Playing with wood.

I've been busy over the past few days making more bits for the attic store room.   First of all, a basic table - nothing too exciting there!

Some luggage racks - easy peasy

and (a first for me) a fireplace.   As this is for a room of no importance whatsoever it was created  from various bits and pieces of wood already in the stash and painted black.   It was afterwards, when it was just standing there, I thought perhaps something else could be done to it.

 

 

so, out came my favourite Humbrol Metalcote paint (I love this stuff and it comes in black too!)

 

 

 

A coat of this and a quick buff and the fireplace now looks like this.   It wont really be seen that well once in place but I'll know!

 



 

Anyone for Croquet?

I've done as much as I can with the bathroom.   All the furnishings and fittings are in place.   It just needs accessories but for those I'm having to wait for my trip to Miniatura at the end of the month.

 

I know I could purchase what I need online but the fun of choosing things face to face so to speak is going to be worth the wait.    There are very few fairs here so I tend to take full advantage on the occasions when I DO get to visit a fair.

 

So...........with that in mind, I've started working on my attic storage room.   This will be filled with luggage, sporting/games equipment and sundry other items that don't have a home or have seen better days.

 

This Jane Harrop kit was purchased some months ago with the storage room in mind.   It was a fun little kit to put together and I'm very satisfied with the end result.

 

How to Victorianise a low level toilet

The toilet in the bathroom of Hambleton Hall has a low level cistern with a daft little handle stuck on top - not very Victorian, I thought.

I decided to set about making a few simple changes by first of all cutting off the short "pipe" that joins the cistern to the toilet.   This was discarded.   The little handle was also removed and set aside.

 

 

A new "pipe was created using a kebab stick cut to the required height, painted gold and glued back in place.

 

Then, using black plastic fencing I looked for a section that would be suitable for brackets.

 

 

Two pieces were cut, painted gold and attached to the base of the unit.   My two are set back in order to line up with the top lip of the cistern.

 

 

Remember the daft little handle?   This was glued to a piece of chain at one end and the underside of the cistern at the other.

 

 

I now have a high level Victorian toilet.

 

 

 

 

Maximum effect, minimum effort!

 

 

Panelling and plumbing!

Things are moving along, albeit slowly, in the bathroom.   The flooring has been fixed down, the wallpaper is up and the panelling is in place.   Originally I had planned for the panelling to be a bit higher than you see here, but after placing some of the items, it just didn't look right so I lowered it by an inch.

Original set up -

Now -

The lights have also been added.   These are lovely little handmade lights by Art of Mini and I'll disguise the wires with gold paint.   That's the beauty of close ups - they emphasise the tiny details that can be missed.

I've been playing with furniture placement and this is how it looks at the moment.   The cistern has been heightened as it was just a low fitting and it still needs its pull chain and some brackets.     A covered table will sit front left but I needed a feel for the space.  

Still lots to do!

Time to relocate.

After 7 years in it's present position, Hambleton Hall is being relocated.

No. 2 son has flown the nest and although his room isn't the one I'm really after (that belongs to No 1 son) its a good temporary place to keep the minis and they'll all be in the one place.   No more walking miles for an 18" length of skirting!

Today I emptied all the rooms.   Have you ever done that?   It's amazing just how much stuff these little properties hold, not to mention the dust.    There are bits in there that I had forgotten all about and it was a nice little exercise to remind me of things that are not easily seen and only I know are there.

I think it's going to take some time putting it all back together again.   It might also be a good time to thin out some of the bits as well.

For some reason over the past couple of months, my oomph went but I'm hoping this little task will help me get back on track and raring to go again.   Nothing has happened in the bathroom since the last post.

Right now I need to rally the staff and get them cleaining.

More bathroom progress.

Just one photo for you today.   The wallpaper and flooring are in place but the panelling hasn't been stuck down yet.   I just had to see what it all looked like!

I know it's a bit bright for a Victorian bathroom but the story in my head says that as the Admiral wasn't keen on devoting a whole room to this new fangled bathroom idea he divided a larger room in order to keep the other half for storage.   Her Ladyship, Mrs Admiral, on the other hand is a very forward thinking woman of her time and decided that if he was getitng his own way with the size of the room, then she was getting her own way with the decor. 

As the paper is printed off from a printie (very handy if you miscalculate and need more - just print it off!) and the fact that I haven't used this method before, I wasn't sure if the pattern would smudge despite the fact that I had used the spray fixative.   I was also a bit concerned with matching the pattern in such a small space if I decided to put the paper directly onto the wall.   In the end, I cut card templates, matched the pattern and then put them on the walls. It seems to have worked and I'm happy with it.

Bathroom Beginnings.

Work has started with the Bathroom in my quest to get the attic finished.   Despite not having updated the blog recently, I haven't been idle.

The room has been primed and the panelling has been created and painted.

I've been quite adventurous this time with wallpaper in that I'm using a design printed off from a website of free printables.   I've no idea whether this will work or not but I do hope it does as I like the design and I've already painted the panelling to co-ordinate with it!

The room was originally going to have a wooden floor stained mahogany but when I put the flooring together with the panelling it just looked all wrong, whether it was the particular stain I was using or whether it just wasn't the right colour of panelling to have with the mahogany, it just wasn't working for me so that floor will be laid in the store room I've planned for next door.

That all meant that I had to come up with an alternative and normally I would just go on line and purchase the flooring I fancied but this time, because I have loads of card to hand, I thought I'd have a go at making my own so with the help of the very informative book by Lea Frisoni this is how far I've got at the moment. 

I only started putting it together this morning and I've got quite a long way to go but so far, given that it's the first time I've attempted anything like this, I'm pretty pleased with the way it's looking and hopefully any little discrepancies will be hidden once it's been grouted!

The cabinet I bought for the Bathroom has also been stained mahogany but I'm going to have to change that too as it just doesn't work with the burgundy paint colour.   Back to the drawing board with that one, I think!