A doll's house has been on the cards for a while. Jill has been wanting one for quite some time and it has finally happened. There is a local shop in Thame called Key Miniatures where we went looking. We looked at several and were thinking, at first, of having this building from Sid Cooke. However, in the end we went for something larger from Barbara's Mouldings (Unfortunately I cannot find a website)
The dollshouse arrived flatpacked in December 2004 and Stuart was soon under pressure to begin construction.
Construction
January
It wasn’t too difficult to glue the basic house together, and then we spent some time staining the floors, stair components, skirting boards and internal doors.
February
Stuart decided to create the roof tile effect by cutting thick card with a craft knife, but unfortunately completion of the roof was delayed by two weeks when he attempted to cut off the tip of his thumb.
March
A hole was cut in the side for a French door, and wiring for the lights was installed. We also started to do some wallpapering but it didn’t stick very well. We used spray glue and it just peeled. In the end we used border adhesive. It is expensive but a single tube from the local DIY place was enough to do the whole house.
April
The house was moved to its permanent home on a new pine unit in the dining room (allowing use of the conservatory again) and the outside was painted and the front attached. It's now fully glazed. The door has a letterbox that actually opens. There is even a key-hole to put a key in.
May
Most of the wallpapering has been done and the internal doors have been fitted. The lights and fireplaces are also complete.
June
Here the wallpapering is complete and all the doors are done. Some experimentation is taking place on where furniture should go.
Moving In
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Kitchen Probably the place Jill likes most. It is full of pots and pans and packets of food. There is baking taking place on the table and the cats are climbing all over the rocking chair - this particular item came from Malta. Probably not for the squeamish but there is a mouse running across the floor but really it is the size of a rat. |
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Dining Room The eagle eyed amongst you will have noted that the wallpaper in this room is not the pattern it started out with. Don't use wrapping paper. It goes wrinkly. Buy proper paper, it goes on a whole lot easier. |
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Study Another room for Jill's interest in little bits to shine through. There is music on the music stand, papers on the desk. There is even rubbish in the bin. The box by the desk also contains papers that have been filed. |
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Bathroom This is another area where the original design of the house was modified. The stairs effectively came up into the bathroom. I don't know of a house where that happens so we put a false wall and door in across the back and created a landing behind. through the open door you can see a book case with what looks like towels on a shelf and a teddy bear sat on the top. Obviously it was a man who last used the toilet! |
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Landing The room with the complicated banisters. Working out the best way of fitting the banisters was an exercise in itself. Someone either likes the peaceful nature of the landing or was disturbed having left an open newspaper on the seat. |
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Christmas
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Dining Room The table is laid. There is a turkey and there are crackers. The fire is burning in the grate and it looks very cosy. The Christmas cake is ready for later in the day but what's the betting it doesn't get cut into until Boxing Day at the earliest. The table cloth is a piece of lace that was a present from a friend in Germany |
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Study In here there are cards on the mantelpiece and also on the piano. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether that is carol sheet music on the music stand. |
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Lounge This is where it is all happening. The tree is already decorated. Don't even think about the cost of a tree that has working lights. You need another mortgage. It look's like mom and dad are worn out but that is fairly typical. The presents have not been unwrapped yet but there are open boxes of baubles to add to the tree. I suspect the cat would get more pleasure from batting them round the floor. Most of the presents have been wrapped but there are still some sheets of wrapping paper on the floor ready to wrap the last few presents. |
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Bedroom It must be past Christmas Day now. The child has got his toy box open and there are toys everywhere. Pride of place is the new Hornby train set which is set up right in the middle of the room. Doesn't he realise that the cat is going to love chasing the engine round the track. The teddy bear and comics on the bed are evidence of several other interests. |
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The garden
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A garden was always in the plan. We fitted French doors very early on and once the house was finished the garden had to be designed. It is 9mm ply that has been drilled on the side. There are brass dowels that push into the base of the house. The wall is 9mm ply that has been glued on with PVA. The brick paper is downloaded off the internet. There is meant to be a lawn but it hasn't been laid yet. I don't envy anyone digging up the paving stones to lay turf. |
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I guess the phone went or visitors have arrived because there really is no point in leaving gin and tonics to warm up on the table. It's close to election time so the paper is being studied carefully. I can only guess that it is leaning against a jug or something similar. the garden tools are a nice touch but somewhat superfluous with a completely paved garden. |
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Pots of flowers are by far the easiest to grow and maintain. The owners have even found a use for an old bath tub. You can't see it from here but there are goldfish swimming in the tub. Clearly they have got the balance right of plants versus fish as the water is incredibly clear. Something that doesn't happen very often in a real pond. |
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The hanging basket was bought and contains some very delicate flowers. The hanging basket bracket was made from some thin brass section that was folded to shape and then the cross brace was soldered in place. The basket is actually glued to the wall. It seemed overkill to drill holes and try and fit some miniature screws. |
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The kitchen
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The new camera has produced some superb pictures. Here are a few of the kitchen. |
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