The Residents of Pennethorne Manor

I don't know about you, but I have to know who is going to live in my house before I can proceed with building or decorating.  As the story starts to write itself in my mind, I knew I wanted a Victorian manor built in the early 1800s, but home to the late Victorian/early Edwardian period.  I set about looking for an Edwardian doll and found the perfect one by Lisa Johnson Richards.

Niggly Bits

I didn't have much time to work on the manor yesterday, so I decided to work on some of those niggly bits that have been keeping me up at night (not really, but it sounds good doesn't it?!).  Ha ha, anyway, I was able to finish up some wiring - the little elephant lamp my mom bought me for my birthday (which is residing in the study for now), a light fixture in the second floor hall that I had to replace because the old one kept giving me grief, and the fireplace in the study.  To my great relief, all the lights are working, at least for now.

Easy Does It

Well I'm nearing the end of the major part of the build on the manor.  Next up is trim, siding, and painting on the exterior.  On the interior, I'm set to do the wiring and lighting with a friend of mine near the end of the month.  All the lights have been ordered except for the chandeliers.  They may have to wait while I save my pennies.

I spent some time yesterday inserting 1/4 inch foam board on walls where there are doors and purchased windows.  Since the dollhouse walls are only 1/8 inch thick and the doors are 3/8 I had to make up the difference so that the door molding will sit right on the door.  The foam board will be glued in place once the wiring is done.  After that I can finish the wallpapering.

Speaking of wallpapering, the breakfast room has taken on a life of its own.  As I was working on getting the doors in, it told me it wanted to be yellow.  Yellow is not one of my favorite colors, but who am I to argue when a room tells me what it wants to be?  I found some pretty yellow paper with a lovely ceiling medallion to match.  The only problem is the medallion is larger than my small room, so I'll be cutting it to fit hoping the cuts won't be too noticeable.  I also found some sweet little yellow brocade chairs and a painting with spots of yellow in it.  This room is coming together all on its own!

I'm making progress on the main hall flooring, but I ran out of border so Brian has to print more pages for me.  I should be able to finish that up in an hour or so.  It took me awhile to figure out how to cut the angles (and there are plenty of them!) but once I figured it out it took no time at all to put it together.  I'll finish it up with a coat or two of super gloss Mod Podge.

The basement has been in limbo since I'm waiting on the door for between the kitchen and the butler's pantry.  I also don't want to wallpaper these rooms until the wiring is in for the lighting.  I did get the staircase stained though.  I also had to add a little block of wood at the bottom of the newel post at the bottom of the staircase because it was just a little short.  Sometimes these little annoyances can work out well because I like the added detail!  I'm still bothered by that staircase to nowhere, so I might create a faux opening . . .

And speaking of annoyances . . . the turet at the top of the tower is supposed to be held in place by 8 little tabs, none of which line up.  I trimmed until I was blue in the face and still didn't get it to line up.  Also that turet sits pretty precariously on that tower so I came up with another solution.  I cut (or rather Brian cut because I couldn't for the life of me get the crown molding to line up at the corners properly) four pieces of 1 1/2 inch crown molding to make a square under the turet, glued them in place and slipped the turet over the tower walls.  It's perfect!  No more worrying about that turet falling on my head.

Today I start on the windows.  If you don't hear from me for a while, send the paramedics.  I'm likely buried under heaps of sanding dust!