Something to keep me amused.

Thank you for your lovely comments on my previous post.   I think I'm almost "stared out"!

As you know, I've been putting off placing orders for supplies in view of the long awaited trip to Miniatura this weekend with the result I can't crack on with anything of any great consequence but I still wanted to mini so I did a bit of research and came across a good photo (complete with measurements) of a Post Box for the Netherton Hallway.   I've always fancied having one of these in RL just for decorative purposes so until I find one, I'm happy with the mini version.

 

It's constructed from card, painted then varnished and the detail is embroidery thread.

 

 

The little table was put together using balsa and spindles and lives in the Dining Room.

 

 

On another note - I don't think I've given any background to this property, which helps me when I come to dress the rooms, especially as I don't put in any "people".

 

So, in "Irene-land" Netherton is the Town House of a big wig who sits in the House of Lords.   Think more Upstairs Downstairs than Downton.    He has his country pile elsewhere!   I struggled for a while over this given the size of it but having the pavement settled that question and I know a Town House wouldn't have had a Dairy, especially one situated under the "area" but it was such a good idea (I thought) that I just had to put one in - especially as I had the space and all the necessary bits.

 

It dates from 1901 until pre-World War I.   I'm still a bit woolly on that, it'll all depend on what minis I find and I'm not sure yet if he has any offspring but there's plenty of time for me to make a decision  on that one.

At last, some progress.

It has been some time now since any progress was posted here and I had to read through what I'd mentioned last time to bring myself up to date.   Things have been slow with this property in my bid to finish the Tenement but that's all behind me now and I'm cracking on with Netherton.   I have so many ideas there are scraps of paper and post-its everywhere with notes on and I'm spending a ridiculous amount of time trying to get more out of the spaces I have.   As this house was custom built there are no removable walls (other than the two created in the design) so making rooms bigger or turning walls around to get doorways to the front or back is nigh on impossible.

 

I know I said last time that I would be updating you all with new pics of the Dining Room but I'm not!  I still have some accessories to add and I'm holding off until after my trip to Miniatura at the beginning of next month before showing you all the completed room.  It's maddening really as it's only two weeks away and I'm desperate for supplies but can't bring myself to do anything about that in view of the imminent trip.

 

So, while I'm marking time for the major spree I know I'm going to have, I thought I'd whet your appetites with progress in the Hall.

 

 

The Hall covers four floors and has a grand central staircase on the lower two floors.   The third floor has a much plainer staircase but not as basic as that used by the Servants in the Still Room.   This is due to the fact that the owners of this property will have to look at it as they access two of their own private rooms and the bathroom on the third floor but it will primarily be used by the servants.

 

So far I've papered and painted the central hallway and up to the third floor.   The fourth floor has also been papered but will be decorated in a plain basic manner.   If you look closely at the photo below you can see wooden "stops" on either side of the room and two just at the stair well.    There is a wall that fits in here and the space forward of this will be devoted to "something else"!   Also, and because I'm a bit anal about all this, I've decorated the corridor side of the wall, all in keeping with the rest of the space (well, you have to, don't you!).   That goes for the other side of the Bathroom wall too.

 

 

 

There is a similar arrangement on the floor below which shows the wooden "stops", the stair well and my cardboard template for the flooring (on the list for Miniatura).    This is a narrower space than the one above and will become the family Bathroom.

 

 

The whole Hallway is quite tricky to do and will, I can see, be very time consuming as all lighting has to be taken into consideration as well and I'm having to really think about the order of jobs before diving in.

I had a look at the lighting arrangement today and it took some sorting out, I can tell you.   The issue lies with the two removable back walls because once they're in, I wont be able to access anything behind them (and like the issue with the Dining Room wall, I'll be fixing it as I doubt I'll want to remove it at any time providing of course that the bulbs in the fittings on the very back of the upper Hall keep working!)    My solution to that little problem will be to remove the fitting and pull them through whichever doorway is nearest and change the bulb that way - I think!

A lot of staring is needed with this one.