The yard and porch of the 1920’s House

I am totally kicking it into high gear on the house that is destined to be set in the 1920’s.   I have started work and I’m hot on the trail.  Ok, maybe that makes me sound more ambitious than I am.  High gear implies that I’m working fast and furious.  That is not the case.  I am slow and not even steady.  I work when I can find a spare moment.....a spare moment that allows me the opportunity to actually pull the supplies needed for whatever project out of the closet and into the living room where I work on a TV tray/table.  Not exactly the best workroom, but it’s what I have!

As soon as I got this house I knew it was going to be done in a 1920’s theme.  I also immediately knew that I needed the outside to be completed before I focused on the inside.  I can honestly say that I am done with the outside.  Or at least done enough with the outside.  (I still have a few random ideas for the outside).  

When I brought the house home I immediately spent some time painting and doing some basic repairs. But then the dollhouse sat for a while.  But then I knew it was time to get to work.

The first order of business for the dollhouse was to get it securely attached to a base.  I used a simple piece of plywood.   That left me a space for a yard.   I bought some squares of grass and attached that.   I used my standard egg carton stone work for the foundation and for a flagstone walkway.  I had pictures on my old phone...but that phone was lost during a wild morel mushroom hunting Expedition in the woods (ok it wasn’t all that wild...it just fell out of my pocket and since we were way off trail it was impossible to find since we had been traipsing off trail for more than 3 hours before I realized it was missing!)

I had purchased a small bike.  I was hoping it would look more like a high wheel bicycle...but it is more like a tricycle in size.  I am still pondering how to make a high wheel bike!     I also had a croquette set and a small dog house that I thought would look fun in the yard.

I knew that the porch need some items.  I had found some chairs at a Dollar General.  They were solid white, but I figured I could add some green trim to the chair and put it on the front porch.   I also knew that I wanted to have a milkman’s box.  That was an easy build!!!!

A house with all these ledges just screams for a birds nest.  So I made a birds nest...or two!

As I said, the outside is not totally done.  BUT, it is done enough that I felt comfortable actually turning the dollhouse around so that I can finally turn my attention to the inside!

Insomnia Dreams

 It is some unholy hour of the night. Man and beast should be asleep! Yet I find myself wide awake....a frequent occurrence of late. I honestly try to go back to sleep and sometimes it works...but sometimes it doesn’t. And tonight is a ‘doesn’t work’ night. As I laid in bed trying to go to sleep....for HOURS, I found myself thinking of plans for my dollhouses! Ohhh those plans! Let me share them!

I started with plans and ideas for my dollhouse that I am renovating and completing in a 1920’s theme.. I am currently finishing up the front of the dollhouse and know that I will want to actually see the rooms again before I make my final plans for how each room will be renovated and decorated and even what each room will be used for. Without that access, my dreaming turned to other things. But no worries...it was still about miniatures!

I thought about my fun little experiences working on building a dollhouse for my dollhouse. And the follow up recreation of the house I lived in while living in Florida also on 1/144 scale. I thought about my lingering desire to recreate all of the houses that I have lived in over the years. A tiny village so to speak. . That only took a few minutes of my many hours of laying in bed wide awake...so off I went to my next Project in my insomnia planning session!

About a year or so ago, I was contemplating finishing the Greenleaf MckinleyDollhouse and starting my next project and I knew what that project was going to be! It all started when I bought a vintage style table for my 1950’s items for that McKinley Dollhouse. The table was too big for the kitchen but I love the 50’s...so what better to do...I will build a Diner! I started to lay out plans in my mind and on paper. I was going to build myself a diner as my next dollhouse project! Of course I ended up getting the ‘1920’s’ house....so the diner got pushed aside. But in my insomnia trying to sleep moments...I thought about those diner plans! Should I do that next?

Thinking about the diner plans brought me to another planned project. A few weeks ago, Jason and I had been talking about the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. And I off handed my remarked that I had always wanted to build a canal boat dollhouse. Why yes! That will be my next project I declared! Over the last few weeks I have collected. pictures, researched dimensions and generated different ideas. I contemplated a slight problem. A canal boat was 90 feet long. That is a 7.5 foot long project in 1/12 scale. No other option really. I will have to step out of my comfort zone of modeling in 1/12 scale and model the canal boat in 1/24 scale. Something new and unique for me! I have just been waiting until I get at least one more dollhouse to a state of completion. And I’m close...so close to saying that the 1950’s era Greenleaf Mckknley is done! The Stone house quilt shop isn’t too far behind! The 1920’s house though is ages away from being finished!

But here is where insomnia is dangerous. Up until that point I had been just reviewing my preexisting plans... it it soon took a whole new twist! Because in my thoughts about the 1920’s house and wanting to do a library...I realized that I want to do a double decker library...with ladders on little rails that slide to allow access to the upper shelves of books. That isn’t going to work in my 1920’s house though! (Although I contemplated removing a floor to make it work!). So maybe...just maybe ...wait! I will do a room box library!

Somehow the room box library turned into a complete antebellum 1800’s mansion. Double floored open library....conservatory/greenhouse, the music room I have always wanted, and a ballroom...yes a ball room! Oh the plans were going crazy! How to fit this all into one house! I laid in bed for hours as these thoughts and ideas floated into my head and I tried to work out the logistics.

*I need a floor plan! I want the house to be ‘real’. So I picked up my phone and researched vintage mansion floor plans and eventually the floor plan and how to implement it so I can see all the rooms came together (it will be viewed from the sides and the front.
*Pocket doors! It will need pocket doors! How can I build pocket doors!
*I want to build it in stages. One room box at a time...is it possible...what are the logistics. Can I manage to build it one room at a time?
*holy cow this plan is going to be huge! I have to build it so that it can be taken apart to be moved! That adds a whole new level. Well I wanted to build it in sections anyway..I just have to figure out how to only temporarily attach them together. Should I drop the scale...1/24 scale. Hmmmm. I would rather stick with 1/12, but I may have to.

I’m telling you, my mind went crazy! I am so excited about this idea Of a project that is way off down the road. Seriously. I have NO SPACE for anything like this. But, that isn’t going to keep me from dreaming...and it won’t keep me from planning. I brought out my notebook....time to lay out these floor plans that are floating in my head!!!