ANOTHER ALTERATION

I decided that I would like to have a recessed alcove for my stove and the best place to do this was the back wall of the kitchen behind the stairs. I measured the height and width of the stairs and it seems that I could get an inglenook type of space under the stairs. I used my Dremel tool to poke holes  until I could use my craft knife to cut out the wall opening. I sanded the side and top of the opening until smooth and square; then I dressed the top and right side of the open space by trimming them out with wood strips.

The pencil markings on the wall is the outline of the Hearth

This is the fireplace hearth.

 I used wood putty to fill out any spaces and chips around the opening. Aaarrrgh1111

This is my stove in the making, I used crazy glue to affix the sides and top of  the kit to the front section, All I need to do now is spray paint the whole thing black and attach the door and the pipe.

THE STAIRS

On the ground floor I will extend the entrance wall to edge of porch that is to the left of the front door; this of course will result in a bigger entrance hall. I will then insert an entrance door in the centre of the front wall (extended tower wall). I will keep the 2^nd door which originally led lead from the outside of the house; this will now lead from the entry hall to the kitchen. This makes more sense to me because realistically it is easier to access the kitchen this way. I will install walls that will enclose that space completely so that it becomes a proper room.  The stairs will be reoriented so as not to crowd the livingroom/parlour entrance.

I have now done some more work on my Fairfield project and I am in the process of positioning the staircase between the central wall and the kitchen wall. I had reoriented the direction of the stairs and increased the Entry Hall and that is going nicely.

Many items have arrived including wall paper and light fixtures. On the weekend I will concentrate on assembling my stove, sink and fireplace inserts and if time permits I am going to work on the kitchen floors.

A mock up of the walls and a dry fit of the staircase

This depicts the extension of the Entry Hall. The kitchen door will now be accessed from inside the Entry Hall instead of externally. The Porch has been reduced by 50% but I will make up for this by converting the porch roof on the second floor to a proper porch; accessible by a door in the tower.

View of stairs from the living room

GETTING STARTED

Well; this morning I again opened the box, I had intended just to take a tiny peep, of course I could not help myself and soon I was popping the little parts from the plywood sheets.

I decided to get the base started so I sanded and prepped and glued

I was so gung-ho that I completed the base; made an altered staircase and fitted and glued the central fireplace stack together.

 This is the completed base

 The fireplace stack looking like a trussed up turkey

I have cut the stair case banister off the living room arch opening, it looked too ridiculous there. I have decide to turn the stairs to the left so that it begins to ascend beside the kitchen doorway.

Consequently I plan to expand the entry hall; the left side of the porch will now be enclosed as per the pencil line above, as a bonus the kitchen door will now open from the entry hall instead of from the exterior of the house. This of course makes better sense to me as a layout. I have already cut the left tower wall at ceiling height and will cut 2 short walls to extend the the front tower wall as also to provide a side section to enclosed the re-purposed porch now entry.

OPENING THE BOX

I never thought I would be interested in building a dollhouse kit, but you know never say never. I am presently exploring the world of half scale because the 1/12th scale dollhouse tends to occupy a lot of space and valuable floor space at that.

So the kit that caught my fancy was the:

I found this kit on Ebay and I paid US$55.99 for the kit and US$7.99 to ship it to my mailbox drop off in Florida. Since I live in Jamaica I had to pay additional shipping, taxes and custom fees to get the item home. Already this is proving to be  a pricey enterprise; but I am committed to making this venture a success.

So far I have only opened the box and looked at the contents and thinking Oh boy!!! what have I gotten myself into? The parts look so tiny and fragile and I do not have small hands; but we will see. I have not started working on the kit as yet because I do not have the time and currently I am working away from home. I plan however to utilize the Easter holidays to do some work on this project.

In the meantime I am planning and plotting and buying. I have read a few blogs of those brave souls who have successfully built this kit; I have seen where some really clever folks have made alterations and adaptations and I plan to utilize some of these ideas and initiate a few more of my own imaginings.