Before I could apply the wallpaper, I had to figure out my wiring plan.  I'll need two lines -- one AC and one DC -- since the windshaft motor and dollhouse lighting differ.  Ceiling light channels are simple enough, but I needed to know which direction I was headed.  I like to build in some access to the lighting, so I opted to head toward the empty space covered by the angled side roof.  I can make this a removable roof panel easily enough, so my wiring will gather here.

I made a channel on the front wall for the bedroom wall sconce.  I'll drill a hole for the table lamp later on during furniture placement, but I did drill a hole for the floor lamp in the lower room.

I made a channel for the coach lamp on the exterior heading up.   I'll likely use aluminum tubing to make conduit for the motor, hiding the wiring in plain sight, so I'll wait on drilling final holes for that.  This plan requires five dollhouse lighting wires and two motor wires in the tiny attic space (the floor lamp wiring will be buried in the landscaping foam without leading up to the attic space).  I always add an extra dollhouse lighting wire in case inspiration strikes later, so I'll up that to six wires in the attic space.  :D  I made three vertical channels on the side wall to run long wires from the attic space down the wall, through foundation and the landscaping foam, then out the back.

With these in place, I can now cut and apply wallpaper to the interior and start thinking about getting out of dry fit.  :O

Here is one of the benches with the other items selected for the main floor of the mill. The stain, the settee and the foxes all have yellow/red tones, and the blue cast in the bargello was killing it all.  I chose new colors in a grey/brown combination.  The darkest brown will be the lattice and the others the "diamonds" inside.  I think it will work much better than the blue/greens I had and should be a more subtle pattern as well.

Continuing work on the main room furnishings.  I previously built the two Chippendale Benches by The House of Miniatures, one of which will sit by the library and one will serve as the work bench.

I wanted a stain that would complement the vivid bargello needlework, so I opted for Minwax Jacobean.  It's a rich dark chocolate brown.  Hmm...now I want brownies. Anyway, I tested a swatch next to stitching to see if it would work before staining the benches.

I finished up the bargello seat covers rather quickly.  The first took roughly 5.25 hours of stitching, whereas the second took only 4.25 hours since I had worked into a rhythm and had pretty much memorized the pattern.

The stitch itself makes for a bit of a hairball on the back, so I used only one layer of black felt on the cardboard insert as padding.

I glued the felt in place.

Though the 40 count linen is rather stiff, it will still fray.  I ran a line of Fray Check around the stitching and let it dry.

I cut within one square of the stitching.

I had stitched 1/8" beyond the seat insert so there would be excess to still add padding, but I could have used a little more around the edge.  I used a black Sharpie (not shown here) around the edges after gluing the linen flaps to the back of the cardboard just in case the linen showed above the wood frame.

I glued the seat inserts in place with a small amount of tacky glue.

I probably should have used a more subdued lightest color than the cream, but overall I like them.  Once in the room, we'll see if they will be a redo.  With roughly 5 hours of stitching time each, it wouldn't be a big deal to try again if they are too garish and distracting.  Or, I could list these finished ones on etsy and get new HoM kits. :D

It's time for the monthly needlework update.  This is 3.5 hours of stitching time on the bargello (40 count, two strands DMC floss).  Not too much more for one complete bench cover.  I could in theory remove the stitching to make sure it works before doing the other, but I would have to patch the linen with fabric and reframe it.  Considering the minimal amount of time investment, I will likely just stitch both and hope for the best.  I have an idea in mind if it's slightly too small, but I don't think it will be.  I am stitching an area with an 1/8" border around the seat insert.

I've also done a little more work on the Gazelle rug (32 count cross-stitch on Jobelan).  This is 12.75 hours of work.  :]

Continuing work on the circle library.  As a recap, here is where the circle library was last time: finished but bare wood.

I've stained the pieces and reassembled in dry fit.  The dumbwaiter and its cabinet have a first coat of stain but aren't finished.

The walls have been primed with grey gesso, which is in the same color range of the wallpaper I've chosen.

I had planned to stain the library Minwax Natural after my test sample seemed to bring out the grain while leaving the color minimally changed.  Well, in a large area, that didn't really work so well.  It turned rather orange, like raw salmon cutlet orange.  The edges of the circles darkened significantly as well.  :\

I knew it was going to bother me, so I opted for a second coat of stain, this time using Minwax Driftwood.  I had nothing to lose really since I wasn't going to leave it orange so I would be redoing parts if not all of it whether the attempts to fix it worked or not.

The green in Driftwood balanced the red in Natural, and the end result is darker but a better color overall.  The darker edges of the circles no longer seem out of place.  It actually looks like it was made from reclaimed wood, which makes a lot of sense for an old mill.  :]  A happy accident.