood. We had actually thought about it a few months ago when hubby was doing the 2nd version using basswood strips. Bit the bullet and got it last week. We spent the week on and off, he did the SVG, and then I did some test projects learning Design Space and using the Cricut to cut them. We did a trial on paper, then on cardstock veneer, and then finally on the 1/16" basswood. I'm doing the happy dance!

Here's the floor, wallpaper, and the old arch beam - while I consider the choices...before:

Now the paper is installed, and the flooring laid (I'm really grooving on it!)

First test of the basswood. 

This is when I realize the bottom horizontal is all the way across, unlike the original design. Still....I love it! This is only 1 thickness, and the idea is I will glue 3 of the 1/16" pieces together. 

Final version - and I'm now printing 3 on a 24" sheet. Just ordered more wood. I also decided that I will do the same arches in the other wing - the conservatory. 

Chateau Foyer gets new look

The Foyer wallpaper I chose originally - I had my heart set on the panel effect and spent a lot of time (and $) in finding the right paper, and then cutting the pattern to a narrower repeat (because the room was not all that large). I was pretty happy with it...but it had seams that were more obvious than I liked. And the outside coach lights stopped working, not even bulb replacements would fix that. 

So I bit the bullet and got more coach lights and found a fabulous deep elegant wallpaper from Les Chinoiseries. The crown molding in that room was different than the LR and DR, since I didn't have enough of that molding. But I really wasn't happy with the one I ended up using. So, it all came out. The new coach lights went up, and I wired them to the subfloor instead of the wall. This way, if the connection goes wonky, I can lift the floor and re-attach the eyelets. 

The wallpaper went up like a charm, and it dramatically changed the mood...its so rich and elegant. As I was installing it, the idea of using a dark/wood look in a crown started to form. I had purchased some Unique Miniatures crown molding I had used once before in another house. For some reason, once upon a time, I kept a small cutting of that molding and had apparently applied a stain/paint wash to it. I stumbled upon it in my stash, and it was just staring me in the face!

Before:

Visualizing new paper

Paper up, and old crown sample I found that I had previously stained/washed - looks rich!

Completed paper

Staining the crown

And final effect!

More Chateau Miniature Finds

 My living room now has a few new pieces I found at the Chicago miniature shows. BB Miniatures, as always, comes through with this exquisite chest. It's perfect for this room and this spot. On top of this chest is a fruit basket from Karen's Dollhouse Shop. I also found a pink ottoman from Miniature Cellar that complements the JBM chair.

Fruit basket on Dining Room table was from Purple B Emporium and the cane holder in foyer is a Ron Johnson item from Purple B.  You will also see another tray in the foyer with that Netherlands rosemaling - Wagon Mountain Miniatures. A teapot from Purple B graces the buffet.

Chateau 2nd Floor Lights & Miniature Finds

I nabbed 2 chandeliers at the Chicago Miniature Show this weekend and was anxious to get them installed. This truly finishes each room. 

I got a unique chandelier from Live a Little Miniatures and another Clare Bell Brass one. I already had one Clare Bell Brass, so those 2 went into the bedrooms and the hall got the fancier unique one. I'm  pleased with how these chandeliers look. 

Also you will notice some other finds from the miniatures shows. The rooster is from BB Miniatures, and the bench and pillows are from Wilson Santiago Dollhouse Linens and More. The bust is from Ron Hubble. The sunflower vase is from Miniature Cellar. 

That cute teddy bear in the bedroom and the cat in the hall are from Purple B Emporium and the blue box on the floor is from Wagon Mountain Miniatures. I just learned about their painting style. Hinderloopen art - "Hindelooper art is a type of traditional decorative painting originated in the northern province of Friesland, The Netherlands." I guess its Norwegian Rosemaling. The cream basket with green is from Vilia Miniatures. 

In the master bedroom the 3 drawer decorative box on the bombe chest is from an artisan in Italy - Alemikimikiri. 

Chateau Bath

The bath is on the third floor and I bought white Reutter with gold accents. The sink is what sold me. The other day while perusing the Les Chinoiseries wallpaper site, I happened on tile paper that is so different and so appropriate that I bought it. Well, actually I bought 2 different papers and am thinking about a tile wainscoting. I decided to do a knee wall around the window and make a surface for the vertical tiling. 

I've been pouring over sites looking to see if anyone has used it in their actual dollhouse. I think the very tiny hex tiles with the small flowers will be the floor. I'm still not sure about using the yellow/blue as the wall tile, I may look for a more neutral tile. 

Pretty retro, huh?

Chateau Bedrooms Get New Wallpaper

It wouldn't be the same if I didn't strip at least one paper off and install another in the Chateau. Funny how you have an idea in your head but the result isn't satisfying.  

I've been pouring over the Les Chinoiseries wallpapers available. I have been very satisfied with the living and dining room papers that are Les Chinoiseries. I found a stunning yellow and blue stripe for the master and a complimentary blue damask for the other bedroom. Stripping the 2 rooms didn't take much time, and within a couple of hours I had both rooms papered. I'm very happy with the results - the character of those rooms has changed drastically. 

I also got crown up and cut the baseboards, just need to attach doors. I will need to decide on chandeliers - my ceiling roses are ready and the holes are drilled. 

Oh, see that beautiful yellow secretary there? A recent purchase, I was originally thinking it would work in the living room but it found its natural home. And the lovely bombe chest in the master is new, a JBM piece that I happened on and couldn't pass up.

Chateau Kitchen Update

It felt like the countertops on the cabinets were too similar a repeat, and more grey than I liked. I touched them up and they are warmer looking. This is how the countertops looked - this corner one was more obvious with the repeat than the others but I toned it down and stippled some beiges and creams.

I finally decided on the neutral wallpaper and got that installed. I have been working on the ceiling beams and its clear that what is throwing me off is one side where the ceiling starts is higher than the other. I've attached the ceiling more permanently and fixed the spot where the wall met the ceiling - so that entire wall is now the same surface. 

The embossed border I bought is also now up, and I had to add a strip of wood on the side that opens to make both wall heights the same. And I framed out the window! 

The ceiling beams have an arch, and I won't go into all the challenges I faced doing it. Let's just say that balsa wood was the way to go - soft enough to trace and cut an arch of sorts. I'm in the process of painting them, and may need to fiddle a bit with them to get at least the right side to snug up to the ceiling. 

The ceiling lights I selected are Ray Storey - I got this one for the 2nd floor landing, but it's much larger than I expected, so I got a 2nd one and will be hanging them in the kitchen.