A Look Into the Future

I finished off Pennicott's this week adding a window in the blank panel above the front door.  What I apparently didn't do was take a photo of the changes.  So I'll show you the final version of Pennicott's later and for now I'll share with you a little of what I'll be doing now that's finished.

First of all is the "Cabin", the new kit from DHE.  This is the kit for their annual competition and was released at the start of March.  The kit has a very cute arched window on the front wall and an arched door on one end wall and a round porthole window on the other.  The the front window and door come with internal and external architraves to trim around them.  The porthole window only has external architrave, apparently DHE think the inside doesn't need to look neat.  Another complaint is that the front window opens, but only to about 45 degrees.  If a window is going to swing open it should open 90 degrees if not 180.  What use is a window that the miniature resident can't throw open?   As usual for a DHE kit it goes together very easily.  I can't tell you if the instructions are easy to follow or not as I didn't bother to read them, the kit is that simple to put together.

It's DHE's first wall mountable kit and comes with brackets allowing you to fasten it to a wall.  If I were going to design a wall mounted house I would probably make it at least an inch narrower than what the Cabin is.  Unless it is mounted on a wall over a piece of furniture it's going to project too far out to really look right in most cases.  It's also designed to be accessed by opening the roof only.  I'm never a fan of roof only access and wish DHE would stop producing kits that open this way in general, but in this case it strikes me as doubly silly.  If you mount your cabin on a wall, perhaps over the top of another dollshouse or a random piece of furniture there's a good chance it's going to be fairly high on the wall.  So, if it's fixed in place high up and you lift the roof off  only the very tall will be able to see inside.  I've said before that I get the impression that DHE don't always think their designs through properly and this is another example of that.

No doubt you're wondering what I have in mind for this kit.  Sadly, I can't tell you that just yet.  I was thinking I might enter the competition which means I have to keep all my plans secret until after the closing date in August or September.  I'll reveal the finished property to you then, but for the time being this is the last time I'll be blogging about the Cabin.

While I work on the Cabin behind a veil of secrecy, I have a few other projects planned that I will be able to share with you as normal.  First of these is the "Dragon Wizard's Lair".  Poor old DW has been collecting dust and dodging cat attacks for months now and needs a proper home where he can be safe.

This home will be built in another DHE kit, the "Garden Pavillion".  This has similar dimensions to the Cabin but is just a fraction deeper.  It's another roof open only kit and needless to say I'll soon be adapting it to open at the front as dollshouses should.  As DW is inspired by the Orient his Lair will be similarly themed. 

 After the DW's Lair is finished I'll redo another of the old houses that I have hated since about five minutes after I first started to work on it.  The renovated house will have a late Victorian/Edwardian theme.  The house has five rooms and these will become a kitchen, a dining room (and entry hall), a gothic revival themed sitting room, a chinoiserie bedroom and the final room will (probably) be split into a bathroom and an artist's studio.  It's another "cabinet" house with no external details and a clear plastic front so I was planning to add a front door and faux windows on the back wall to give the impression that the front of the house is at the back as you look into it.  Dan, my reliable old test dummy, will be the master of this house for three reasons.  Firstly, I've been promising him a place of his own for years.  Secondly, his mustache marks him as circa 1900 (or possibly a much later biker) which drops him in the right period for this house.  And finally, he's been my test dummy so long he is starting to feel the strain.  His left foot frequently pops out of joint and is held in place only by his sock.  It's time he retired to an easier life.

If when I've done that the mood takes me (and at the moment it doesn't) I'll build an upper level onto the Apothecary chamber I've just finished where old Piers' potions are sold to the public.

 Lastly for this week I'd like to share a photo of the gown I made for Paula as the giveaway prize.  It's a modern gown with a dropped waist and a silver mesh overlay on the bodice.  It's made from what I think is some kind of charmeuse in a lavender tone.  I hope you like it Paula, and I hope you approve Christine.