pop the cork, i think i've made a decision

So I'm about 87% sure that I'll end up with a cork floor in the kitchen. Something like this:

Or more like this:



I'm really digging the second one with the two-tone and border stripe. I think I can make that happen. That's all for now.

i call it sentimental

I have four rooms worth of 1:12 furniture and accessories. I've kept all this stuff for almost 20 years, despite not owning a dollhouse. I think I was holdiong onto all of it thinking I would find and eventually complete my Glencroft. Pssh, whatever. I call it sentimental, you might call it an unhealthy emotional attachment. My brother labelled me a pack-rat around age 6 or 7. Guess he was right. At least I haven't made it to an episode of Hoarders.

All of this stuff is pretty country/granny, you know, normal dollhouse stuff. I'm glad I saved it, because this stuff would most likely cost a couple of hundred bucks to replace. Can I use all of it? Nope. Can I turn most of it into cool, chic, modern stuff? Probably. The way I picture things is rarely how the final result looks. And usually for the worse. We'll see how it all comes out.
I've made a couple of things from scratch, and so far I'm in love with them.
First there's the wire hangers:

Then the chandelier:

Just gotta wire it to light up, and make coordinating pendant fixtures.

Then there's the old stuff I need to inject some life into. I've got a guy cutting me some real granite countertops (pretty much made of labradorite, makes my heart skip a beat) to go on this kitchen island. It originally was all white, all wood, with some brass hardware on the doors:

I'm going to keep the range where it is in the island and turn the standalone stove into a dishwasher.  I took off all of the hardware. Probably going to reuse it because it's not entirely offensive. And it's not easy to find attractive miniature drawer pulls. I also removed the doors for neatness' sake so it doesn't look like I finger-painted the thing. I think a coat of glossy black makes almost any furniture look better instantly. This island will (hopefully) be a showpiece. I've got a bitchin' copper range hood in the works and it's going to look ridiculous with the matching pot rack. And some cool pendants.

The fridge is a pretty sorry fridge.

No offense to China or anything. But only one door for fridge AND freezer, three wood shelves and that tiny handle? Lame. It's got good bones though, and I'm going to use 'em. I want this thing to be a replica of my fridge...

No pressure.

sledgehammer, please

I did the kitchen demo last week, so the frustration/anger has faded a bit since then. I feel like I can talk about it now.

I had to tear down the brick so I can replace it with more brick. Unfortunately, when I was 12ish, I was a girl on a budget. And I could get wood glue in copious quantities for free. Everything I put into that dollhouse is now permanent. Dammit. So with a ball-peen and putty knife I'm prying like an idiot, sweating like an animal, and cursing like a sailor. That brick was no match for my rugged biceps and fierce resolve. After about 2 or 3 hours, I won.

Going, going...

Gone!

The walls are a little torn up, and that paper is NEVER coming off. I'm thinking I'll either have to re-paper over the old crapola, or do some venetian or textured plaster walls. Gotta figure out those floors though. They aren't looking up to snuff. I'll have to do some homework on that one. Cork, maybe? That would look pretty dope.

Also, I've penciled in where I'd like to cut to make the door wider (as seen in above photo), and adding an archway for architectural interest. Still have to decide how big of a window I'm putting in the back wall. I love a picture window over the sink, but I don't know where the sink end up.

I also made the executive decision to remove the stairs. More blood, sweat and tears involved there. While I didn't actually cry... I thought about it.

The landing is just one big block of balsa, wood-glued (naturally) on three sides to the bare plywood walls/floor. Fantastic. The piano room is too small for an effective hammer swing, so I'm sure you can imagine how it all went down. I did a celebratory touchdown dance when I finally busted that godforsaken thing loose.

 

Needless to say, I'm much more motivated to revamp old furniture right now than to do any serious interior design projects. And I'll be needing to save my pennies for electricity which needs to happen before walls and ceilings anyways. I've been working on a few pieces that I'm pretty excited about, will be posting pics probably later on tonight. The kitchen island is going to be spectacular, and the fridge is starting to look pretty swanky, too!

Stay tuned!

kitchen demolition

I've decided to start in the kitchen. Stupid idea. Trial by fire, you know? It's the most involved of any of the rooms I have planned, so I kind of want to get it out of the way. And then stare at it for a while in satisfaction. It's a pretty big room, about 15"x15" give or take.

I actually did all of the decorating on this dollhouse when I was about 11 years old. It wasn't my dollhouse at the time, I was decorating it for a friend who let me do it for a thrill. Hardwood floors, wallpaper, brick, all me. I admit it. Apparently I was into 90's country. And wood glue.

I've got big plans though. I'm not a fan of the brick as-is, but I'd like to see some brick/subway tile in the kitchen somewhere. Accent wall maybe? I'm also going to make the door into the piano room larger, just to open up the space a bit. Probably going to add another window on the back wall. Kitchens need natural light fo sho.

Not sure if I can salvage the floors on the first level, so I may have to replace them. They're made of hand trimmed popsicle sticks, and I think I may have started in the kitchen back then, too. Kind of reminds me of the first pancake in the batch, always messier than the rest. Also, I'm about 75% sure that I'm tearing out the stairs and sadly won't be replacing them. Honestly, I could use the square footage and spiral staircases range from about $70 -$135. I'd rather spend that money on electrifying the thing, you know? More wow for my buck. Maybe I'll get ambitious and try to build my own stairs. But who cares if there's stairs when you have a giant to move you from floor to floor.

So some projects on the list for the kitchen:
-electricity
-real granite countertops (seriously)
-banquette dining area (bought the tiny lumber)
-copper range hood and pot rack (cardboard mock-up made)...

-make pendant lights/chandelier (chandelier done)...

-trick out the fridge (almost done, this is the before pic)...

-upcycle as much of my old furniture/accessories as humanly possible (starting to take things apart)...

-brick accent wall...

-buy this...

More to follow soon!

a major renovation of miniscule proportions

Testing. Testing... is this thing plugged in?

So it's funny how things keep forcing me to get modern and embrace the technology around me, despite my better judgement. I don't know if I ever would have created a blog if not for Emily Henderson's "I Am A Giant!" dollhouse challenge, but I'm kind of looking forward to it.

When I was about 11 or 12, I begged my dad to build a dollhouse with me. We bought a Greenleaf kit, the Glencroft...

Well, we started it. And I have absolutely no recollection as to what happened to it after that weekend. I know it hung around for a while but it quickly fell off the priority list for dad, who shortly after buying it, managed to hook me up with a brand new set of twin sisters. I never lost hope that I would get a dollhouse, I just happened to lose out on this one. Bummer, dude.

Not to worry, a few months ago a friend gifted me an old handmade plywood 6 room dollhouse (with which I had some history). And a few weeks ago I saw an etsy blog post about dollhouse stuff, I figured it was fate and that's how I found out about the I'm A Giant Challenge. Now I'm elbow-deep in a major renovation of miniscule proportions. Gotta be done by December 15th. Ouch, this is going to hurt a little. I'm totally stoked about this challenge, and I'd work on it every waking moment if I could. But I like my husband, and have a desire to stay married. So we'll see what happens to my momentum.