Chateau Exterior Makeover

I've begun working on the Chateau over the spring and summer as well. My plan was to paint the exterior a grey, and in order to do that, I had to remove quoins, trim, window trim. Wow what impermeable glue was used. I knew the individual quoins wouldn't be salvageable but I also was thrilled to get those from a fellow miniaturist who wasn't using them on her Chateau.

Prying off the quoins was an exercise in patience, elbow grease, a mixture of products to remove quoins and glue, and scraped hands (okay a screwdriver gone awry).

The next step in order to remove the glue was to take my palm sander to it. Outside it went, on a nice spring day, and first I tried several solvents, to no avail. So on with the sanding!

Once sanded and patched, it was time to give it a coat or 2 of paint. I chose a Benjamin Moor paint, and painted. Looked much better, and I let it sit for a few days while pondering.

It was nicer than the blue but not quite grey enough for me. I had a photo of one done by Lawbre years ago, saying on the catalog sheet they used the color I purchased from BM....but it still didn't look like the photo.

On the hunt, I found this newer paint - Coastal Texture Paint from Folkart. I applied it to a sample and this is what you see above.  I decided to give it a whirl. My first coat, I used a sponge brush and it was not easy to apply without getting brush strokes and inconsistent texture. I let it dry and then bought some texture tools and applied a 2nd coat...much better!

Here's the tools:

Here's the finished effect. I added a sealer - Mod Podge Ultra Matte.

Items from the 2017 Miniatures shows

I went to all 3 shows, taking Friday off and going to both the 3 Blind Mice and the The Miniature Show. Saturday I did the Bishop show and then went back to 3 Blind Mice to complete cabinets I needed for the kitchen.

This doll from Lilli's Littles called to me. I don't usually buy many dolls but I had to have her. She's sitting in a JBM leather chair also purchased at the show.

These bedroom pieces seemed perfect for the 3rd floor girl's bedroom. They are from The Cutest Things LLC.

The red leather chair and some canes will reside in the study.

Here's a much better photo of the canes (and the stand), handmade from a gentleman from France.

I selected 2 pieces from BB Miniatures - I love her work.

An unfinished bookshelf, and a cute basket. 

Some of the kitchen cabinets I got from M&R Miniatures. 

Flooring and Wallpapers

The foyer wallpaper was put up, and I wasn't happy with that, there were wrinkles. So I stripped it and put up another, and I'm happy with it.

The kitchen tiling got laid and grouted. These tiles are from Romney in England. I did them on a template and had the tiles extend beyond the template, I wasn't entirely sure how well these would cut to size, and attempting to cut each individually along both long sides seemed daunting. I went with their advice, cutting with my miter saw after they were glued down. 

Here's a picture of the upside down floor as I sawed off the extra. 

Living room flooring is laid, awaiting stain. You can see my finished fireplace, chimney breast, and the chandelier I will put in here.

Dining room floor got laid on template, awaiting stain also. Temporarily hung the chandelier - love this one!

French Country Decorating

Once the tapewiring was done, the decorating has begun. I decided I'd try ceilings - get a textured ceiling done. I used Lomax fine texture additive in my paint, and rolled on at least 2 coats. While the second coat was better, I wasn't liking it. The sanding commenced, as I was going to apply ceiling papers instead. Funny thing, once they were sanded, they were nice! So that is what I'm going to stick with.

The first floor (Living, dining and foyer) has 12" ceilings, and most wallpapers are not that tall, So now I had to make a decision - find and use 12" papers or do chair rails. I've had a challenging time deciding what papers to use, between the ceiling heights and the desire to be somewhat cohesive in the colorways.

I love Itsy Bitsy Mini paper, but hers aren't 12". Brodnax is the perfect height, but not always the perfect pattern/color. Itsy Bitsy Mini won out for the kitchen - a yellow plaster finish. The study got her plaid - I love this plaid!

Living room and dining room are getting Brodnax, and I found a fabulous wainscoting for the Living room as well. Its a World Model white embossed one - my local mini shop owner brought it to my attention.

Foyer was a bit of a challenge, found a creamy swirl pattern that I think will work. Here's how 4 first floor papers look from a side view, as I was contemplating them.

Kitchen in process...

Study is looking nice!

Living room paper and wainscoting set up, with chimney breast I made. Note the marble hearth I plan to use. Paper will go over chimney breast. 

So here (yes, after I have the wallpaper on, I decide to take the picture, doh!) is how I made the chimney breast. My first but it gets the job done.

Turned out really nice! Can't wait to get the sconces and wainscoting up:

I have wanted to use these formica tiles for years, and bit the bullet. I bought a Chopper II so I could cut the larger tiles, and then used my Easy Cutter for the small black inserts as needed. These are Tid-Bits that I have had since 2007 - they are no longer available. 

French Country Gets Electricity

Finally got to the tape wiring and priming in November. Coach lights are working!

In this house I decided to use a newer power source, ditching the Cir-Kit junction splice. I've had issues with them before and grabbed some CR2S (Creative Reproductions to Scale) products during the 2016 Bishop show. It takes an adapter (looks like your laptop power supply) and a power connector.

Here's the power connector I mentioned above: 

French Country Dormer and Trim Work

The top dormer windows posed a challenge with regard to the color. I started by using the cream base, and used a white to outline the edge and the round circle. Not the effect I wanted. Then I did light grey base and highlights of cream. This was nice but didn't pack a punch.

I  then went to stippling and this gave me the stone effect I was imagining.
 

I then outlined in the cream - and though I liked it...it still needed something.

I finally settled on a lighter grey stippling for the highlighting of the edges and the circle. This is what I settled on.

You can see I've also glued on the stone patio and courtyard wall and painted them with stippling also. I'm very happy with the effect.

Moved on to the quoins - I could have stayed with the lighter grey but ended up with a slightly darker grey stippling to blend in more with the trims along the eaves. Its all now installed.

Chateau is The Latest

I have just acquired a Lawbre Chateau - smaller sister to the French Country Manor.