That 70′s Kitchen

February 21st, 2012

I put together an extremely crude mock-up of my 70′s kitchen.

I say extremely crude because the wallpaper and floor are only taped in place as are the wall cabinets. I still haven’t done any work on the house itself, but it has been fun playing with the furniture. I think I have something that is close to the picture in my last post. Without the pink. I am not a pink fan.

This kitchen is built from a Realife Kitchen Kit. I put together a number of the kits when I first started doing miniatures because they were cheap. What I had forgotten between that time and this was that they are cheap for a reason. The wood is very thin and quite prone to warping. I also opted to skip some steps which make the kits a whole lot more complicated than they need to be, such as making the front of the cabinets with pieces of strip wood and fussing with the refrigerator shelves (the fridge is glued shut). Overall, I am pleased with the way the kitchen turned out.

I really need to get to work on the house!

Sandra

That 70′s Ranch!

January 30th, 2012

First things first. I need to show you my brand new Kris Compas dining room chairs! In my opinion, they are just right for this room.

Now on to the Contemporary Ranch.

I haven’t really gotten around to putting the house together yet. It’s been too cold or too wet to start my much loved textured spray painting for one thing. But in anticipation of actually building the house, I have been planning the interior.

After the black and white (mostly) color scheme, I feel the need for color. Lots of color. What better place for a serious color fix than the early 1970s.

For some reason my mother had these 1971/1972 decorating magazines around.

I gather she planned on redecorating at some point. Unfortunately, for me, she actually got around to all that redecorating a little later and we ended up with the dreaded avocado green/harvest gold. The worst part of the redo (My mom will never see this, thank goodness, since she does not own a computer.) was that we had the 1950′s turquoise cabinets with – yes – coppertone appliances in the kitchen. I kid you not.

Even if they did not inspire my mom, I can so see having some mini rooms like these. Who can resist that kitchen? The mediterranean furniture? The bentwood chairs?

Here are some pieces I have gathered up so far.

Peace!

Sandra

Some credits: mediterranean furniture – Old Concord from eBay (still looking for more of this!), modern chairs from miniatures.com., love seat is a modified Realife Kit, beautiful z-shaped shelf from minisx2, bentwood chairs are from Town Square.

Facination Station – I Can Finally Go!

January 23rd, 2012

I have finally finished the interior bones of the Fascination Station. The bathroom is done! My poor mini people have been waiting far too long for this room.

And the big picture of the whole house.

My entry title has a double meaning. I think it is time to move on to other projects for a while. Of course, I fully anticipate that I will be returning to the black and white house occasionally to play with furniture and accessories. In the mean time, I need to find a place to put this big house so I can reclaim my dining room/work table. <grin>

Speaking of space, am I the only one who is getting a little crowded out with prolific dollhousery? I am hoping one day to have a dedicated minis room. Unfortunately I don’t have one yet and the spare space we do have can only be accessed by a spiral staircase. (See the one is my house above. Don’t do this in real life!) I saw that Mini Mod Pod is dealing with her space issues by selling a very cool house on eBay. I’m not quite at that point yet. I guess I could quit buying and building – NOT! Oh well, who really needs a sofa?

Sandra

Fascination Station – Progress!

January 9th, 2012

I worked like the dickens on floors this weekend and got almost every room fleshed out. I still have the bathroom to finish and then I strongly suspect I will set everything aside for a while. The Contemporary Ranch is calling to me!

Overall, I am pleased with, for me, how quickly this all came together. Two months is most definitely a record for me!

Enjoy the mini tour! (You will notice that my primary accessories are my cat collection – a little like real life.)

I’m not sure if I am going to keep that circular star. And I am definitely not sure about the fireplace. I really do like the Kris Compas furniture even if it does not technically fit into the black and white color scheme.

This is an Elf kitchen kit. The fridge is also from Elf and I really love it! Ridiculously clear counter tops here – what! no Cuisinart!

The bedroom a little more finished. Cats on the bed – the story of my life! The “aromatherapy” lamp on the table is battery operated. It is a bit large, but flashes all these nifty colors and I’m a sucker for that sort of thing.

 

Needs work. Sigh. A Nate Berkus trick of wallpaper in the shelving unit. I didn’t have anything I really loved to put on these shelves, so I stuck in some mini books. Cookbooks, Little House On The Prairie, and Shirley Jackson – now there is a combo! I have some different chairs on order for this room as well.

The bare bones of an office. Large empty shelving unit. Empty wall shelves. Empty desk. Now how long would all that be true in the real world?

In case you might be wondering, the cats are a mix of Anton Reve, Teresa Summers, Bridget McCarty, and Marlene West.

Now on to finish that bathroom!

OH!! I just want to let everyone know that the Modern Wallpaper is now a freebie. Please download and enjoy!

Sandra

Fascination Station – I Finished A Room!

January 4th, 2012

Well, almost. It needs some fine tuning. But, I finally feel like I am making some progress on the interior.

A major slow down was the electric lights. I have vowed to myself never – and I mean NEVER – to try to electrify a MDF house again. I broke tools, junction boxes, plug-in lights, and completely knocked out the electricity to one room (fortunately, just ONE room!). Honestly, I just can not believe how hard MDF is to penetrate. I salute everyone who can successfully electrify MDF without excessive swearing and/or a couple of stiff shots.

I am coming down the homestretch of finishing this project. I should have more pictures to share very soon. Hooray!

Fascination Station – The Best Laid Plans

December 21st, 2011

Sigh. I did not make the deadline for the Creatin’ Contest. This does not surprise me in the least. I started way late and have a terrible time with deadlines.

Maybe, I’m just not the contest kind. I tried before with the Spring Fling 2010 and never got that finished either. After all the commentary about a Meth House contest winner (which I personally thought was pretty original), I think my entry would not have been approved either. I had a notion of doing a 1970′s head shop complete with tie-dyed t-shirts, posters, records, and -gasp – bongs and rolling papers. My sense of nostalgia is pretty warped, I guess. <grin>

At any rate, I did finish most of the exterior.

And after some electrical troubleshooting (am I the only one who has discovered the tested electrical is no longer working AFTER the wallpaper is up?), I will finish up the interior (this time!). Maybe in time for the I’m A Giant Challenge deadline?

By the way, super thanks to Pepper at Mitchy Moo Miniatures for the super tutorial on the Mod Fire. I just had to try this out and made one in card stock for my rooftop sitting area.

Happy Holidays!

 

Sandra

Fascination Station – Panic Mode!

December 12th, 2011

So far, so good!?

Those sliding glass door have given me fits. This is a set of Timberbrook doors that I was lucky – I thought – to find. They do not want to stay in the tracks for some reason. Sigh.

Will I get this done before the 15th? And be able to take pictures on the 16th? I am beginning to have some serious doubts.

Golly! I still have wallpaper, floors, the kitchen cabinets, and a shower to finish up. And some trim work inside and outside and some landscaping.

Well, if I do not finish in time for contesting, at the very least I will have a house that probably got done faster than any other house I have ever put together.

Now back to work!

Sandra

Fascination Station – Captain There Be Roofs Here!

December 5th, 2011

I had, what I consider to be, a very productive weekend. The structure is glued and the roofs are on. I also got the electrical tape in place and did a primer interior coat. That is a lot for me!

Am I the only one who thinks mini shingles are a tedious pain? In an effort to stop spending more money on this house, I opted to use some cedar shingles that I had lying (or is that laying – I never can get those two straight) around. I will say that the trouble was worth it, I like the textured look for this house.

I also managed to get my Christmas tree up!

My 2 foot high Christmas tree that is. I have a cat with more energy than necessary and decided against a big tree this year. What fun to find a purple one! And turquoise and green and bright pink ornaments! Ho Ho Ho!

Sandra

Comments Anyone?

November 28th, 2011

Modern Mini Houses brought to my attention that comments were not working properly. Well, that totally stunk! After getting my techie husband to look at the code and give up, I decided the best course of action was to change my theme. And so I did. Comments are working now. In fact, I got my first spam comment! (DOH!)

Sandra

Fascination Station – Very Rough Draft

November 27th, 2011

I keep plugging away at the Fascination Station. I am usually slow and easily distracted, so I feel pretty good about what I have gotten done so far.

The exterior is planned out and painted. (The windows and doors will cover up those rough cut holes.) I still have much assembly left as I am trying to configure the floor plan inside.

Textured Spray paint is my new best friend. Seriously! I love this stuff! I first heard about using it for shingles on the Miniatures.Com Facebook page. I tried it for my East Side Townhouse and was very happy with the results.

And now I am using it for the Station Project. I don’t think I could paint this cool roof effect (and the matching shingles) any other way.

Okay, enough blogging and back to work! Deadlines approach!

Sandra