It's The Little Things That Count

Refinements, Or More Is More!

Where to Start, Dear Readers, is my challenge this week, because there have been so many Tiny Changes in the Salon! Well, to begin with, I completed the Little Love Seat for the Arbor Alcove, even though you cannot see it in the picture above! So I will show it to you on its own....

Along with the Fabric that I have used.... 

so you can see the tiny piece of the pattern that shows....

And then, just for comparison I will show you the other pieces too... 

so you can see the entire Suite....

Aren't they sweet? 

(This is the first time in my life I have ever used a Matching set of furniture!)

As you can see the Love seat is smaller than the Settee and tapered to fit the Alcove... 

and the back is lower so it won't obscure the painted Roses on the Arbor....

which is difficult to see unless you are looking down from above....  

Like this....

Another small refinement I made was for the little window in the stairs...

I wanted a little flowering plant to sit on the window sill....

Even though it really is not possible to see it clearly when the wall is in place...

But I can Imagine climbing those stairs and wishing the window sill was not empty....

And speaking of things that just shouldn't remain Empty....

Have you Ever known a Table that didn't collect things.....?

So I have added some tiny "Decanters" to the Demilune Table ...

In case anybody was thirsty....

But the most Dramatic Refinements, Dear Readers, 

have been worked upon the Ceiling of the Salon! 

I was just NOT Happy with the way the Domed ceiling was hardly visible from outside the Tiny Room..... 

I felt there should be a way to see it better..... 

And what better way than by Adding a Lunette Window in the Dome itself???

I started by Boldly cutting into my Painted Dome and removing a piece in the front half of the ceiling....

Like This.....

And adding in the arched section to go over the Lunette Window....

Which looks like this......

Before you turn it over....

And test it in place......

And, of course, that was just the Beginning.....

I added a "Plaster Rosette" to the center where the chandelier will hang....

(made from a scrap book paste-on decoration)

And added window panes...... using my favorite painted mesh...

And Tested the view......

(this is looking more Down than across at the ceiling....)

And then I HAD to make the ceiling worth Looking AT.....

And I got a Little bit carried Away....

It is a scene from The Courtship of Hera......

For Surely, before they drove each other Mad with Jealousy.... 

they Drove each other Mad with Passion.....

Although I think Zeus in his Pursuit looks a Lot more Eager than Hera....

And the Cherubs are her devoted Attendants....

(If you poke the pictures to enlarge them...
you will see that this is just the beginning of the painting....
still a lot of Refining the painting to be done.... !)

The entire Ceiling fits in the Palm of my hand!

And try to imagine how it will look....

And test it in place.......

And Try to look through the Lunette window.....

Before we attach the Chandelier....

Which Might get in the way of the  painting....

But That is not all, Dear Readers.....

I have also constructed a Beautiful Golden Harp....

Here you can see me gluing the wires in place.... 

three different thicknesses of wire!

And here you can see the completed harp... 

please ignore the bad job of painting it...

And here you can see it in place in the Salon....

With sunlight pouring through the Marble Window into the Arbor Alcove...

Just waiting for someone to make music fit for the Gods above....

And since the ceiling is not yet firmly in place.... 

we can still see the view as Hera does from above...

a view that will not be possible when the room is finished....

And another view...

Here you can see that the stairs have been extended..... 

so they reach the next floor with the newer ceiling height....

And I have even added more paper mache to the outside of the Tree... 

extending the shape higher.....

At the moment it looks rather ugly....

with the wires all sticking out and the surfaces just partly covered....

but it's a start!

But if you are at All like ME, 

you will be wanting to see the ceiling WITH the Chandelier installed.... 

and we are almost there.....

Like That?

Or Closer... can we still see Hera?
(If you poke THIS picture you can see Hera Much more complete than before....!)

Or Through the window....?

Oh, SO Hard to Photograph.....

Or like this...?

Oh, but Wait... the Fire isn't lit......

There, that's better!

And while the ceiling is still not firmly attached...
(so I can STILL make some Refinements to the painting....!)

and there are one or two more details to add to this room... 

I am almost ready to start the Next floor....

But for sure, it is all the little things that count!