state-of-the-dollhouse address

Ok. So there's only about a month left in the I'm a Giant Challenge. Which means that I'm probably going to suffer a stroke sometime in the next few weeks. It seems like I've started every project, but have completed very few. I'm a girl who appreciates multitasking, but this is absurd. I was hoping to post about each project as I finished it with a slew of pictures showing the process. Got a few draft posts waiting for 'after' pics that never seem to happen. I'm beyond excited about this stuff, but people at work are starting to give me these knowing "you're pathetic, stop giving me daily updates" looks.

I've decided I'm going to show you the majority of my current projects, no matter where I am in the process. I'm hoping to make serious headway this weekend. I'll still do the play-by-play/tutorial posts as pieces are finished for anybody who looks at them. Bueller? Bueller?

I still haven't finished the dishwasher. Or the fridge. And then there's all this:

Exhibit A... The sofa

At this time, the sofa is nearly complete. As it turns out, the living room set I was planning to re-upholster is too small for scale and looked ridiculous in the same house as the bed I made. So I improvised with some free foam I scored. The wood panels for the backside and undercarriage have been cut, sanded, and painted. Just waiting for glue, legs and throw pillows. It came out way better than I had anticipated. I'm hoping my knight-in-shining-armor can give me a hand bending those bars into legs.

Exhibit B... The coffee table to my houndstooth sofa

    

Check out my new wheels.

 

 

I've made the table top. I'm waiting for delivery of those antique toy wheels from Latvia. Yep. Latvia. It's going to be one of those antique industrial cart tables when it's done. I'm sorry I can't get the pics arranged nicely, but know that I'm getting super-pissed trying. There, at least you can see them, moving on.

Exhibit C... I am a rock, I am an island

Shwing!! Those are real granite countertops. How, you ask?! I know a guy. He even bull-nosed them without me asking. He's awesome. All that's left here is to finish converting the range from electric to gas. Of course.

Exhibit D... The swing chair



I'm designing the 'kids room' to be what I would have wanted if I could go back to being 10, knowing what I know now. Who wouldn't want a swing in their reading nook?! I found a nursery/playroom ideas book from 1980something. And they had a swing chair. I used their design for inspiration, but definitely put my spin on it. Also there's going to be a tree-house inspired loft over the bed, probably a slide too. Dream room, for sure.

Exhibit E... Pendant lights

 

I found these amazing brass bead caps last night. I decided it would be prudent to buy three. There'll be one over the sink, and two over the island (one on either side of the range hood). I was going to make the pendant lights entirely from scratch, but you can see that I'm already up to my eyeballs in projects. These may have saved my life. I'll adapt the design I had in mind for the pendants into a killer geometric brass shade for...

Exhibit F... Arc lamp. And/or tripod lamp

I've started the arc lamp, and have a basic design for the tripod lamp. The base for the arc will be the wheel in the picture above, and the shade will be a brass geometric polyhedron-ish shape. That might be a toughie, but so far I haven't met a dollhouse project that I couldn't handle. Graph paper is my friend. The tripod shade will probably be a simple drum. Cakewalk. The legs will be made of some old EKG calipers (pictured) and something else that will hide the wiring. I hope.

Exhibit G... Walls

If there's any project that is taking years off my life, it's undoing something I did when I was an ignorant teen.

Nope, not what you're thinking.

It's the fact that I put up scrapbook paper on bare plywood walls using wood glue. What kind of asshole does that?! This one...

Aaaanyways, I watch too much Holmes on Homes. And I need to do this right. So instead of wiring/papering/painting over the old crap, I'm sanding it off to the best of my ability, priming, and using an appropriate adhesive to reapply paper. I can't do any decorating until I'm sanded and primed. Shit.

Exhibit H... Cork floors

I have a pattern cut, and the inlay mapped out. I've had the rolls of cork flattening under old textbooks for about a week now, so anytime I want to get around to finishing the walls, I could start corking floors.

Exhibit I... Kitchen table

I love this brass hose nozzle for the base of a pedestal table. I think the top will be made from a couple of old jar lids (pictured), and a souvenir from Washington DC. I can't put it all together until I come up with a color palette for the kitchen. It's going to go with the...

Exhibit J... Banquette

I built this to maximize space in the eat-in kitchen in lieu of a traditional table. I'll bet nobody else has a custom dollhouse banquette. I almost feel special. I just need to work out seat upholstery and a color to paint it. I've primed it and applied batting to the seat in anticipation. 

Exhibit K... Everything else

I have plans to install a fire pole (post about that coming soon).
Cutting large window, almost floor to ceiling in one room.
I still have to electrify the thing, at least I already bought most of the supplies for that.
I have to build all of the furniture for the nursery.
I have quite a few chairs to make/upholster for the living room and study.
I will be making mirrored side tables, an accent chair, and a bench for the master bedroom.
I have to work out plans for all artwork/wall hangings. That will be last.

There's more, but I'm betting you're bored with all of this. All of that being said, I think that doing anything to the exterior short of painting it one color, is absolutely out of the question. Period. Regardless.
If you've continued reading this far, thank you. You deserve cash and prizes.