A Randomly Selected Newspaper Headline:

The following is a randomly selected newspaper headline from many years ago:

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I have also added a separate page to the blog for the Tower of Magic with a brief summary of all the rooms of the ToM in the one spot. The link is just below this and above the main body of the blog, or you can just click here.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Covering the Cardboard



I've been busy working on the outside of my 24th scale house so that it no longer looks like two cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other and instead actually looks like a smart house.  The basement and 'street' level of the exterior walls are clad with stone 'blocks' of EVA foam (same as the 48th scale castle was earlier in the year).  The upper walls were intended to be a dove grey but came out distinctly lavender grey instead.


Inside, I've moved the wall separating the stair/hall from the rooms across about a centimetre which means that the stairs no longer look so confined.  The stairs themselves have been carpeted with either woven ribbon or velvet ribbon.


Another change is that the chimney breasts have been removed from all the rooms.  I decided that they took up too much space in the rooms and given the way the fireplace kits I bought are assembled they're not really necessary anyway.  Another reason for removing the breasts is that once I started playing with furniture I decided the fires would be better on the back walls than the side walls where I originally had them.  That's this week anyway . . . by next week the fires will probably be back on the side walls again.


In addition to the furniture I've bought for this house, I have made a start on making my own.  If the seat of this chaise were about half as wide it would work quite well in the entry hall where is was designed to go.  I also don't like the two different greens (stair carpet and chaise) in such proximity.  So most likely I will use this chaise elsewhere and make a new one for the entry.



Thursday, September 3, 2015

Narrow Stairs and Beautiful Bookcases


I have to apologise for the first couple of photos in this post.  They are not supposed to be sideways but have a stubborn determination to be displayed that way.  The first photo shows the to lower floors of the house while the second shows the remaining upper floors.


With all the internal walls in place, this house has now reached the point where I've come to the conclusion that I really do not like it.  The problem is the stairs.  The stair/hallways are too narrow and claustrophobic looking and the stairs too dark and dominating.  I am hoping that adding a carpet runner to the stairs and adding white rails will solve the second problem but fear they will only make the first problem worse.  Technically given the era I'm planning for the house I should also add a picture rail along the upper walls which should make the ceiling look lower and therefore the hallways should look wider in comparison.  So maybe it will turn out OK in the end.  Maybe.


Even on this level where the stairs are separated from the main room by an open divider rather than a solid wall, the stair area still looks too cramped.  I am quite pleased with the room divider itself though I'm not to sure if white is the right colour for it.  Perhaps it should be a little darker, say a beige or light brown?


Most of the furniture for this house will be hand made, but I cheated and got a head start on the furnishings by buying some ready made which arrived in the mail a couple of days ago.  I had planned to recover the sofa and chairs but surprisingly the blue and white fabric seems to work quite well in this room and it makes the white of the room divider look more at home too.  It's starting to look just a little like maybe I do know what I'm doing after all.


 On paper, there was oodles of space in each room to fit in everything I wanted to and then some more as well.  As usual, reality has proved to be more cramped (hence my dislike of the stairs).  The furniture in this room (which won't be staying where it is) shows it is a very good size for a dining room . . . too bad this room is supposed to be a doctors surgery/office.  If the desk is about the size of the dining table and I try to squeeze in an exam table behind a privacy screen, a shelf of medical texts, a chair for the patients to sit as well a various other items that should be found in a surgery . . . . well it may all fit in, but I don't think I'm going to be able to arrange everything in a layout that is really going to work.  I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Now these few pieces of 24th scale furniture came from Lorraine at Fairy Meadow Miniatures in Sydney.  In addition to what I ordered, just look at what else this wonderful person sent me as a free gift:


All I can say is Wow.  And of course a very huge Thank You to Lorraine.  I think I've filled entire houses with less than this.  Many items are of course broken or damaged, but just as many seem to be in pristine condition.  I haven't done anything to deserve this generosity (no Lorraine, sharing photos of my miniatures does not qualify) so I would like to ask everyone to at least pay a visit to her store's website at http://fairymeadowminiatures.com.au/  and browse through some of the lovely miniatures there.


There were so many wonderful things in this parcel.  I love the colour of the rug, a sort of burgundy purple, there is a gorgeous little lace fan, but my favourite has to be these round bookcases.  I tried to make something similar once, but gave it up when it didn't work out.  I am definitely going to have a lot of fun thinking up ways to use all these wonderful items.