French Country Accents

 I finished the back of needlepoint rug finally. I am mostly happy with how it turned out.

The kitchen is coming together. I've gotten some new plants and accessories. I am thinking about adding an architectural accent on the back of the cabinet. Maybe a floral garland or wreath. I have some in my stash, maybe put that on my to-do list.

I had a punch needle rug made for me by Debbie at Kurthwood Cottage and I'm in love with it! I added some accessories - a teddy bear, a cloth carry bag, wastebasket and kleenex. These I recently purchased from a trip to Rose's Dollhouse Shop in Wisconsin.

I snagged this beautiful hand-painted Dutch Baby House! And I bought another punchneedle rug at the recent Chicago Miniature show.

In the dining room and living room, I've been contemplating what to put over the fireplace. The challenge is that I'm limited to what fits between the sconces. I guess I didn't plan that out very well and allow a wide enough area. The Trumeau mirrors are from Alison Davies Miniatures and have potential to be done up with gold trim. 

I think I will put those Trumeau mirrors between the windows instead, like this. I'm going to work on painting them at some point.

There were some flowering bushes I got from Rose's and I think they look nice on the front porch. I may try to find squat wide pots to set them in, not sure.

Random photos in French Country

 What bedroom isn't complete without If you give a moose a muffin" or "cat in the hat" or a slinky?

Much happier with smaller newel posts on these railings. I also added the finishing baseboard and white trim to cover the spot between floors where wallpaper doesn't meet.

Potential picture, and will need to start filling the bookcase with all those books I made a couple years ago.

What do you think about the parsons chairs here?

Need to figure out what I want above the LR and DR fireplaces - I have some resin mantel frames...I should get them out to see if they work.

Kitchen from the actual front of house. Think I want to put some plants on top of the cabinets and have vines hanging down. Any other ideas? Maybe a picture? Would that look odd?

Interesting view.

I gave up on my idea of a shower curtain - I am terrible at hand-sewing, and this was silk, not easy to work with. I used a different silk as a test...I have the silk that is the fabric match for the wallpaper but am really not looking forward to trying it. I may try with a cotton to see if I get better results.

I am starting to think about draperies for this house. This rook would look good with beige silk that would blend and pull out the silk in the headboard. Something very simple - draperies and a cornice probably. Wouldn't have to worry about sewing rings like the dreaded shower curtain and could hide edges under a cornice.

Maybe light pink draperies for this room?

Living room and Dining room - something neutral - beige for draperies again?

Finished backing on needlepoint rug.

French Country Kitchen Reveal!

 Ready to decorate! 

I've been finishing the cabinet trim and coloring it accordingly and finally got to the place where I was ready to install them in the kitchen! 

OK so I also added place settings in the dining room. Its fun to see it start to look lived in!

French Country enhancements

 Some things I've gotten done over the last few days and/or am in the process of. 

The cove molding I was adding to the kitchen cabinets looked a bit too small....

I ordered and am now painting 1/2" scale crown for this. More pictures as they get done. 

I also was missing a knob for the stove, so ordered a set from Kathleen's Miniatures. They are so cute! I'm waiting on some grates before I glue them on but here's a picture with one placed, and the set.

The stair landing railing had newel posts that were both big and extended into the stairway too much, and I got some narrower ones. Need to get them cut, stained and glued but here's the effect. 

The second floor crown molding is just not grand enough, especially since I added the doorcases. I found a Unique Miniatures trim - came today so I painted and glued it in the master bedroom. I am very pleased with the results and will do the same for the other 2 rooms on the second floor.