Sunday, July 28, 2019

Hello Summer!

 


When isn't summer busty?  I always think I'll have more time to sit and make minis.  I've squeezed in some late evenings to get some projects moving and take on additional projects (because who doesn't love taking on more projects!!).

Work with me here people, there's been a lot of mini things happening!

The Mid Century House


You know its been a while when a coat of dust and assorted fluff accumulates on a project because its been sitting on the furnace room floor!

Building is a little like playing Jenga.  You have to be strategic and think 5 steps ahead so you don't end up with a headache.  But you still have them, regardless, right?  I managed to finish off the kitchen wall with its floating shelves, under lighting and aluminum sheet back splash.  But before I could secure that wall to the structure I needed to make decisions about the bathroom.  That same wall would hold the bathroom vanity and lighting (which would feed through the wall and be concealed behind the kitchen cabinets.

3 months.  Yes, it took 3 months to procrastinate about what I wanted for the bathroom.  Time was spent on Pinterest, design magazines and Instagram.


The front exterior wall also needed to be cut and finished as its part of the bathroom wall.  I added the ribbed wood cladding to it.  I then realized I could see light between where the new right wall (see picture) butted up to the original structure (the panel with the door, left).  Also, the single strip of black wood between the two sides looked rather underwhelming in real life when I placed landscaping in front of it.  Sigh.  No, I didn't walk away for another 3 months, I added a second strip of black wood, sliced off some cladding and fixed the appearance and the gap in one shot.  

Then I vanished.  I varnished while tired and in a rush.  It didn't go as planned.  I grabbed gloss, not matte.  So the right side was shiny and the left was matte.  Much swearing.  Not sure how I missed the GIANT GLOSS LABEL, but I did.  So now both are shiny gloss that I dulled with super fine steel wool.



Before I could move on with the bathroom lighting, I realized I needed the vanity to set the tone and give me a reference for notching the wire channels and light position/size.

Using the "modern bathroom" hashtag on Instagram, I pulled together a few favourites.  I also wanted to tie the bathroom to the kitchen, so after I had all my wood cut, I veneered each piece and the cabinets edges.  The counter is a very thin tile.  The sink is from ELF Miniatures and the wall mount facet if from Paper Doll Miniatures Shapeways Store.  

The flooring is a sheet of railroad scale "sidewalk" plastic.  I will leave it white.  The wall tile is also from the railway store.




I notched the wall using my Dremel.  Once everything is correctly placed, Ill drill through the wall into the kitchen to run the wires and battery.



I made wall mounted wall sconces using a different veneer and thin metal rod.  Cutting veneer sheets is easy with a very sharp Xacto knife.  The tough part is gluing it and not having it stick to your fingers.



New Roombox

My "why not" project also started in July.  The Restoration Hardware catalogue was sitting on my workbench and the Ethan Allen summer ad had arrived.  I suddenly wanted a white living room space.  Do I have additional time for this? Nope, but why not!

Its a rather big room with big ceilings and windows.  No sense making it small and having it feel jammed with furniture.



When completed it will have 3 walls, the window wall, the fireplace wall and the blank wall.  I may add a removable roof with lights for stability, but for now 3 walls is enough work.

I opted to take the easy route for the brick wall.  I used embossed brick paper, primed it and painted it the wall colour.  Even after 3 coats with the wall colour the brick paper still bleed through, but it adds dimension and gives it a very aged look up close.

The floors another story.  I used a birch veneer roll that had adhesive on the back.  Simply heat your iron to melt the glue and set the floor.  It works like a charm!  But there was a catch.  I had to slice the strip in half lengthwise to get the 1 cm width, but that resulted in wobbly cuts here and there.  When laying regular wood floors, you don't see the gaps and can fill them.  But the veneer glue when melted and dried, looks glaring white.  Very visible against my grey/brown floors.



So, when I finished the floor, and 3 coats of stain and palm sander-ing, I had the colour I loved, just with gaps.

I sprayed it with 2 coats of matter oil based spray varnish.  Then I solved the glue issue.  I mixed an exact match floor stain with craft acrylic paints.  Using a fine brush I painted all the white, then wiped off any paint that got on the boards.  The oil based varnish meant it wiped perfectly clean.  After the paint was dry, I added 1 more coat of matte varnish and it was flawless. 



I'm now painting the window trim the same as the wall colour and will apply a final wall colour coat too!




And now here's a little mini fun!  I always bring minis to the cottage.






8 comments :

  1. I think the bathroom is going to look so good. And I love the dark floor!

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  2. It's so great to have you back on the blog and sounding so excited by the projects you've got going! The bathroom finishes are wonderful individually but oh so chic together! I can't wait to see it all finished in it's glam shots!
    The new project looks intriguing, and I love the amount of space you've given yourself to work with! The floors came out beautifully, and you've proven once again that problems are only opportunities for you to make things become even more amazing!

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    1. Thanks Jodi! I love that little bathroom despite all the headaches.

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  3. Beautiful job on the wood floor! You would never know the trick behind it without reading this blog. And so clever to use railroad sidewalk for your bathroom floor tile. That bathroom is going to be spectacular. Love the little summer mini vignettes! Particularly the guitar propped up against a mushroom.

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  4. Your clever and time saving solutions for bathroom floors, and walls and the contemporary fittings and fixtures was worth the 3 months of iceberging. Often you just have to wait and built up to the next Big Step rather than do and then undo later.
    Love the concept of the White Living Room and see that you are off to a good start there too!
    I did the iron-on wood veneer floors for my Land's End cottage ( which I haven't finished) so I know EXACTLY what you are talking about when it comes to the glue and the gaps, yet once again you have pulled the rabbit out of the hat and the end results are GREAT! :D

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    1. Thank you Elizabeth! Those darn veneers make it look so easy and simple until they get you at the very last minute (and once its all glued in place). As much as I grumble the easy of getting them down quickly will likely have me doing it again, but maybe this time with a lighter floor stain so the glue is less visible.

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