She just goes a little mad sometimes...
...We all go a little mad sometimes.
Before you all think I have gone a bit psycho, don't worry, I don't hate my dolls house. I still like it but I made a little teensy tiny mistake while building the shell of this room. I copied the location of the windows from the yellow reception room which is in the middle of the building.
Inside the blue room the location of the windows is fine, but as this room is at the front of the building, the windows have to be in an exact position to ensure symmetry on the front gable. One of the windows was a centimetre too far to the middle and so I had to take out the window.
Looks pretty don't you think? Alas, everything had to come off. As I didn't have any of the painted wallpaper left (it is wallpaper by Susan Bembridge which I painted darker with a colour I mixed myself), I had to rescue the paper which was on the walls.
I tried several methods to get the wallpaper panels off the wall, but I had been very thorough when sticking it on and I couldn't get it off. That's when I thought of my carving knife. Wonderfully sharp, it worked a treat!
I then used my fretsaw to cut the window loose from the wall. Nothing
too difficult, just a matter of cutting straight around the window.
Oh no, what have I done?! It looks awful, but it had to be done.
After cutting another strip out of the wall, I could put the window
back in, in the right position this time. I must have checked the
drawings and measured it ten times to be sure I was correct this time. I
certainly don't want to be having to change all of the windows again in
a few years time when I am ready to finish the outside of the gable!
I filled in the gap on one side with what I cut off on the other. A perfect fit, thankfully. But what a mess! The strips of wallpaper I removed are not wide enough to cover the new
space between the windows. I'll have to come up with a solution for
that soon.
I also removed the centre part of the panelling and made an insert for
that but I'm not sure I like it. I will probably end up making a new
bit of panelling.
Oh dear, how will it end? I am sorry to leave you in such suspense ;-)
Josje, Keep calm. Sit down and sip some tea....It will all be OK, honest. I had a "happening" yesterday and today it is fine...What you are doing so far looks great. Carry on!
ReplyDeleteThanks Casey, I will take your advice. A deep breath and lots of tea...
DeleteI am sure it will end well, knowing you will come up with some clever tricks, like molding around the windows to reduce wall space, an interesting curtain treatment to hide the wall, etc, etc ;-)
ReplyDeleteHi Elga, yes I thought of the curtains which wil almost hide everything anyway, but I still feel I have to fix it. Yes a bit of molding may prove the answer to the missing wallpaper dilemma.
Deletehi honey, I bet this was one of those jobs that always knew would come around but kept thinking of a way out of it! "what if I re-align the front facade and add a drai-pipe down one side..."
ReplyDeleteBless you. What a task to undertake! I love how you keep the door closed still LOL
It certainly shows what a skilled job you made of the construction.
I have every faith you will wow us when it's complete xx
Hi Simon, Oh you are sooo right! I thought of all sorts of things not to have to get my saw out, all the while knowing full well that I would have to anyway.
DeleteHa, yes I closed the doors so you wouldn't see all the mess on my table :-)
It looks quite brutal, but it's like all things that are slightly off the mark in real life, you see it every time you look in that direction, even if nobody else can see it and I suppose 1cm off in 1/12th scale is quite a lot. Did it take a months to pluck up the courage? It would have for me... I have no doubt you will find the right solution for the wallpaper and I wholeheartedly agree with Caseymini's Keep Calm, Sit Down and Sip some Tea!!!
ReplyDeleteHoi Idske, yes 1 cm (it was just a bit more actually) here was really going to show in the end. For the gable to be completely symmetrical, the front door and the windows had to be at equal distances to one and other.
DeleteNo it did not take me months to pluck up the courage. Once I discovered my mistake I tried to convince myself I could find some solution without cutting it up for maybe a day or so. But basically I knew that it would not do and I would get my saw out. I am generally a slow worker, but when it comes to things like this I don't dally!
Hello Josje,
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you had to go through this! I know you'll do an absolutely wonderful job in putting it all back together, but how nerve racking this must have been. I'm just glad your gorgeous windows were not damaged. Hang in there, and I can't wait to see how you tackle this latest adventure.
Big hug,
Giac
Thank you Giac! It's a good thing I am of a calm and collected disposition, normally... ;-)
DeleteA cliffhanger indeed! I felt the pain looking at the pictures but you've got it completely under control!
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda!
DeleteOh WOW! You're brave. I guess there wasn't much choice but it all looked so great. It must have taken days to get up the courage to do that. I am sure when it is all back together it will be just as beautiful.
ReplyDeleteExactly Catherine, I really couldn't have done it differently. I made the decision pretty quickly, just coming to terms with the fact that I will probably have to redo all of the panelling and just generally feeling annoyed with it all (read: myself, haha), that takes a bit longer.
DeleteWat zonde Josje van al je werk. Ik vond het er prachtig uitzien maar ja....ik ben dan ook nog maar een beginneling. Ik hoop dat het uiteindelijk weer helemaal naar je zin gaat worden. Succes met herstellen gewenst.
ReplyDeleteGroetjes Xandra
Dank je wel Xandra! Ach ja, het zal uiteindelijk wel goed komen, maar ja ik vond het ook wel zonde van het werk hoor!
DeleteI'd go mad trying to fix that too :)
ReplyDeleteThe cup of tea Casey advised me helped ;-)
DeleteOh wow! I can't imagine how discouraging it must have been when you realized the window placement was off. I'm glad you managed to salvage everything!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, quite! I was doing something else, totally unrelated, when all of a sudden I realized I might have done it wrong. Then there is just an instant between hope and fear after which you really know you've done it wrong. Oh well...
DeleteOhh I would go crazy. Wonderful that you keep quiet and restore it.
ReplyDeleteHugs Dorien
I won't pretend it was an easy thing to do, but there is no point in getting too upset about it. That would be a waste of energy. It's like that English wartime poster: Keep calm and carry on...
DeleteHi Josje,
ReplyDeletethere must be somehting in the wind - I spent a frustrating morning with a fret saw and paint.... so your post is very reassuring!
On the upside, I like the way your photos show how you constructed everything - very inspirational!
Can't wait to see what you come up with for the middle panel!
Jonquil
Winter must be coming then if the north wind is blowing these bad things your way...Ha, I hope not though, I am still looking forward so some lovely warm September days!
DeleteI hope you get your problem fixed as well Jonquil!
Yikes! It was so beautiful as it was! How ever did you get the courage to take it all apart?! I'm sure it will be even more spectacular when you are finished. ALL of your projects are perfect.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kathi!Well it absolutely isn't all perfect, but this just had to be fixed or it would just look wrong.
DeleteOMG!!! That IS a nightmare!!!
ReplyDeleteI am just sick to my stomach...hope everything turns out OK! (If that is the same Susan Bembridge paper as my Music Room, I have some left-overs I could send you, if that helps)???
Ahh John that is so sweet of you! But it isn't the same paper, does look like it though! But that isn't the real problem, because I could just buy an extra sheet from her next month at the show. The real problem with the paper is that I painted it and mixed the colour myself...
DeleteI always tell people that when they mix their own colours to make sure they have enough because it is almost impossible to mix the same colour twice. So I thought I had enough...well I did just have enough before I started cutting it all up ;-)
I think al is well now as I have just decided to make a wallpanel with the paper and glue that onto a bigger panel which will fit between the windows. One problem solved.
Thank you for your sweet offer!
Ah Josje,
ReplyDeleteI must say the tile and your first image bought a much needed smile to my face!!!
Your bravery and pursuit of perfection is so admirable, it is such a shame to see all that hard work being pulled apart but I imagine the imperfection would have eaten at you if you had left it. I think I may have opted for a tree to obscure the 1cm difference but every thing you achieve is finished to the finest detail so I'm not surprised.
Good luck with it all and I look forward to seeing the final results.
ML Fi Xx
P.S Now that Mia and I are hopelessly addicted to the Dutch chocolate sprinkles she has now shared them with her friends, pancakes with strawberries and chocolate sprinkles for sleep over breakfast.......now it's the Dutch coco in the evening.....last night she said " Mum this is the best coco in the world.......thanks Josje"
Haha Fi, you're welcome! Or maybe I should apologize ;-) Are you drinking Droste cocoa? I love that brand, the chocolate as well. It is coming to that time of year again here where hot chocolate is great at night by the fire. A little whipped cream on top...yum!
DeleteAs for the tree in front of the house...that's a good idea but it would still bother me that the window was in the wrong place. I could still put a tree in front of it now that my mistake has been corrected, the canals are lined with trees in real life as well.
destruction ... au couteau, quelle horreur ! Non, je plaisante, je suis comme vous, il m'arrive , après pensé que le travail était terminé, de remarquer une erreur et me voilà repartie : démolition et reconstruction.
ReplyDeleteNous sommes nombreux (ses) à connaître cette situation lol !
Bon courage pour la suite !
rosethé-Minima
Thank you Rosethé! Yes I console myself with the thought that I am surely not the only one this happens to ;-)
DeleteOther than the knife in the wall, it all looks like a real life renovation project! :D
ReplyDeleteJudging by the amount of mess I managed to make you would think it was...;-)
DeleteYou're very busy! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteKiss Faby
Thank you Faby!
DeleteThat happens occasionally to everyone! Great results, though, looking good!
ReplyDeleteThankfully I am not alone then! ;-))) Thank you Virpi!
DeleteOnce you'd noticed this, you couldn't NOT do it. It would bug you forever if you hadn't taken the plunge - brave woman!
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right Irene!
DeleteI simply love your post of this inevitable 'renovation'! "Sad to see' to some, I fully understand why you needed to do this. So i don't think you've gone psycho. Instead you've gone full force ahead with it, figuring out the best approach to liquidate this 'little teensy tiny mistake'. But the way in which you describe it and the brutal 'in action' pictures are priceless. And the result is just as good; a cliffhanger in optima forma :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I can get it to a Hitchcock worthy ending ;-)
DeleteA very brave change to such a nicely done room. But i understand it had to be done .
ReplyDeleteVery brave change for such a nice room .... But i understand it had to be done. :)
ReplyDeletemario
Thank you! The thought of always knowing (and seeing) the window was in the wrong place was more daunting than the actual work involved in correcting it.
DeleteYou are very brave! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Dale :-)
DeleteWhat you are doing so far looks great??????????????
ReplyDeleteFernanda
Thank you Fernanda!
DeleteOMG! you are brave! :o
ReplyDeleteI know it will look fabulous, cant wait until next blog entry!
best wishes
Michelle
Thank you Michelle! I'm doing my best to finish it.
DeleteHa-ha. I saw the knife and thought you had decided to commit miniature murder =0)
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I would be brave enough to start all over again and destroy all of that hard work. Much admiration!
Thank you Pepper! The thought of always regretting not having fixed the problem is scarier than demolishing and starting again.
DeleteWhaaaaaargghh, Kom ik net terug van vakantie, denk ik enthousiast"zal ik eens kijken of Josje wat moois heeft gemaakt".
ReplyDeleteSchrik ik even,ben je de boel aan het slopen.
Mmm je hebt gelijk, anders zit dit je voor altijd dwars en kun je er nooit helemaal van genieten.
Succes en hou ons op de hoogte.
Groetjes, Alexandra.
Jaaa haha, Josje had de boel gesloopt! Ach ik dacht dat is weer eens iets anders ;-) Maar het zit al weer bijna in elkaar.
DeleteIk ben vanavond bezig geweest met een poging tot het printen van een kamerbreed tapijt maar dat wil niet lukken. Althans, niet tot tevredenheid. Ik ben inmiddels een half inktpatroon en 40 blaadjes verder...;-)
Het was op jouw vakantiebestemming vast beter weer dan hier. Wat een beestenweer is het! Echt weer om aan je miniaturen te werken.
Maar slopen of niet ......, het wordt prachtig, des Josjes eigen zou ik zeggen!
ReplyDeleteJa inderdaad long time ago to see, leuk dat je even een kijkje kwam nemen.
groetjes
Jody
Dank je Jody! Misschien weer 'in het echt' in Apeldoorn?
Delete