During the re-vamping of The Manor House I discovered that Ebay was full of unwanted dolls houses that could be bought for a fraction of the retail price so I bought a DHE fully built but undecorated model.
I think it was their Baker Street house and I was attracted to it because of the roof garden that I thought would add a new area for me to play with
This time instead of simply painting the outside I visited Maple Street Miniatures, which is about 45 minutes from where I live, and bought brick effect papers and carpet. My visit to Maple Street opened a whole range of materials for building houses and I really enjoyed looking at their ready built houses that they have on show. To be honest I don't actually visit the shop anymore, it is a bit of a mess and all of their products can be bought on line. At the time though it was like an Aladdin's cave.
Of all my houses this is my least favourite and will be the first one to go once I run out of room completely. It is too tall and to deep and I don't know what possessed me to think of setting it up as a shop and cafe. It simply doesn't work.
The downstairs is the bakery, the middle floor is the cake shop, the 3rd floor is the cafe and then there is the roof terrace for afternoon tea. The hallway is used to display wedding cakes and individual cakes.
One of the reasons I wanted to have a cafe was because I had decided I wanted to have a go at making cakes and bread. I had bought a couple of books by the talented food artist Angie Scarr and was keen to play with some Fimo.
The cake room was still a work in progress when I took these photos but it is much tidier now. I bought a whole range of cakes off Ebay but I think most of the shop fittings came from Matlock Miniatures.
As you can see I did have a go at making bread and managed to fill the shelves. They were not too bad as a first attempt.
As you can tell this project has a blue theme that I chose because it is a very fresh clean colour. I can't remember where I got the wedding cakes from but the cats were bought later during a trip to the Kensington Dolls House Festival. They are hand painted by David Ward who is only available to buy from at KDF but he does have an email contact.
The roof terrace turned out quite well. I didn't make anything here and it does look quite sweet when lit up. That is part of the problem now when I look at this house, I don't really see anything of me here. Yet at the time I felt I was very involved in the house, now I just think 'blah'.
This is also the time I noticed that the inside of the door is really a waste of space and could be used to enhance the interior.
This project is as complete as it is ever going to get. I won't tweak it now and even if I decide to keep the house I will eventually change the whole interior.
The good thing about this project was that it opened lots of new doors for me I started to make a few things for myself, I began looking at houses as a staging area for pieces I really liked as opposed to items I would buy just because they fit with the room.
Another good thing about the looking back is that I re-discover pieces I have forgotten about. There is a pink cake and a few cats that will definitely be given new homes!!
Hello Janice,
ReplyDeleteIt is a handsome building and even though it is your least favorite you did a good job of the rooms.
Big hug,
Giac
It is interesting thinking back on old houses we've made. I am yet to finish my French shop/house, but I think there's very little in it I want to change, but I do want to add some more details, so I need to get busy with that. I did pull apart the very first house I made for much the same reasons you list above - too big, too deep, too tall, too awkward. Also changed decorating style. I am also thinking of changing my Mountfield loungeroom already. But that's what's fun about minis is you can change things - it's much cheaper than in real life! One day you might look at this house and it will all click. You will know precisely what to put in it, the character, the style. It is a cute house. If it was mine, I'd consider cutting a hole in the side walls for access and adding more interior walls to make those deep rooms into two rooms. Have fun with it anyways.
ReplyDeleteI love how you've colour themed your houses and having a roof garden has given you loads of scope with plants - items which are usually just decorative additions to rooms. Interesting too to read what you say about Maple Street. I've often wondered about that shop - not that there's any chance of me visiting it!
ReplyDeleteI am always so envious when I look on ebay UK and see dollhouses for sale for 99 cents and local pick-up. I am probably very lucky I don't live in the UK because I already have too many dollhouses!! My first project was a bakery too. I still like the house and the blue color theme.
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