Looking Up...
Every Now and Then, Dear Readers, I have to stand back and take a good look at the Tree House project in relation to its close neighbor, The Folly. It is so easy to get absorbed into the minutiae of building the current room or current door or current ceiling and forget that it all needs to work together with the Original Property! It has gradually grown tall... nearly to the height at which it Must Stop before it outgrows the land it stands upon. Yes, there will be one more floor... the Attic level which will be mostly a "Studio" and "Storage" place. And the inevitable upper branches of the tree itself, of course. But I constantly need to rein myself in and keep the spaces "realistic" at least in terms of how a tree should be shaped. That said, every time I do step back, I notice another small detail that needs attending to! In my haste all those years ago, (I freely admit I have been "winging it") there were many parts I just didn't have all figured out... so I just rushed on by and left them for later. Much later! Chief among these tasks were designing the method for keeping the opening wall doors closed.
The Tree House leans gracefully out over the little brook (intentionally!) and thus the front wall is slanted and all those doors just love to open all by them selves! A couple were fitted closely enough to the opening that friction held them shut... but for the most part, not. And at some point along the way... I don't remember when, I decided magnets were the method... but how and where the magnets would be placed was already a problem of afterthought... no, not even tiny magnets could be inset into the doors... because they would have to meet the walls too. I came up with a method after much thought... and that is to put the magnets near the opening and a wire loop on the door itself which could then be bent to touch the magnet for closure. The wire loops will eventually be disguised as stubs of branches so they look "natural" sticking off the tree trunk. You can see in the above picture, the closer wire for the Kitchen door has finally been attached. And I slowly added closers to most of the so far completed doors, some of them requiring much fidgeting and finagling. In particular, the Little Loo and the Dressing Room were quite the challenge!
There was so little room for the magnet
and it needed to work for both doors.
The wire positioning was hard to figure out....
but I got it done!
Believe me, this has been a long time coming!
And while I was thinking of doors and closings,
I decided it was time to get the doorknobs on
the Nursery and Nanny's Room doors.
These are made using a large-ish clear bead,
I am not sure of the size, and a small brass nail.
I pre-drill a fine hole and add glue
and push the nail in with my pliers.
And the reverse side...
because these little doors do open and close!
When they are open you need to be able
to see the doorknob on the other side.
Of course, The Nursery level is still
too incomplete to attach the closers...
the walls are still not attached,
only the hinged opening wall doors are in place.
But when all the walls are carefully propped in position
and the ceiling (The Attic floor) is temporarily removed,
we can get a great bird's eye view of the two room's layout.
And while I had the ceiling removed,
I figured it was the right time to stain and paint it
in preparation for the eventual top floor construction,
which even now has to be taken into consideration
as we complete the Nursery level.
Everything is so connected!
And if you know me at all,
you can probably predict what happened next...
a blue sky appeared...
and clouds formed around the edges ....
and then the cherubs arrived....
But wait....
those looks distinctly like little rodents.....!
As well they should in a house inhabited by Rats!
And in the middle of the night I realized
I had painted them from the wrong direction!
The Nanny's Room opens on the side of the Tree....
The angle was all wrong for the Cherub-ratling
on the side opposite the door
as you can see when testing in place.
I needed to get my viewing angle right!
Here you can see the adjusted Cherub-ratling.
And while I was doing the ceilings, Dear Readers,
I wanted to test the Nursery ceiling...
how would it look if I added the leafy paper to the ceiling too?
And constructed a "trellis" of branches....??
I liked the look right away,
so I added the same paper scraps
to this ceiling as are on the walls.
In fact, I love the way it looks...
even before we build the trellis part!
And while I am finishing the papering...
I realize that the inner side
of the outer opening wall frame
still needs attention!
Both the Nanny's Room and the Nursery frames
needed the matchstick paneling added.
And I started adding the trellis structure.....
more of that rope twist that looks a lot like woody vines or saplings....
along the coving of the ceiling and the corners of the walls.
And the bunkbeds wall too.
And here this opening side door frame is also papered.
This is not technically necessary...
the only way it could be seen once the ceiling gets attached
is from the bunkbeds windows....
But I will know it is there!
This is the interior view with the outer opening door closed...
the frame will be firmly attached to the tree
and you will not be able to see this view....
but the Ratlings will!
I think it makes the bed-nook so much cozier!
And that is as far as I got, Dear Readers,
Opening and closing doors
and dreaming about ceilings...
But I think things in the Tree House Nursery
are finally Looking Up!
