First light

The last time I was at the miniatures sale a new lady there had this chandelier for sale. After having shopped the internet for fancy chandeliers I thought this one was a decent price. I am very leary about spending too much on the lighting right now as everything metal rusts here very quickly. Some more bling would do this one good though.
At one time you could get chandelier kits, does anyone know of a source?

Decisions, decisions

This is the second set of doors in recent weeks. The first set were divided down the middle. There needed to be a way to cover that opening line and still allow for a mostly symetrical design so off they came. Its almost like having a blank slate to work with.
What do you see?

I have been looking at windows and doors for weeks. The ones pictured here are just to get an idea of size and placement. Since so many are needed I'm still weighing making my own.  The matboard you all suggested be used to cover that contact paper and allow for ease of papering has been purchased. I was also going to use the matboard to make faux slate shingles but it may be more cost effective to use the real slate. Some of the strangest things are very expensive here, the matboard alone will end up costing more than the house, isn't that funny. So windows along with the electrical system will be the next order of business.

Windflower Manor

While browsing ebay I found a listing of plans for a dollhouse named Windflower Manor. It is dated 1974. Just how cool is that? Now that I know, I will have to use a part of or a variation of the original name but that will come later. Just wanted to share.

Making progress on the house

However slowly, it is progress. I decided to go ahead a rip out what was once the front entrance, porch and bay window. This part of the house opened on the side an I felt it was a bit awkward. The whole front has been taken off to be replaced by new doors. This allows a lot of freedom on the style of house this one will become along with the type and amount of doors or windows to choose from. You can't really do that as much with a back opening house. All of the interior walls have been removed as well. The side walls have been filled and sanded and filled and sanded and dare I say filled again. I am undecided about so many things for this house right now save a few must haves that I have always dreamed about for my own house like slate roof, stone exterior and an elegant eclectic interior.

Day one and a dilemma, any suggestions?

Progress is being made. This is after a day's worth of scraping, peeling, sanding and cutting away at this house.
The roof had some type of sand mixed into the paint to resemble asphalt. It was fairly easy to scrape but did result in bleeding knuckles. The dormer trim has been removed. My husband removed the windows for me but rather than retrofitting holes that already exist I decided to rebuild the doors allowing for any new window choices. For now the bay window remains until I decide what changes will take place there. One side has been filled with wood putty to allow for a smooth surface.

As with many older homes there were a few layers on some of the walls. A couple of rooms were covered in fabric which I did consider keeping but this refurbish will include electricity so alas there is no room for keeping the old wall coverings.

Now for my dilemma, do you see those royal blue rooms? They are covered in a type of contact paper and it will not budge. I tried everything short of melting the surface with a chemical as I am sure this will make a huge mess not to mention the environmental drawbacks. The thing that gets me is that the small flakes that did come off seem to indicate dry rot but that is not working in my favor. Tried a citrus stripping product but nothing happened. A possibility could be to attach thin new wood to the walls but the humidity here scares me. Any suggestions?

Acquisions and Mergers

I am so excited to be the new owner of this vintage dollshouse. From the first time I saw it last week on our local Craigslist it really did not get far from my mind. There was a point where its renovation was all planned out so I went for it. It is huge and there are 11 rooms complete with contact paper flooring and wall paper. The outside was crudely routed out to resemble lap siding and I truly love it just as it is.

Its the antique collector in me that wants to keep its original condition but the finished picture in my minds eye has surely won. As for the merger, well thats a simple placement of this project at the top of my project list. What was I thinking?