Retrofit the Kit Tudor Dollhouse: Part 12 FINISHED! My Barton Tudor Dollhouse - Real Good Toys Country Tudor CC15

Ta Da!!! My kit bash is done!

Yes, finally, after four months of many and mostly "a first time for everything"s, I'm finished! The last day was somewhat bittersweet; that high that you get when you're done with a long and arduous project and that sad funk that you get when you're done with a long and arduous project! My little Tudor dollhouse...

 

What my goals were:

• To protect and display my vintage 3/4 scale English Barton Tudor dollhouse furniture that I was so fortunate and privileged to get.
• To create a sturdy, small profile, front opening dollhouse, that can be on the floor.
• To keep the display/dollhouse within the 1:15 and 1:12 scales, for possible resale value.
• To explore the “Tudor” style.
• To incorporate two Concord wall dividers in creating a bay window effect.
• To incorporate the cute medieval fabric scrap I purchased many months ago.
• To have fun, practice patience and learn!!

I think I was relatively successful!

The Outside...

  Not much trimming on the sides, but I didn't want to go overboard. 

The outside detail of the bay that was so time and mentally consuming.

The Door Wall...

Open sesame! Gee, wouldn't it be convenient if my own house could open this way!

The Living Room...

Had to have one of those cool, battery powered chandeliers!

The Bedroom...

 I think the landing and stairs came out well!

The Attic...

 

A peak through the skylight.

What I would have done different:

• I would have found a different method of insuring the chimneys evenly lined up when installing them. I’m about an 1/8 inch off, horizontally. That’s a lot in dollhouse land!
• I would have figured out how many shingles I needed, BEFORE I stained them, especially since I made deviations to the kit’s instructions (luckily, I did have enough, once I counted after dying). You want to insure the same dye lot when dying shingles, so make sure you have enough, FIRST!

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And now to furnish it...

Here's all the furniture and such, waiting to go in.

The Living Room...

 

English Tudor Barton trestle table, bench and chairs, the hutch and the corner cabinet. Boy! Am I lucky to have all these fabulous 3/4 scale pieces! Have a seat on the Petite Princess fireside chairs.

The Bedroom...

 

 

A Barton Tudor bed, trunk, and highboy. And by the fire, a Napoleon and Josephine Limoges table set for tea drinking.

The Attic...

 

 I always wanted an art studio like this!!  Barton sideboard, trestle table and chairs (yes, I have two sets!). The lovely easel was made by an artist in England. How fitting!

 

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The Whole Kitten Kaboodle...

 

Well, there you have it. All that time and energy and it's just a wee, three story dolls house! Why did it seem bigger all the time I was making it???? My Barton Tudor furniture display is done. Maybe I went a little overboard?!

 

Thanks for the "bones" Real Good Toys!

Retrofit the Kit Tudor Dollhouse: Part 9 Push On - Real Good Toys Country Tudor CC15

Continuing the Door Wall...

 

Adding the Side Trim Of the Door Wall

INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: I added a small piece of trim to flesh out the thickness of the Door Wall side trim. The Door Wall sides' trim depth needs to equal the kit's included trims' depth plus the depth of the trim I added over the wallpapers. This extra trim insures the Door Wall will lay flush to the home's body.

• Upper pict: The extra trim piece and side trim glued and clamped to Door Wall sides.
• Right pict: The sides of the Door Wall after clamping and gluing all the trim pieces; side, extra and front trim. The front trim goes beyond the wall, it will be cut off.
• Bottom Pict: Slicing off the extra length of the Door Wall's front side trim with the angle of the Door Wall's roof peak (The kit's instructions don't show this, but it's advertising picture does). Careful!

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Prepping the Roof Parts

 

Preparing the Chimneys

INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: Tossed the included chimney parts and used a Houseworks set.

• Left pict: Painting the chimneys. Dan cut the proper angle off the bottom of the chimneys for me. This is very important or the chimneys will stick out like big ears!
• Bottom pict: Gluing the brick paper to the chimney using Yes Glue. The brick paper wasn't quite the full widths of the chimneys, so painting the side edges of the chimneys made for a nice, crisp look without having to cut the paper to odd size bricks.
• Right pict: Slicing the excess paper off.

Finished chimneys, polyed and drying.

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Shingles and My Kitchen Sink

 

Note the stainless steel sink. If you use an enamel sink, you'll have to bleach it to regain it's color. DON'T EVEN TRY A PLASTIC SINK!!! Remember, you can always use a big bucket!

• Left pict: The hottest H2O, salt, vinegar, 1 black, 2 brown and 1 gray Rit dye. This dye mixture was a big guess, and all the dye I had! Oh and rubber gloves! I had to soak the shingles about 2 hours, stirring every now and again.
• Right pict: The shingles dried and counted into 5 lots of 100 count one 38 count pile (538!). I needed to find out the count to insure enough for all three roofs!! This pict also shows figuring the size of the shed roof for the Door Wall.
• Bottom pic: My trim cut tool taped to 1/2". This makes the under layer of shingles easy to cut and consistant. The under layer of shingles go under the first row of shingles to provide the correct depth so they lay properly.

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Finishing the Door Wall

 

INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: Of course the bay and it's roof continue to be an instruction deviation. The whole Door Wall is one!

• Upper pict: I had to cut and glue little triangles to both sides under the bay roof to cover the open space where the shed roof meets the bay.
• Bottom pict: Applying the bay roof shingles and the bay side and bottom trims.

A few more pieces of trim and the Door Wall is basically, done (!). I will be adding the transom window over the door, curtain rods and a couple decorative circles from the fabric wallpaper.

Finally I am onto the big roof! So close now!!

Retrofit the Kit Tudor Dollhouse: Part 6 Leaps Of Faith, the Second Floor - Real Good Toys Country Tudor CC15

The second floor is problematic but exciting. Lowering the ceiling, adding a bay and moving the stairs to the back of the dollhouse all require a consortium of measurements, thought, much deviation, testing and patience. Thank goodness for Thanksgiving break. It increased my chance of getting a bunch done!

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Preparing the Front's Components For Determining Ceiling Height and Bay Cut

INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: (This step actually comes later in the instructions but I figure I need to do this so I can get accurate measurements). As per the instructions, I glue the front peak parts together and install it to the front sides of the house.

 

I prop the front up into the peak so I can test where I want the ceiling height to be, making sure to include the height of the crown moldings with the height the bay components.

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I glue the bay parts together, to insure accurate measurements and placement for the bay cutout.

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INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: The second floor bay cutout.  

 

 

After placing the new bay component on the inside front, insuring it clears the floor and making my marks, I cut out the bay using a jig saw. Oh my!

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The Stairs, Determining Their Height and Placement

I realize I have to construct the stairs to get an accurate measurement for the height of 2nd floor ceiling and the stair opening. Here are the original kit's stair parts and the added items used in constructing the stairs; stained and marked for cutting.

The pic shows:

• stained wainscot panels.
• the kit door, being repurposed for the landing, stained and marked for cutting.
• the kit stairs, the upper marked for cutting.

INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: The kit's door is cut and repurposed into the landing and the stairs are cut for the shorter ceiling height.

Keep the stair cut parallel with the stair treads. This is very important to maintain the angle of the stairs and it's squareness.

The left pic shows:

•  Fitting the landing and preparing to cut the base molding for it to fit properly.

Right pic shows:

• the two stair sections glued together.
• the stairs glued to the back panel, and the inside "stringer" glued to their side.
• the work table face and it's side used as clamping stops to insure squareness.
• the ruler clamped to the top, forcing the stairs into the back, insuring even pressure to insure there is no stair or panel bowing.

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After drying I remove the clamps and check for squareness. I was lucky! That clamping concept worked out well! Now I cut the angle on the decorative stringer so it matches the tread angle. I glue and clamp it to the stair component.

 

 The left pic shows:

• the joint in the stairs where the stair parts are glued together.
• the back panel glued in and sliced off to the outside stair side.
• the outside decorative stringer, ready to be glued on.

The right pic shows:

• the decorative stringer, glued and clamped to the outside stair side.

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Voila! The stair component, finished with the exception of trimming top and the bottom. Goodness! That was a lot of thought and work!!

Upper pic: the top of the stairs. Bottom pic: under the stairs.

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Determining The Stair's Opening Cut In the Second Floor Ceiling 

I cut spacers to test and set the floor/ceiling height and to figure where the stair opening will need to be. I clamp them in place and prop the back up to mark the stair and it's angle.

The baseboard has been cut for the landing and the landing is glued in.

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INSTRUCTION DEVIATION: Stair placement and new floor piece.

Since I decided to move the stairs to the back of the home, my hubby had to cut me a new 3rd floor (2nd floor ceiling). The one that came with the kit has it's stair's opening cutout for the side of the house.

The left pic shows:

• the "new" floor being prepared for the stair opening cut.
• the original kit's floor stair opening used to determine the cuts on the new 3rd floor.
• the difference in lengths of the back and the side of the dollhouse, necessitating the creation of a new 3rd floor.

The right pic shows:

•  the new 3rd floor, stained.
•  the new 3rd floor with the stair opening.

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"Now Is the Time To...." Decision: the 2nd Floor Ceiling

Sometimes in a project you have to make exceptions. Now is the time, I realize, to do something with the 2nd floor ceiling. Less construction hassle if I do it now than with the home is completed!

 So I glue, paint and trim the ceiling. The stair opening is sliced out in the paper used for the ceiling.

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With all these steps done, I glue and nail the 3rd floor/2nd floor ceiling in.

Crossing my fingers that this will all pan out when I  add the front and it's bay! Yiksees!!

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Dreaming and Planning: Outside, Front Panel. Which One???

So, of course, one must play. Mind candy is extremely important!!

Since I've finished the bay component I'm going to experiment with a couple of thoughts for the outside of the front panel.  Here they are:

What do you think????