Saturday, July 31, 2010

Wainscoting For the Kitchen

You may remember, Dear Readers, that when I painted the kitchen of the Lovely Old Dollhouse a very bright yellow, I also mentioned that there was no need to worry about the brightness being too much as I was planning on adding wainscoting which would mellow the effect of the bright yellow. Now, the wainscoting as I was envisioning it was another of these projects that was giving me plenty of reasons to procrastinate! You see, all the wainscoting I had made so far for the house was of the "Panel" type commonly built in the Colonial style homes. But the wainscoting I was envisioning for the kitchen was going to be the more modern Victorian Era type known as "matchstick" or "beadboard" paneling. It was made of narrow strips of wood with a vertical beaded edge, creating a very striped appearance. Typically it was taller than the older Colonial style of paneling which went only to chair rail height, or about 30 to 36 inches from the floor. The matchstick paneling was more commonly as tall as 4 feet from the floor. The idea was that the kitchen of the Lovely Old Dollhouse would, naturally, have been "modernized" in the Victorian Era! They would have added a wood burning or coal burning cast iron stove in place of the open hearth cooking still in use during the Colonial times. And they would have added the paneling and cupboards that were coming into fashion at that time. So I was going to have to figure out how to MAKE this beadboard paneling! And what to make it out of! And how precisely detailed it would be! And even before I could make it, I would need to finish the trim around the window and doors....... so you can see that there was LOTS of room for procrastinating! And then, just to distract myself from the wainscoting, I went and started building the Castle Dollhouse! But I did not forget the wainscoting, and as is often the case for me, the project was "brewing" in the back of my mind the whole time I was doing other things. So when I finally did start the project this spring, it went together much more smoothly than I had ever imagined it would!



Here you can see the kitchen with the freshly painted YELLOW walls!


And here you can see the window trim and the completed REAL window in place!
And the sink which was just like the one in my first apartment!

Here I am test fitting the cabinet which will be over the sink.......


Now, I know you will agree that the wainscoting needed to have that same not-quite precise look of the rest of the woodwork in the Lovely Old Dollhouse. (Quite frankly, I think that is one of the things that adds that undefinable charm to this house - the home-made not quite exactly to scale woodwork!) I debated in my mind for a long time about the type of wood to use - should I go with very thin plywood and cut the ribbing in it... or should I use more of the wood my brother had made for my "dollhouse lumber" that had been so perfect for the rest of the wainscoting...... or should I try some other type of method altogether....... ! I was worried that the dollhouse lumber stock would not be enough to do the whole job as there were only a couple of pieces left. And I was not sure how well it would go together as the pieces needed to have the grain of the wood running vertically rather than horizontally as they were for the rest of the wainscoting in the house. That meant the paneling would be made up of sections 2.5 inches wide and nearly 4 inches tall. At long last, I decided that the only way to tell if there was enough of the lumber was to make an exact plan of what would be needed! (Some people would save themselves a lot of trouble if they would learn to do this BEFORE they waste a lot of time fretting....!) So I measured the spaces and figured out how many sections I could get out of the lumber that remained......... and was I ever AMAZED when the amount of lumber was EXACTLY enough to do the job!!! So I cut the sections to the right length - about 3.75 inches - allowing for a narrow "cap rail" at the top. I carved narrow grooves in the panels to approximate the look of the old beading - don't look too closely as my "carving" is a bit irregular! Then I stained the pieces the same "Old Pine" color as the rest of the kitchen woodwork. (Of course, I did not remember to take any pictures of all these steps!)


Here you can see the panels roughly set in place before the top rail was added.



I still have not added the bottom mop board to the paneling....... but here it is with the top rail and the cabinet in place...




I sure LOVE the way the morning sun streams in that window! And even though the mop boards are not done, someone has the mop out ready to go!





I could not be happier with the way the kitchen wainscoting turned out!

It is EXACTLY what I was envisioning!

15 comments:

  1. It looks so good already, even better as you fill it with goodies!

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  2. It looks wonderful and the yellow is glorious. So warm and welcoming so that I can almost smell the coffee and cakes to come! Well done, no wonder you are pleased.

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  3. I know you love your castle dollhouse project but I really love this one :). Or have I told you that already? I just feel the need to tell you again and again how much I really like this house. You have done a superliciously beautiful job with all the woodwork. Be it the windows or the wainscoting. The 2nd last picture look so real! I though at first you were showing your real kitchen as an example at first :).

    Everytime I read your post, I am thinking, right at this moment, the house must look even more spectacular now.BUt I am patient and will wait while you unfold your progress in due time :).

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  4. I was just having a quick look at your blog and thought this was a full size house, fantastic photos and I love the colour.

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  5. The kitchen looks sooo good!!Love it!

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  6. Thanks Margaret, I am a bit slow on the goodies part... but the building part is coming along really well now!

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  7. Thank you Christine! Coffee and cakes sounds great... once I get the stove figured out! I love the yellow too... many of my real homes have had yellow kitchens which is probably why this one HAD to be yellow!

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  8. Hi Sans! I must say you know how to see into the deeper part of me.... this house IS my favorite for so many reasons... but in some ways that just makes it HARDER to do! The Castle is all about playing and imagining and making ANYTHING I want ...but this house is about my dreams and my youth all mixed up together....! So, it is going to take a LONG time! Turtle is one of my Totem animals... we go slowly and carefully along... but we get there eventually! So rest assured that the progress on the Lovely Old Dollhouse is only a tiny bit more than what I have already posted. But I know there is lots "brewing" in the back of my mind.... and it will come to the front ... someday!

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  9. Thank you Kat! I take that as an ENORMOUS compliment! I like to crawl right into the rooms myself... LOL... when we were children we could lie down in the attic...! Truly, I feel the same about the real look to this kitchen... it takes me back to somewhere.....

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  10. Thanks Ewa! I love it too! There are days that I come downstairs and see the light coming in that window and I just want to sit in there with my morning tea! It does make all the work worth it!

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  11. OMG...YOu can come over and re- do my kitchen anytime!...You are such an artist. I love the wainscoting, and the whole look its so welcoming.
    Hugs!!!

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  12. that is a great house, you are making it look even more wonderful!

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  13. Yes, yellow is a satisfying sunny colour. I agree. I used to have a near windowless livingroom (full-size) which I had painted yellow for just that reason. I like your comment about doing the measuring first! So true!!! Will be back for more....

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  14. Thank you Dolls, Busy Lizzie and Marion! And Welcome to my blog! I too, love the way the kitchen is looking, but I don't have it all figured out yet.... so it is a discovery for me too as I go along! Glad you can come over and enjoy it too!

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  15. Love it! It looks so real! Thanks for sharing. CM aka Lefty

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