Roomboxes Dolls House

In my previous post I wrote that the new house I am working on will consist of a series of roomboxes which will eventually form one big house.  Some of you have asked me to explain this approach a bit further, so.....

I think I should start with the first big dolls house I ever saw, the 17th century cabinet house which belonged to Petronella de la Court.  My photo below is not very good with all the reflecting light, so please visit the Centraal Museum website for more photos.

This dolls house basically is a cabinet with roomboxes inserted into it.  The individual roomboxes make building, moving, cleaning etc. a lot easier.

When I started planning my second dolls house, I decided I wanted it to be a series of roomboxes which together would form one big house.  But instead of building the outside first and then inserting the roomboxes into it, I will be doing it the other way around.

I will first build the roomboxes and when they're all finished I will build a wooden carcass around it.  It will not be a cabinet like the 17th century one, but I will finish the outside to look like a brick canal house.

I started by designing the house on graph paper and making a simple cardboard mockup of the house.  This way I could judge the scale of it.  The design I have now is slightly different from the mockup.  

The photo above shows the ground floor.  If you look closely at this photo you can see all the rooms are individual boxes (except for the courtyard and hall, they still need side walls).  The kitchen has walls which come in a bit and will eventually have doors in them.   

So in answer to one of your questions, yes my roomboxes will have doors going from one room to another (see the two rooms below).  As the walls are double thickness (there's a wall to each roombox),  you have to decide which roombox to attach the door to, plus you have to make the door surround deeper as you don't want any gaps showing.  

All the room boxes have their own floors and ceilings so they really are individual units.  The wiring for lights can just be taken to the back or side of the box.  As the boxes will be placed against each other, the wiring will be hidden from view between the walls or at the back, but still accessible when necessary. 

Here you can see the ground floor and first floor stacked on top of each other.  When all of the boxes are finished, I will make a facade from one piece of wood to fit the entire height of the building.  

The facades (both front and back) will be covered in brickwork.  Of course I will cut out holes where the windows are ;-)  The thickness of the wood will help suggest the thickness of the brick, so that the wooden windows are slightly set back into the brickwork.  The front edges of the roomboxes will get a nice finish on them as well.

So that's it really, just a cabinet with shelves which will hold several boxes.  You can make the design as easy (just square boxes) or as complicated as you like.  With doors, windows, stairs, or without.  Looking like a cabinet or looking like a house.  With an open front (like mine will be) or closed.

I hope this makes my approach a little bit clearer.  I can't show you more as I haven't built it yet ;-)))

Floored

At the show in Kensington last month I decided to spend my last money on a real stone floor for my kitchen.  I bought real marl flagstones from Richard Stacey.  

Also on the photo:  my AGA which I made from a kit by Gable End Designs (see my post here), my hand painted tiles after 17th century designs and my new kitchen chair made by Colin Bird.  

The example at the stand had the perfect colour I wanted for my kitchen:  predominantly grey with a little hint of yellow ochre.  I did ask if the tiles I bought would be similar to the example (which they assured me they would be) but I stupidly did not check the packages myself before I bought them.

  When I got home and laid out the tiles, this is what I got:  mostly yellow ochre in colour with just a few (the ten in the middle) in the grey colour I had wanted.  

I was a bit upset as these flagstones are not cheap!  But as I was contemplating sending them back (oh the hassle!),   my 'work with what you've got'  mentality kicked in again.  I decided to lay them and try painting over them.

As I forgot to bring my dolls house work book to the show, I had to guess the size of my kitchen, resulting in only having just enough flagstones for the floor.  And I really mean just enough!  I only have two little scraps left.  I did not tile the spaces where I will have the sink and cupboards.  

After having glued down the flagstones, I went outside and sanded them down with my sander as they were quite uneven.  As you can imagine that created an awful lot of dust but it was easy to do and the result is great!

As per instructions from Richard Stacey, I sealed and then grouted the tiles.  The flagstones looked pretty good then, but still too yellow to my liking.  I went ahead and put several washes of watery acrylic paint on top of them.  It worked a treat!  The grouting luckily did not take the colour, but the flagstones did!  You can still see the yellow but it is not that strong any more.  Perfect!

The last thing I did was to put a thin coat of floor wax on them so they have that soft shine like old floor sometimes have.

My next job was making the windows for the kitchen.  As I wrote in a previous post (here), I use real glass for my windows.   I am getting better at cutting glass, as this time I cut all three window panes perfectly without messing up once.  

This house will consist of a series of room boxes which will eventually form one big house.  When all the boxes are finished I will start on the outside, which at the moment is not looking too pretty as you can see.  

But I am happy with how the floor and windows look!  I now need to start on the kitchen cabinets and cupboards.  That will take some time.  To be continued...

1, 2, 3, Show!

I have been to three miniature shows these past two months.  Three!  At the beginning of April there was the Apeldoorn show in the Netherlands, then beginning of May there was the Kensington show in London, England and this past weekend I hitched a ride with Elly (and Elga) to the show in Rheda, Germany.  

Yes, I know how lucky I am to be able to visit three shows, but now I'll say something awful (or maybe I should just softly whisper...):  it was a bit much!    It was fun to meet and speak to some friends and miniaturists though.  

I promised to show you some of my purchases two weeks ago, but I have been too busy!  I will make it up to you, here's a little start:

In London I came across this pretty teapot made by Jack Cashmere.   I could not resist the pretty pattern and colours which are perfect for the Salon of my first Canal House!

The blue and white plate will move to some other part of the house as it does not match the style of the room.  I also found this beautiful bouquet of flowers at the Kensington fair.  Again the perfect colours for the Salon.

The flowers were made by Gill Rawling of Petite Fleur (no website I'm afraid).   Can you guess what they're made of?  They're all metal, brass I believe, and then painted.  Aren't they gorgeous?  And they'll last forever ;-)

In Rheda I could not resist buying another pair of shoes from Patrizia Santi (Patrisan).  She did not have too many left when I came to her table, but I thought these were fun and summery (is that a word?).   I will have to start making some clothes to go with my shoe collection!

My last purchase was a pair of scissors from Edmund Drechser (no website).  He makes the most wonderful miniature tools, all working of course!   Here's the proof:

   

Kensington's garden

I have been working in the garden a lot recently, giving me little time for anything else.  Well strictly speaking that's not true, as I have been to London for five days this past week!

As you can see the garden is coming along nicely.  I have planted a hedge and filled the raised bed with soil.  I already have some lovely vegetables growing in there.  The cabbages and lettuces are by Angie Scarr,  the seedlings are made by....me!  Yes, another fantastic Fimo creation by my own fair hands ;-)))

' Hello hello, who's that?',  I hear you ask.  Well this sweet little kitty was my first purchase at the Kensington Dollshouse Festival this past weekend, at precisely 1 minute after 10 ;-)  Can you blame me?  He's just so sweet!  He was made by Annie Willis of Fine Design.

I think he is my favourite purchase from the show.  Perfect for my little city garden.

But hang on, what is he looking at?

It's just the vegetables, not a bird in sight.

OMG it's a rat!  And it's stealing my radishes!  (Rat and radishes made by Georgia Marfels).

 Don't just stand there cat!  Get it, get the rat!  Chase it away, do something! 

 ※

I had a great time in London.  I spent a lot of time at the beautiful V&A museum, met up with my Norwegian friends (see this post) and of course visited the Kensington Dollshouse Festival.  I love to see what the exhibitors have made, and chat with them.  But that means that even spending the full two days there doesn't give me enough time to see everything.  I know I know, I talk too much!

Unfortunately that also means I did not take any photos.  None!  I am so sorry!  I really intended to write a full show report...  Of course I will show you some of the things I bought in my next posts.  Until then...!

PS:  I have just decided to name the cat 'Kensington',  for he surely is of noble birth.  I will call him 'Tonnetje'  for short (meaning 'little barrel'  in Dutch, as he is a little bit overweight).  

Ozzie goes down under...

                                          .....no, not to Australia but to my basement.   ☞

For those of you who watch the BBC's Antiques Road Show, remember Ozzie the Owl?   Ozzie is a 17th century Staffordshire slipware jug and cover which came to the Road Show back in 1990.  The ceramics expert Henry Sandon was lost for words when he saw the rare piece of pottery, which he then valued at between 20,000 and 30,000 pounds.  

I never forgot that piece of pottery which was slightly odd and you might even say a bit ugly, but oh so charming!  Then last month I was at the show in Apeldoorn, visiting Karon Cunningham's stall, and what do I find?  A miniature Ozzie the Owl slipware jug and cover!  Of course I could not resist buying it.  

The miniature version was made by Duncan White.  The body of the owl is the jug, while the head lifts off and can be used as a (tiny) drinking cup.   Little Ozzie is not very photogenic but só very cute!

It will live in my Arts & Crafts inspired room in the basement of my first Canal House.  I am making slow progress on this room, but I have found some great pieces to furnish it.  A few months ago I bought these Voysey dining chairs, made by Kim Selwood.  The Godwin table and Morris chair in the background were also made by Kim Selwood,  I bought those a couple of years ago at the Kensington show.

The Voysey carver chair (also by Kim Selwood) matches the dining chairs.   I love the design with the little heart shape cut out of the back.  

At Louise Meertens stall in Apeldoorn I found another slipware jug.    Unfortunately Louise was unable to tell me who the maker of this one was.   I just thought it was funny I found two slipware pieces I liked on two different stalls.

I thought I was going to need your help in establishing the maker of this jug, but after examining the marks underneath both pieces I concluded that they are by the same maker, Duncan White.  

Who knows, this weekend I may be able to find some more slipware pottery pieces as am I heading out to London tomorrow.   I will be visiting the Kensington Dollshouse Festival!  Anyone else going?  Maybe we can meet in person there!

※ 

Another day at the museum

Three guesses where I spent the day yesterday... Well, no challenge there, I was at the museum again.

In my previous post I showed you the beautiful Simpliciakast, a miniature apothecary.  A few days after I posted about the cabinet I saw that the museum was holding a lecture on the restoration of the cabinet.    Of course I just had to go there!

I wasn't the only one wanting to visit the museum that day.  When I arrived there were hundreds of people in line outside, waiting to get in.  I waited in line for twenty minutes but got a little worried as there was no movement at all and the lecture was starting 15 minutes later.   I went up to one of the security guards and explained my situation.  When I showed him my reservation, fortunately he let me jump the queue and I was able to make it in time to the Auditorium.

The lecture was fun and interesting.  The wonderful thing about these lectures is the things you find out about an object you wouldn't really know when you look at it in the museum gallery.  For instance the meaning of the Latin text and the five small paintings on the cabinet, all relating to the profession of the apothecary.    

Many times a comparison was drawn with the dolls houses in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, as these were also miniature collections used for display and to show off.  

The thing I enjoyed most was seeing how there were many hidden compartments in the cabinet.   The small central alcove or niche can be taken out after which, with the help of a hidden pulley system,  the entire centre section of the cabinet lifts up to reveal a set of secret drawers.  These drawers are all compartmentalized using the most beautiful designs to hold all manner of stones, animal and vegetable specimens.

The bottom of the cabinet holds a writing slope and yet more drawers.   For those of you interested in this cabinet, the Rijksmuseum will be publishing a small book about the Simpliciakast around June/July.  I'll keep you informed!

__________________________________________

This time I just had to visit the room with the famous dolls houses.  It was very busy in these galleries so I didn't feel comfortable monopolizing the house with my camera.  Therefore I have only two photos to show you of the  Petronella Oortman dolls house   but there are many more photos to be found online.

These two photos can be viewed much bigger when you open them in a new window.

The cabinet and the rooms are much much larger than I remembered.  This dolls house is BIG!  But oh so beautiful!   Here is a shot of one of the bedrooms.  I love the gorgeous wood paneling and the raspberry red velvet wall covering (is it velvet?  I think so, I'll check next time I visit.)  And the silver wall sconces against the red is stunning.  And the ceiling, and the mirror, and, and...

This is the central hall of the dolls house.  Beautiful wood is used again, this time set off against the grey and white tones of the marble and the murals.  And another wonderful ceiling.  Above the two arches there are two window looking into the ' comptoir'  (a small study).

_______________________________________________

I leave you today with this photo of a mirror from around 1700 which I thought would be good to make  a miniature version of.  Or a simplified version of it, as this may be a tad ambitious ;-)

A day at the museum...

...or:  How to have a wonderful day even though your feet are killing you.

Yesterday I went to Amsterdam to listen to a lecture given by two of the Rijksmuseum's art restorers.  Head of the restoration department Paul van Duin and junior paintings restorer Lisette Vos talked about the restoration of the Beuning room, a Cuba mahogany Dutch Rococo room made for merchant Matthias Beuning in 1748.

As the Beuning room originally came from the Amsterdam canal house at Keizersgracht 187,  and many elements in my first 12th scale canal house are based on an Amsterdam canal house in the Dutch Rococo style,   you can understand why I was interested in going to this lecture.

It could be a room in a dolls house, don't you think?  Granted, a very beautiful one, but still...

In reality this room is quite big.  To give you an impression of scale, that is my reflection in the mirror (with heels I am 6 feet tall).   But then again, as we all know ' objects in mirror are closer than they appear'.  ;-)

I really enjoyed hearing about the restoration of this room.   The restoration of the ceiling and the choices they made in the way the room is displayed had my particular interest as this is information you don't normally have access to when visiting a museum.  

It was interesting for me to find how much knowledge I had already,  just from doing research for my dolls house!

I spent the rest of the afternoon browsing some of the galleries at the Rijksmuseum.  As you may know, the museum opened last Saturday, after a remodeling job which lasted ten (!!!) years.    The new entrance is a beautiful, light and spacious Atrium which I really liked as a contrast to the more intimate feel of the galleries.  

However, to the new visitor who doesn't know the museum (which will be thousands a day, as many visitors are tourists) it was a bit of a mystery how to get from one side of the museum to the other.  I tried to get to the 18th century galleries from the entrance and needed directions 4 times and got stopped and sent back by security guards three times for trying to enter part of the museum from the Atrium.  Beautiful as the Atrium is, it was very confusing to be able to walk from the galleries into the Atrium, only to find out you had then actually left the museum.  I think the Rijks has to schedule in a few more meetings in order to solve this ;-)

Anyway, once I arrived at the 18th century gallery, I found this miniature related piece I would like to show you here.  It is a ' Simpliciakast'  or Collectors cabinet  from 1730 which holds all kinds of medicinal ingredients, as well as minerals, fossils, wood samples, seeds, etc.  

It has still has the original 92 Delft faience pots, 148 glass bottles and 61 wooden barrels.  So beautiful! 

I loved the small painted panels with the ivory columns on the inside of the doors.  

In another gallery I found the collection of silver miniatures which has also been on display at the large dolls house exhibition last year in Den Haag.    I think I showed you a photo of this table laden with gorgeous silver tableware last year as well.  I still love it!

This mid 19th century kitchen room box , filled with 18th century silver miniatures (also at the exhibition last year)  is part of the permanent collection at the Rijksmuseum.

There are many more miniature related objects to discover at the museum (there's a whole gallery full of beautiful ships models) and of course...the three fantastic dolls houses!    I didn't have time to look at them yesterday though, they will have to wait until my next visit.

Back again...

Have I ever shown you the rear facade of my house ?   I don't think I have, not even on my website.  In fact I think I don't have any photos of it up until I started working on the little patio off the kitchen a few months ago.  

Below is an' in progress' shot of the two rear facades, while I was still working on the rear facade of my fake extension.  This small facade is similar to the one at the front.  I have used the same windows, but the gable and the door are much simpler than the front facade.  

As the back of the house doen't need to impress anyone, these facades are generally much plainer than the front of the canal houses.  I don't know why, but often canal houses have plastered rear facades, painted a very light grey or white.   I'll have to ask this question at one of the museums next time I visit.  Maybe it has something to do with reflecting the light, or insulation...

Although I have made a few changes to the original facade (the gable top and kitchen windows are different), it is still fairly plain.  Since I took this photo I have added wall anchors to the main facade and worked on the patio some more.  

In a comment to the post about the front facade of the house, Daydreamer said she would be tempted to make the extension into another house.  Although that was more or less my original intention, I decided against it in the end.  

I couldn't help myself though!   I thought it would be fun to create a little roombox to go behind the back door....  And so I did.  I made a small three sided box from plywood which I can just slide behind the front door.  

I made the floor out of egg cartons, installed a false door in the back and added a light which I made from a plastic deodorant cap covered in beads.  

The furniture was given to me six years ago by Erna, a retiring miniaturist who gave here entire collection to me.    Some of her pieces reside in the main house, but this desk and the chair had not found a place yet.  They are just small enough to fit against the wall of this room.   I like how it works in this small space.   

The sunflowers come from Thailand.  I bought those at a market in Bangkok when I just started out in mininatures.   I always thought they were slightly too crude to use, but here I rather like them.  

The dogs I think are by Valerie Casson.  The kitty painting is a copy from a Christies catalogue,  part of a painting by Jules Leroy called 'Chacun son tour: patience'.   It had a few more cats on it but was too big for the frame, so I painted out some details and just left this pretty kitty.  

I have started work on the very small patio outside the back door as well.  I took a leaf out of Janine's book  and bought some plastic foliage to speed up the work on the patios a little.   I made a small tree with it (better photos soon).   The garden bench is one I made years ago out of branches of contorted hazel.    It fits perfectly here!

I like the flash of orange you see inside the small room when casually looking at the house.  

Outside the back door I have made a brick step, an outside tap (or faucet),   and a drain for the downspout. I love details like these.  There still is a lot more to do here.  Hopefully I'll find some nice miniatures for the outside space at the Apeldoorn show next week.   Have a lovely weekend!

How did you do that?

That's a question I often ask myself to be honest.  It has happened to me many times in the past that I could not remember how I had made something, or which materials I had used.   So I have started to try and write down and photograph what I do so I can refer to it when I need it. 

In a comment on my previous post Anna asked if I would consider posting a tutorial on how I've made the sofas.   For a full tutorial I would have to make another sofa and I don't have the time for that now, but I can show you the photos I took as a reminder for myself.  I think they explain a lot.  

In another comment Lucille said she wanted to take a nap on the sofa and I could just cover her up with an old blanket.  Well I don't have an old blanket, but I did make a nice colourful throw to keep her warm.  I made it from silk velvet with a silk backing.  I had forgotten how difficult it is to sew silk velvet, it just slips away all the time, such a pain!  But it is pretty.  

Anyway, enough of that, lets go to the ' tutorial':

I do an initial drawing on graph paper and check with some wood whether it looks like the size will be OK for the room.  I then cut wood (in this case I still had some multiplex laying around) to the correct size and I shape the armrests on the sanding disk.   I keep checking it against my drawing so that the shapes become the same.  

I dry fit the pieces and check whether I still like the size and shape when placed in the room.  

After glueing the wooden pieces together I start covering the frame with a felt-like fabric.  I don't know what it is called, but I'm sure most fabric shops will sell something similar.  I use a thin, even layer of Tacky Glue for glueing this.

I am trying to get as few seems as possible, so the piece of felt above is one piece. It covers both the  fronts of the armrest and the back, and the bottom seat.  The photos below may make it a bit clearer.

I did exactly the same on both sofas.  I did not cover the underside with felt.

After covering the arms and backs of the sofas with felt, it is time to start cutting the upholstery fabric.  I used a linen fabric for this.  It has a little bit of 'give' to it when pulled and because it is fairly thick (as far as fabrics for miniatures go) there is less of a risk of glue seeping through the fabric and leaving stains.

Test your fabric by gluing it onto a bit of wood and felt first, to see how well it holds, and whether the glue leaves stains etc.  

Now here comes the most difficult part.  You must keep paying attention to what you're doing or you'll make a wrong cut and you have to start over.   If you're a dressmaker or good at 3D thinking it will be fairly easy to do.  

Lay your sofa on the fabric.  Check the grain of the fabric, which way do you want it to go?  With a pencil I draw the exact outlines of the fabric to help me guide my cuts.  I put a little bit of thin glue on every line which will be cut to prevent the fabric from fraying.  

Starting at the underside, I glue the edges of the fabric to the edges of the frame.   When the glue is dry I continue with the front of the backrest.  I cut it very precisely in the shape of the backrest, leaving the rest of the fabric intact because that will go onto the bottom seat.   Glue only to the edges of the backrest using very little glue!

Fold the fabric over onto the bottom seat of the sofa and fit the shape.  Make very exact cuts around the armrest and the front of the armrest.  Again, glue the edges down using very little glue.  

The fabric on the underside is cut flush with the edge.  The fabric for the two sides is folded over (like you would old fashioned sheets on a bed)  and glued flush with the edges.  

Pay attention to what you are doing here!  Make sure which way you want to fold the fabric first before you make any cuts!   I like to cut away as much fabric as I can from the corners to keep it from looking bulky.  But again, it is something you have to be very careful about.

In the photo below you can see how I have folded the sides down.

Upholstering the arms and back rests is easier than the seats.  Start by laying the sofa on the fabric again.  Check your fabric grain!  Make sure you cut enough fabric to go all across the back to the front and the sides as well.  Again to avoid seems, it will be one piece of fabric covering the entire arm and back rest.

Make a nice straight and crisp fold at the edge of the fabric and glue it to the back bottom edge of the arm and back rest.  When the glue is dry, fold the fabric over to the inside of the arm and back rest.  Measure, fold and glue the fabric to the front edge of the armrest and let dry.  

Smooth the fabric over the armrest into the inside corner.  Run your fingernail over the cross section of the arm rest and bottom seat and the arm rest and back rest.  This will give you the exact pattern you need.  Check the fit, then cut the fabric just a little bit bigger than your pattern line.  

Be very careful when cutting the fabric on the top of the armrest, it has to end precisely in the corner or else it will show!  Glue the edges of the fabric onto the armrest and let dry.  Do exactly the same for the back rest, folding over the fabric at the edges in the corner.

The only drawback I think this method has, is that it shows the folded edges of the fabric quite well.  Having said that, in real sofas this shows in a similar way.   Of course it all has to do with scale.  The thinner the fabric you use, the less obvious the folds will be. 

You could also use thin card underneath the fabric, in which case the fabric would fold underneath the card which would definitely make it less visible.  It does change the look of the furniture though.  Whereas I would use it on more formal furniture, here I felt it would make the piece look too stiff.

Are you still with me?  I know it's a long read, making it will take you even longer ;-)

The base of the seat cushions are made from wood again.  Make sure they are slightly too small for the upholstered sofa when you fit them, because you will be adding fabric to them making them more bulky.  

The slightly padded look of the seat cushion is achieved by adding some felt padding.  This way you can make it very rounded or more flat, whatever you like.  I don't have any photos of this process, but it is similar to what I did on the frame.  

Next, lay the seat cushion on your upholstery fabric.  Check the grain!  I used one piece of fabric to cover the whole seat cushion, top and bottom.   Start by glueing the fabric onto the bottom of the seat cushion.  When dry, fold it over onto the top of the cushion and start finishing the other edges by measuring, cutting, folding and glueing the same way as before.  

The inside corner is the last part you should finish, and it is a little bit tricky.  A dressmaker will understand the workings of this corner, as  it is impossible to stretch the fabric over this angle (unless it is stretch fabric, which it is not).   You have to make a cut exactly into the corner, stopping short just below the top of the seat.  You can then fold the fabric down on both sides.  However, this leaves a gap.  

As you can probably just about make out on the photo, I have cut a small strip of fabric and placed it underneath to cover up the gap.  It will not show when the sofa is finished (see photo above).    The last edge to glue down is the long folded strip.  Again, this can't be seen when the sofa is finished.

On to the back cushions.  I first made the ones in the photo below (the same way the seat cushions are made) but I felt they were too straight and boring.   The new cushions I made are simply squares of fabric sewn together and filled with sand.  I like sand as it gives the cushions weight and you can 'drape'  them.

The most important part is to keep thinking of what you want to do and how you want it to look.   From which angle do I look at the sofa, therefore,  do I want the folds to go to the left or to the right?  Be patient and use glue sparingly.  

Fitting the upholstery is almost like a bit of origami, once you understand what you have to do it gets easier.  

So that's it, finished sofas.   I know this is not a complete tutorial, but I hope it gives you some idea of how I made my modern sofas!