Finishing the Bungalow

It has been some time since I did any work on the Bungalow. This is because I moved house and had no room for it so it had to go and live at my parents workshop for a while. I had some time recently to try and finish it. I have to sell it when I am done however, because it is just too big for my tiny apartment. 

I started the labour intensive job of putting the eve brackets together and painting them. 

Next the front dormer style gable end went on. Inside this gable end I had to create a false ceiling.

Because the rooms inside were thin and deep, I decided to block them off to get rid of the roof slant and give them more normal proportions. 

Next I cut the wallpaper to shape for the upstairs rooms. I chose a selection of the Arts and Crafts style Brodnax prints. 

This time I chose to use wallpaper paste, and so far it has been very good. 

 For the bathroom I discovered that craft sticky squares make perfect tiles.

The house is slowly coming together. Hopefully I can finish it before the week is out!

Next is the shingling... the most time consuming task of all. I have chosen to stain the singles once they are glued, as I found this to be a much faster way of doing it (contrary to the suggestion in the Real Good Toys instruction book to stain them individually). 

This is the finished central upstairs room. It is looking nice. 

Ground Floor of the Bungalow Goes Up

This week I made some more progress with the bungalow. Before I glued the ground floor walls up I needed to finish the panelling. 

I cut down the interior wall to make a craftsman style room divider. 

I built up the divider with base wood. 

I made the panelling for the lounge room as well, and stained it to give it a rich wood colour.

I then glued the ground floor walls to the base. I pre-painted the base, though I intend to put down real wood flooring soon.

The struggle to choose the right wall paper continues...

Thanks for all your tips in my last post! They were most helpful.

UPDATE: Wallpaper Sources - A Controversial Topic?

I have decided to do this post to explain where I got those lovely dollhouse wallpapers.

I was struggling to find good arts and crafts style papers from online dollhouse suppliers, so I decided to do some more research. I did many google image searches and discovered that many real size wall paper suppliers provide high resolution graphic samples of their wallpapers online (freely saved to a home computer). I downloaded several of them and printed them out. Some worked, others were too grainy, but I was able to find enough to use as decorative runners. I don't think one could actually print a whole wall of paper because they are only small samples. 

Today however, I found when looking on Etsy that these same designs (obviously downloaded from the same full size wall paper website I used) were listed for sale by a seller as a for $30 each . 

The seller says:

"Regular Retail $36.95 Etsy Intro price $29.95.

Please be aware that the purchase of this item buys you endless personal use for crafters and miniaturist. Resale of this product in digital format is not allowed." (emphasis added).

I find this sort of behaviour dishonest. It shows that you must be careful when buying online. 

I have reported this seller to Etsy. 

An Arts & Crafts Style Panelled Dinning Room

I have begun the bungalow interior this week. I have started with the dining room, which is the smaller of the two rooms on the bottom floor. I have spent a lot of time researching arts and crafts style interiors, and come to the conclusion and high wall panels are a necessity. 

High wall panels were complimented by a decorative wall paper frieze in most homes of this time.

 

I made the wall panels from several thicknesses of base wood ply.

I then planned to stain the wood to give it a deeper rich colour. I left the cross sections of wood loose so that I could sand the main panels more easily. The cross section pieces I stained separately and will glue on once all the staining is done. 

I began with one layer of french polish. This first layer seals the wood so that the application of stain doesn't soak in unevenly and give a blotchy finish. 

I then gave it a couple of layers of stain. 

Now is the hard part: choosing the right wall paper! 

I have tried several different options:

I still can't decide! It is difficult because the choice will also have to match or compliment the wall paper that I use in the lounge room next door. I have now been dwelling on this decision for four days. 

Some things just can't be rushed. 

Printable Wall Paper - Yes or No?

This week I finally tested out some of the free printable samples of paper you find online. Printing wall paper is a great way to avoid the cost of buying it sheet by sheet - which can sometimes set you back more than the house itself!

The site I used was Jennifer's Printables. This site has a great selection of period wall papers, arranged by era. I found the quality varies depending on the pattern of paper. For example, the darker more elaborate papers just didn't seem to work very well. Below is a nice William Morris style paper, but unfortunately you can still see some pixilation.

Patterns which have very fine lines don't work that well either because a normal colour printer can't get enough definition. Below you can see that the little birds in the trees can't quite be made out, and end up looking a bit blobbish. 

This last pattern however seemed to be ok, although it is not entirely clear. I think it might be good enough to use. 

Because I only had marginal success with the printables I decided to look elsewhere. On Saturday I went to Fitzroy (in Melbourne) and found a great little specialist paper shop on Brunswick St. These shops can be found in most major cities, and this one was not too expensive. 

 

It had a brilliant selection of all kinds of beautiful hand blocked paper, some embossed with gold and other embellishments in every style under the sun. 

The patterns were mostly small, and so many of the sheets could be used for wall papering a dollhouse. I was so excited to find the shop!

These wonderful papers below could even be used as runners for above wall panelling. There was SO much to choose from!

In the end I settled for two lovely designs. Each was the size of about two A3 sheets of paper, and only $6! I will used them for the lounge room or bedrooms.

My Wallpaper has Bubbled! Help!

We have had some quite warm and humid weather here over the past few weeks. As a result my newly glued wallpaper in my Victorian house has bubbled!

I am quite upset by this, and am not sure how to fix it. So I am writing this post to ask for help! Does anyone know how to fix bubbled wallpaper without having to replace it entirely?

Also, what glue do you use? I stuck the wall paper with a non-water based general purpose adhesive (brand named "Tarzan's Grip").

Any suggestions from more experienced small-house builders would be very much appreciated!

A Tiny Finished Bathroom

I very glad to announce I have finally finished the bathroom in the American house. After the colour debarcle (my first attempt), I settled on grey blue panelling and yellow wallpaper patterned with blue and maroon florets. 

The colours complimented each other quite well and also picked up the colours in the floor. 

The overall effect is probably a bit riotous, but then it is a Victorian house!

Fitting the threshold floor boards was a challenge - I also had to french polish this little piece separately too so it matched the floor. 

I also had to make some paint touch ups.

I bought a Chrysnbon bathroom kit a few weeks ago, and Mum and I put it together for the bathroom. 

I love Chrysnbon kits because of their detail - and was particularly inspired by this post by  Otterine.com (which is one of my favourite blogs). 

I considered many different positions for the bathroom units, but finally settled on this (believe me, this was not a decision I took lightly!). 

The toilet looks swell from the hallway.

I also finished the hallway this weekend too. This means that the entire interior of the American house is finished. 

I also added a newly made fern (posts with details of said fern's construction to follow). This turned out to be a nice touch. 

The duck I happily discovered in a long neglected drawer seems to enjoy its new home.

I am happy now with the overall impression of the attic.