Things are moving along in the house. I did get stuck, more on that in a moment. The upstairs is just about done, still some frames to do. But I did do the door frame, well one side of it. Looks okay doesn't it? Mitreing such a small joint was fiddly, don't think I did too bad a job. Still have to do the other side, and there needs to be a small step down into the bathroom, which I've made, it just requires another coat of paint and then gluing into place. What was the sticking point, I ran out of wallpaper, or some that I liked. So it was up to the craft shop at the garden centre, with fingers crossed...
The living room/study part was fine, I found some nice papers for both bits. Sadly the pattern isn't showing up too well on the photo. I'm going to put up a picture rail throughout the downstairs. There is no room divider for the living room, so I'll use a bookcase to mark out the study/craft room area. I'm wondering whether to keep the stairs as they are, just give them a coat of varnish. If I could I'd turn the stairs round, or buy a new set, but the hole dictates where the stairs must go.
The kitchen and dining room. This became the stumbling block. I had a bit of trouble at the craft shop finding suitable papers. I did like some of the capsule collection by Do Crafts, but the pack didn't contain any repeating papers. Luckily one of the assistants came to the rescue, she and I began flicking through the 12x12 papers, she also realised that I needed a small pattern. Eventually I settled for this blue stripe, I felt it looked clean. I toyed with putting a different paper in the kitchen, but then decided to do the same for both rooms.
Here it is, the (almost) completely decorated house. I used the chequered duck tape for the kitchen floor, but laid it down at an angle. The carpet is beige, I hoped I would be able to use an L shape, but the house was just a few centimetres bigger than the carpet tile, but, trust me, you can't see the join! I also got more acetate, this time it was a pack of 12x12, which was the same price as I'd paid for the A4 size in Hobbycraft! So next up is the picture rail, finish off the window frames, glue the kitchen and bathroom floors into place, put up curtain rails, secure some batons upstairs for the lighting, tile the roof... Then of course the outside needs to be finished, the verandah has to be put in place, along with the front door, and the shutters. I'll need hinges for both doors and shutters. Still in two minds as to what colour to paint the outside, having rooted through the paint I found a lovely blue, or there is also the pale green, or pink!
Then comes the fun part, the furnishings! I've been looking, but there is so much choice! Some of the stuff is really, really expensive, not sure I'm prepared to pay £60 for one piece of dolls house furniture. I did spot some job lots on ebay, well since it is 'my' house, I'm not one for overly modern furniture, I like classic styles. It was fortnate that mum and I had similar tastes when it came to furniture, I remember when she was looking for a cabinet for the living room we both spotted the same cupboard, it was the same with the suite. The suite is now on its last legs, and now that Harvey has stopped clawing at it I can think of getting a new one. If I could afford it I'd get the old one reupholstered, but it would be too costly.
I am also learning all about patience. I can tend to rush things, but I was determined to break that habit with the house. I've taken my time, and have realised when to stop, though my back lets me know. The back has been really problematic these last few weeks, I tweaked it getting into the car, yep that is all it takes, and for days it was agony. I tried my stretches but nothing was working, just had to let it settle down. I feel like a right old crock at times. I got my HRT sorted, but only after much faffing about. I went back to the chemist to pick it up, but as I got there so did their order, so I had to wait until they found it. I wouldn't have been so grumpy had all the staff been working, but it seemed a couple were staying out of sight and ignoring the ever growing queue. I was trying to get all I needed for the next few days as I decided to have a bit of a quiet time. When I got home I found a surveyor waiting, our housing association is having all its properties surveyed... not what I wanted when I was gasping for a sit down and a cuppa. The young man was very pleasant, and he didn't take too long. Harvey of course did a disappearing act, and the flat was looking a mess! Well with a bad back it is hard to do housework.
There'll be more house updates over the next few days. I may tackle the roof tomorrow, I found some grey card. Yes I had started the tiling, but having followed the instructions on Youtube I realised that my roof needs bigger tiles, the card I found will be perfect, and there is a lot of it!
Right, all from me....
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