Two Steps Forward and One Step Back

Behind Closed Doors

A closed door that WON'T open is something that I find to be Very annoying, Dear Readers, even though I am aware that the Illusion of Another World behind a door that is Closed can be very useful and Intriguing. I wanted that Illusion of More Space in my Cupboard House, and so I planned to put a door to "Nowhere" at the back of the Entry Hall just to suggest that there was more house behind it. But once I had put the door there.... I just Could NOT stand to have it glued shut forever! And since there really was NO ROOM beyond the door... I decided to paint a "trompe l'oeil" room behind the door...... so that when you open the door......

It APPEARS as if there is a room beyond......

That you could ALMOST imagine walking into.......

But really, if you look closely, or at the wrong angle....

you can tell it is just a painted wall!
Here below you can see the painted wall without the door frame in front of it....
(and the hallway partition is also removed....)

And here is a closer view of the painting......

Just so you can see all the faults and rough spots......
It is painted directly onto the back wall of the Cupboard.......

And a small panel of plywood the same thickness as the Hallway walls

has a cutout for the door frame to sit flush against, so that when it opens.....

There is a tiny amount of depth to the space behind the door.......
which only adds to the illusion....!
Such a silly little Hidden detail.... as the door will be Mostly SHUT.....
But I LOVE it!

On another note.... you May remember that I left you Hanging in Uncertainty about the level of Detail I was going to use for the Dining Room Floor! I got Very distracted by the Holidays..... but I DID manage to complete the floor! When you saw it last it looked as follows..... I had started the edges and then got entangled in the possibility of complex patterns..... and knowing NOTHING about the pitfalls of such patterns.... I Jumped in and let the pattern take over.....

I am Pleased and proud to say that I did NOT give up!

I made the pattern work for the Whole floor!
And THIS is what I ended up with..... it may be Unconventional.....
But I still think it is quite Handsome!

Here you can see it with the walls in place......

And Clarence even came to inspect the workmanship!

(I think he is wondering what is Taking SO LONG...!)

He has to make sure the Doors are Working too......

As soon as he was done with the Inspection.....

I was able to put on the dark Walnut stain....

Which I think just makes the floor so Gorgeously Dark and Victorian....

with that mysterious pattern shining through.....

I will ALMOST be sad to cover it with a carpet......

WHEN I get around to the Carpets.....

Which could be Quite a while.....

So I'm Really GLAD it is so Handsome in the meanwhile......!

I have also made a START....

a VERY Rough and Hesitant start on the Fireplace.....

It is going to be an elaborate marble fireplace surround.....

which I am making out of wood and sculpey.......

more details to follow........

But MEANWHILE, I have suffered a Setback on the Ceiling!

I had glued the elaborate decorative molding to the ceiling around the painted central section...
You can see it below as it was just after I put up the wallpapers...

And here is a closer shot of the ceiling right after assembly.....

back in the Humid days of August...

while Hurricane Irene was drenching our world......
You can see how smooth the gilded papers are.......

Well, the other day I heard a loud "THUNK" coming from the Cupboard House..... and upon investigation I found that a whole section of the ceiling trim had simply fallen off the ceiling!!! The carpenter's wood glue that I had used simply let go!

The air is Extremely dry here right now...

and the ceiling is made out of a large thick board....

so a good deal of shrinkage seems to have happened.....

Just LOOK at the wrinkles in the Gold paper!!!!
This is Really a Bit SHOCKING!
But Really, it is probably a GOOD thing to have it happen at THIS stage of the building rather than later on when it is so much harder to fix......
But I am become aware that I have to learn a LOT MORE about GLUE!!!

And Hopefully, NOT all the Hard way!

Two Steps Forward and One Step Back

The Eye of the Storm

The Day After

Dear Readers, In case you were wondering, the Eye of the Storm DID go over us, here in Western Massachusetts. Rest assured I am fine! Let me tell you how it was!
Sunday morning when I awoke early because I could NOT sleep when a Hurricane was on the way, the rain was already falling in earnest and the sky was Dark. Hurricane Irene was making landfall in New York City and was still headed our way. We still had power and the winds were barely noticeable, so I settled in for a day of working on the Dollhouses, drinking tea and waiting! By ten AM the Storm was downgraded to a Tropical Storm, so the Winds when they came would be less strong. But the RAIN continued to pour down heavily.

I was working on the Ceiling of the Dining Room of the Cupboard House. This is where it was at the beginning of the morning.... the ornate ceiling trim was stained and I was planning to add gold paint to the details. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of some of the progress.... but I DID add the gold paint!

And the floor of the Kitchen in the Cupboard House was partly done.... so all I needed to do was cut more sticks, glue them in and stain it....... a Perfect project for a day that is so Gloomy and you are WAITING for Disaster to Come Calling at ANY Moment.......

At Noon, the Skies were still DARK and the RAIN was still POURING down,

But the WIND was Nowhere to be found!

The Little people were all happily entertaining themselves while they WAITED......

And I went back to work on the Dining Room Ceiling. I wanted to paint a cloud-filled skyscape... in the Grand Baroque tradition. Even though this house is Victorian in Era, the Victorians were very enthralled with the Grand Homes and History of Europe.... and they Borrowed shamelessly from EVERY period of Design.... so I can be forgiven for painting this ceiling this way!

Here you can see a picture of the progress.... NOT complete yet......

At Three PM the skies are STILL Dark and the Rain is STILL Pouring down. And the Wind has been fitful at most and barely noticeable the rest of the time! But the Eye of the Storm was Still supposed to go over us! Can you see how Dreary it looks?

I continued working on the Kitchen Floor...... here you can see all the boards are in place and I have started staining it.... and Remembered to take a picture!

And here is the staining finished.... I used a Colonial American stain.... I think it is supposed to look like a dark maple flooring...... I didn't want the floor to be the Walnut stain as that would be too dark in this tiny room!

And THEN... sometime around Four PM... the Sun broke through the clouds!

I went outside and the sky above was as Clear and Blue as any Summer sky can be!
There was a fringe of clouds to the East......

And a Swirl of clouds to the West.....

And a Remnant of clouds to the South....... behind the trees in my backyard!

But above me the SKY was as Blue as Blue can Be!

And NOW the winds had arrived, blowing from the West instead of the East!
Truly, this MUST be the EYE of the Storm, thought I ..... so I rushed for my camera!

And took these photos of the Eye of the Storm!

Only to Realize later, when I was assembling the Dining Room Ceiling pieces I had worked on all Day... that it looked just a tiny Bit like the Eye of the Hurricane!
This picture shows the painted and gilded coving and the painted ceiling in the center, all propped against the wallpaper I have chosen for this room.... an ornate plum colored Rosy pattern... and an elaborate border too......

This picture shows me Testing the effect of Gold Paper in the bands between the border and the coving.....

Oh, and I mustn't forget the gilt central Rosette which will have the Light fixture attached at the center........ You don't think it will be a bit too much? Well, this is the VICTORIAN Era! They were all about Too Much!

Here you can see the ceiling mostly assembled and temporarily in place in the Dining Room....

And a Little bit closer.... I am thinking of painting Bacchus looking down from the clouds.....!

As for the Eye of the Storm.... we had Much more wind on the Back side of the storm.... but never lost our Power here where I live.
And when I got up this morning to a Beautiful Summer Day, I had a look around to assess possible damage. All was quiet in the Castle Great Hall.

The sun was shining once more on the Mini Rose Garden by the Folly.

Will and Daphne were exchanging stories and opinions about the Hurricane....

The Sun was Streaming into the Beautiful and still unfurnished Chinoiserie Bedroom of the Lovely Old Dollhouse.... so I HAD to share this photo......

Cousin Kitty and ALL EIGHT of her cats were still on the Hall Settee where they landed late yesterday when the FLOOD Waters began to rise and chased them from their apartment. Poor Cousin Kitty STILL looks Petrified!

Pollyanna and Arthur are happily entertaining Victor and Joanna.

It seems they did not need the Hurricane Lantern after all!

And Helen and Charles are in their favorite spot....

the Kitchen of the Lovely Old Dollhouse......

recounting the many Storms they have lived through together......

And the sun peeks into the Kitchen of the Cupboard House.........
Lighting up that new Old floor in such a beautiful way.......

And strikes the still unfinished Brownstone exterior.......

as if to say "It's a New Day... Get Busy!"

Dear Readers, I am SO Thankful for your concern for my Wellbeing! I am Happy to report that we are Fine. But ALL Morning the sky has been filled with Helicopters going by and the NEWS is filled with reports of DEVASTATING Flooding and Roads are closed all around us. This region got between five and eight inches of Rain in the twenty four hour period, and the ground was saturated and Rivers were already full because of the wet Summer we have had. The Nearby Connecticut River (NOT near enough to be a danger to me!) is a Large River draining the greater portion of New England. This water is still rising and will for days to come..... this IS a story that is still unfolding. The Hill Towns just to the West of us have been overwhelmed with the amount of rain and many of the major roads are washed away. This will take some time to repair and return to normal.

But Today the Sun is shining

and I am Thankful that we are fine and we survived

The Eye of the Storm