Back where I began

Hooray!  The house is together again.

Quite an improvement from a few weeks ago.

 

I managed to salvage the interior walls and floors, although I cursed a lot, and was often tempted to throw them out and cut new straight pieces.  I keep telling myself to stick to my plan of retaining as much of the original house as possible.

I'm proud of what I managed to do.  But does it make my heart sing?  Sadly, no.  It's square, and boxy, and dark and boring. 
This house is supposed to grip my imagination, and be a joy to work on.  I will be spending many more months on it.  I know I wanted to keep it original, but I've outgrown it already. 
I want light, I want interesting angles and hidden corners.  I want bay windows and useful attic space and wider hallways and I WANT a conservatory!

The dollhouse architect is back at the drawing board.  Watch this space. 

 

 

Del Prado House - Making a sturdy shell

I have a deadline on 10 December.  Far away, you say?  It's only 78 days! If you only knew how much I need to achieve.  For meeting my daily targets, and to keep myself sane, I'm working on the Del Prado dollhouse in my spare moments.

It looks a bit like an oversized tool caddy, doesn't it?  Since I showed it to you a few weeks ago, I made a lot of progress on the house, then made it undone as I changed my plans.

The first thing to do, was to make the structure sturdy.  I also wanted to preserve and use as much of the original kit as possible.  After going around in circles for a while, I realized that I would have to replace the outer walls.  I messed them up badly during my first attempt many years ago, and trying to straighten things out was near impossible.
I cut a new rear wall, and two side walls, using plywood from an old packing case I found in the barn.  You will notice that the walls are slightly longer.  I'm installing a 'basement' with a storage drawer.  I've already built the drawer.  Paint cans are standing in it. 

I was torn between keeping the original wall and floor papers, or replacing them.  This house must be simple and inexpensive, using materials I already have on hand.  The pink bathroom haunted me, it had to go.  I decided to follow my heart, and start with a blank page.  I soaked the original papers by covering them with a damp cloth until they could be peeled back.  Then I sanded and painted all the interior walls and floors in plain cream.  Now they can become anything!

At this point, I did a 'dry fit' of the interior walls and floors.  To my horror, without proper support at the front, the side walls kept leaning in all directions.  So the whole thing came apart again. 

I installed a beam across the top of the house, and another across the front above the drawer. Finally I'm happy.  Now I can give the interior walls and floors a go, again. 

Monday is a public holiday here in South Africa. We have a lovely long weekend.  I will be working, but I will also take time out to play with the dollhouse.  Interior walls, here we go again!

Delight Yourself

I worked a little on the dollhouse this weekend.  After I did the important stuff I was supposed to do.  I also did a bunch of other stuff that needed doing, and routine work stuff and routine life stuff.  Our lives are filled with so much stuff activities, there never seems to be enough time.  To make it worse, there's always a guilty voice at the back of my mind that tells me to stop playing and get a real job.
Denise's blog post this morning fell on that little voice like Dorothy's house fell on the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz.
If you doubt the validity of doing things that bring you joy, read what Denise has to say.