Category: "Greenleaf 2011 Spring Fling - Baxter Pointe Villa"

Baxter Pointe Villa - bedroom

by brae  

The upper floor of Baxter Pointe Villa consists of a bathroom and bedroom.  The bedroom gave me absolute fits!  Not in the structural changes but in the bed dressing.  :D  It's still not really the way I wanted, but I do like it for the most part.

The first issue was its being an odd shaped room.  From the front, there were two small windows and a steep, long roof.  I ended up changing the layout quite dramatically from the original kit.

I used the front wall of a second addition kit to make a new wall in the bedroom.

I changed one of the original three windows to accommodate a French door leading out onto the deck.  I ended up leaving the mullions out of the French door since I wanted an unobstructed view of the beach!  :D  I closed up the small window on the adjacent right side wall since the adjustments I made to the addition blocked part of this opening.

Closing that window wasn't all bad since the adjustment in depth allowed me to add a working narrow door to the bathroom, and I really like how that turned out.

There was still very little usable room in this part of the structure because of the steep roofline in the back.  I was able to put in a bed, two tiny side tables, a small dresser and not much else.

For the bed, I started by using my two artist's models (I need to give them names, I think) to determine the smallest possible mattress size that would still accommodate them.  It had to be a bit smaller than exact scale, but I didn't want it to look completely out of proportion.

I took that piece of foam core board and cut five more pieces the same size: gluing three together for the mattress and three for the box spring.  I covered the mattress with thin batting that is meant for millinery.  It’s similar to felt and can usually be found in fabric stores.  I covered the box spring with striped fabric from Hobby Lobby.

In the photo above, I just used some wood scraps to see if the height was okay.  I ended up putting 1/2" wood cubes on the corners and painted them black.

For the sheets, I used a very finely woven cotton poly blend.  It's so soft and photographs wonderfully true to scale.

I used this process for the Newport guest bedroom and master bedroom.  It was probably unnecessary to do these steps, but I know it's there and I like realistic details even if ultimately unseen.  :D  I also wanted the option of showing the sheets and box spring fabric, just in case I liked it that way as I put the bed together.

I opted to add a headboard at the last minute since the room is so tall and there was so much blank space on that wall.  I used a scrap of plywood to make the basic shape.  I added a bit of padding to the top and then upholstered with Hanami Circle Dots Onyx cotton fabric.  I apparently cut the board too small, so I added a 1/4" strip wood border painted black to make up the difference.

The first bedspread I tried was made from cotton broadcloth I picked up from Hobby Lobby.  I made panels and vents sewed to a topper.  It was beachy and fits well, but it looked just a bit too casual for what I had intended.

This faux lace afghan looked nice, but it's for sale in my etsy shop.  ;D

So, I dug through my stash of fabric, found some lace I've had for years and cut a piece to size.  I pressed the pleats at the end slightly to keep it in shape.  So much better!

The folded blanket was made from a poly cotton blend, a remnant bin find.  I sewed two pieces together, pressed into shape with an iron and then tacked together with a tiny bit of glue.  The leather purse and shoes were made by Patrizia Santi.

For the pillowcases, I used white cotton sateen since the sheet fabric was a bit too sheer for believable pillowcases.  The peacock pillow was made from a resized image of tiles by Jerusalem Pottery which I then printed on fabric.  I fill my pillows with seed beads to give them some weight and to make it easier to shape them.

The dresser was made from a House of Miniatures Bachelor's Chest kit.  I painted it black and used scrapbooking brads for the hardware.  It's the perfect size to sit next to the narrow door.  Not a lot of storage in this room, but we'll just pretend the closet is behind you on the open wall.  :D

The flowers are Bonnie Lavish dahlias in orange.  The vase is from Manor House Miniatures and is the companion to the bee vase I used for the sunflowers.

The side tables were made from precut wood shapes for the tops, scrap kit wood for the base and Houseworks legs.  I kept them simple since the overall décor of this room was meant to be minimalist and serene.  :]

I had originally planned to make two bedside lamps from metal beads, but they were very uncooperative during the creation phase.  :\

I didn't have time to order and wait for a shipment of any ready-made replacements, so I dug around in my Newport box and found two Reutter Porzellan copper lanterns I was saving for the conservatory.  They actually ended up being better than my original idea.  There is so little color in this room, they really pop.

On either side table I have modest decor.  First, the sailboat I made based on an original from White Flower Farmhouse that I first saw on on The Lettered Cottage.

And, second, a tiny laser cut wooden whale from Pepper Sprout Designs.  There is a larger companion piece, but it is out of scale for this house.

The wallpaper is scrapbook paper in Dusk (bottom) and Stonehenge (top), both by Bazzill Basics.  To cover the seam between them, I used strip wood painted white.  I used regular drawing paper on the visible ceiling and painted the non-visible back ceiling white to reflect brightness back into the room.  I added ceiling beams using 5/16" strip wood painted Liquitex Payne's Grey.  The one over the window wall disguises the seams between the new porch roof and the added wall.  The one in the peak of the ceiling holds the lanterns and hides their wiring.

The floor started out as walnut sheet flooring that I experimented with to obtain the deep color it is now.

I installed a NovaLyte can light over the fireplace in the living room below.  These require a 3/8" thick board to hold them in place, but I was able to use this light without building up the entire ceiling since I put in an extra piece of 1/4" thick wood as a stabilizer just above it.

In this photo, you can see not only that extra bit but also the channels for the other wires situated around the house.  With 1/8" thick plywood, you have to be careful and remove only enough of the top layer to get the wires to lay flat.

I painted it dark brown and the bed covers this spot besides, though I will work out a more polished solution for covering it in the future.

The artwork is Zhen-Huan Lu's Days Gone By.  I printed the image on regular paper in a few sizes to determine which size would work best in the space.  I then sharpened the image in PhotoShop before printing on Art Canvas by The Crafty PC.  It has a canvas texture that really brings it to life.  The frame is made from mass produced matchstick craft wood glued on a bass wood backing.  The sunlight through the window effect in the painting is actually part of the painting, not a light reflection.  :D

The light switchplates throughout the house are actually stickers from miniatures.com.  They photograph wonderfully!

Baxter Pointe Villa - exterior details

by brae  

When I first saw the stairs kit, I immediately thought of a beach house.  But, I wanted to take it one step further and make it a luxury vacation cottage, Baxter Pointe Villa.

I've had a photo of a wonderful porch by designer Amanda Nisbet in my electronic inspiration file for some time now, and I thought it would be a perfect starting point.  For me, the main draw is the warm cedar shake exterior as the backdrop for the white, brown and lavender hues of the design elements.

I searched online for cedar shake cottages and happened upon this wonderful house by Catskill Farms.  They have countless beautiful cottages on their blog that are perfect inspirations for miniature houses.

I love the way the cedar shake exterior pops with the white trim and grey roof.  I was sold!

Once upon a time, I had a Dura-Craft dollhouse that never got built and whose pieces were lost to a flood.  Some pieces survived since they were stored elsewhere, and included in those miscellaneous parts was a huge bag of cedar shake shingles (say that phrase ten times fast).  So, no need to buy materials for the exterior!  :D

I made a sample of the exterior finish on a piece of scrap board and positioned it next to the dry fit structure.

Whoa!  Those windows are a little Amityville Horror, no?  :O

First, I didn't care for the wide variety of shades in the cedar.  It looked like a cedar polka dotted house.  :\  So, I spent my lunch hour one day at work sorting cedar shakes into three piles: light, dark and broken.  It sounded like I was playing poker, counting out the chips!  :D  I used the darker shades since I planned to leave them natural.

Second, I thought the shakes were too big for scale.  I looked up the real life size of cedar shakes online and found them to be pretty close to exact 1:12 scale.  But, for looks, it just didn't work for me.

So, I commenced to splitting 1,700 cedar shakes individually by hand.  I first split them lengthwise to a width of 1/2" with an Easy Cutter, and it was easy.  I then split them across the grain to a height of 3/4" with the Easy Cutter, which was not easy.  :\  Even with a new blade, the shakes were hard to cut across the grain and were prone to splitting.

But, the end result was a better scale match and well worth all the work.  This is also one of the most forgiving finishes I've worked with so far.  Unevenness in application and splits in the wood add to the realism instead of detracting from it.

In addition, it was easy to remove and then replace a section of shingles when I accidentally cut my wiring while installing the kitchen floor.  With siding, I would have had to tear a lot more out than the 2" x 3" section that I did.  After the repair, the new shingles just slipped right into place as though it had never happened.  :]

Speaking of wiring, most of the wiring flows toward the chimney wall, down the outside through a channel in the foam core underside of the chimney and down through a hole in the baseboard.  For the three wires I had to repair, there is a hole through the bottom of the kitchen (under the floor of course) and through the baseboard.  There are two channels on the underside of the baseboard into which I've taped the wires.  I also have a removable felt sheet situated under the board to save my display table from wear and to protect the wires as well (felt not shown here).

I painted my egg carton brick chimney with brown tones to mimic the stone used on my inspiration house.

To prep the kit for building, I primed the interior walls with white craft paint and the exterior walls with black except around the windows, which I also painted white.  I pressed the boards flat while they dried to knock out most of the residual warping.

I drew guidelines on the pieces before putting the house together and cut trim from 1/8" thick basswood and corner trim to emulate the style of the inspiration house.  Those pieces I painted white before attaching to the house, though I spackled the joins and touched up the paint after they were attached.  I also installed the window trim and doors before applying the cedar shakes.

I also added a 3/8" foundation painted grey.  Here it is shown from the underside.

I put the roof of the addition on and shingled that with grey asphalt shingles by What's Next before applying the cedar shakes on the adjacent wall.  There are a number of cedar shake houses in my area, so I was able to see some real life examples of how to handle some of these structural challenges.

The back roof piece of the addition was a challenge.  I don't know if it was my alteration of the design or just a stubborn warp in the outer wall of the addition, but I could not get the main house roof, the new flat top roof I put in and the addition roof to square up.  Finally, I just attacked it with duct tape.  It worked!   There is still glue at the joins, but the duct tape is the main support for the bond.  I used Quick Grip glue to attach the shingles and cork piece of the upper roof and had no problems with those things adhering, which was my only concern in using it.

I then created a parapet on the flat top portion using some of the left over kit wood from the stair posts.  Inside this wood frame, I painted a piece of cork sheet to simulate the tar and gravel covering.  Now, I can't take credit for even knowing what a parapet was...that was all mom's influence.  :D  I had no idea how to finish this part of the roof until she came up with the idea.  Hooray for mom!!!  The wind turbine I added later is from ELF Miniatures.

The front porch structure is a purchased frame.  When I'm on a deadline, I love shortcuts that cost $1.49!  :D  I covered this with skinny sticks stained IKEA antique pine.

Here are the original Greenleaf stairs. :D

I flipped the assembly of the stairs upside down to get the stairs in a different configuration and cut down the deck portion to make room for the chimney.

The lower side deck is made partially from the original Greenleaf stairs kit.  In order to have the side deck meet up with the front deck, I added a piece of 1/8" thick balsa wood to fill in the missing areas.

I then continued the skinny stick coverage on the entire lower side deck.  Since skinny sticks come in predetermined lengths, I used some strip wood to break the deck into areas and tried to create a nice pattern for the boards.

To finish off the front deck and lower side deck, I added strip wood stained to match along the outer edges and curved the last board down just under the first step (stairs obviously not shown here).

I upgraded the front door and eliminated the recessed entryway of the original kit.  The color is Robin's Egg Blue from Jo-Ann Craft Essentials.  The planters on either side are from Manor House Minis and were originally pale green (I bought two sets to have matching pairs of each style of planter).  The flowers are a mix of Bonnie Lavish kits held in place by a styrofoam ball stuffed inside, held with a bit of glue.

The entry light is a NovaLyte LED.  These require a 3/8" depth for installation, so I glued two 1" by 1/8" precut wood circles together.  I painted them silver followed by a wash of black to dull down the color and glued them where I wanted my light.  I then drilled the hole for the LED in the middle of the circles.  Well, it's not exactly in the center, but we won't look that closely.  :D

The grass door mat with daisy is from A Little More in Miniatures, purchased at the Bishop Show.

Around the side behind the bicycles, I have a wheelie bin from The Dolls House Emporium and a recycle bin that I've had for some time now and don't remember where I bought it.

Though I've outlined the chimney build in previous posts, I didn't get to the flashing until I put the roof on.  It's just made of black-brown paper cut to fit.  You can also see that my topper came apart (the chimney did a nose dive off the table one too many times).  I decided to leave it as is due to time constraints.  :]

I kept the landscaping modest, using white sand from the dollar store mixed with Aleene's tacky glue that I spread on with a palette knife and a few tufts of sea grass by Woodland Scenics added later.

The sand mixture evened out in texture as it settled but before it dried, I sprinkled on more sand.

I brushed off the excess after letting it set a bit.  I used my knuckles to press footprint indentations around the front of the deck and the bottom of the stairs.

I also created lines with an awl to simulate bicycle tracks.

Baxter Pointe Villa - bathroom

by brae  

One of the upstairs rooms is a bathroom with a vintage tub and wonderful light.  As much as I like to zoom in for realism, this house has some nice "dollhouse views" when you show the open back.  :D

This was a tiny, dark room when I first started planning.

I cut out two skylight windows, which completely changed the feel of the room.

I added 2 1/8" to the depth of this addition, which gave me a lot more space to work with in the end.  This allowed me to install a working narrow door (shown here just propped in place before cutting the opening).  I padded the wall separating the bedroom and bathroom with 1/8" plywood to solve the problem of the wall being too thin for the ready-made door.

Because the room has a steep angle on the window wall, I built a wall shelf from basswood and foam core board that I then primed with white paint.  I covered it with pieces of clear plastic tile sheet that had 1/4" squares embossed in the surface.  I used Krylon gloss white spray paint on the underside of the tile sheet and glued to the basswood base.  This is similar to what I did the in Newport bathroom.  I added tiny wood trim around the edges to finish it off and hide any gaps.

I think it makes for a more realistic backdrop for the bathtub.

And, it's the perfect place to keep bath related items.  :]

I made the towels, bath products, scrubby and magazines.  The basket and frog figurine were purchased.

The bathtub was made from an unfinished EuroMini's kit.

I painted the base with Bittersweet Chocolate by Americana, followed by a light coat of Delta Ceramcoat satin varnish.

To get the white porcelain finish, I first spackled the best I could to fill in the more obvious defects.  I then painted numerous generous layers of white acrylic paint to build up the brightness and even out the surface.  In between each layer, I sanded the paint down to a completely smooth surface.  Once I had the best finish possible, I put on two coats of Americana Triple Thick Gloss Glaze, letting the first coat dry overnight before adding the second.  The inside is still a little rough since there was only so much I could do with a flat bottom tub, but the outer surface and the overhang turned out as I had hoped.

I sprayed two brass taps with Valspar Odds 'n' Ends Fast Dry Enamel in Chrome and then dabbed on Testors gloss white on the tops.  I like how this photo makes it look as though there's water in the tub!  :D

Had I not widened the side addition, the original window would have been right over the bathroom vanity.  Looking out the window is not helpful when you're brushing your hair.  :]  I would have had to close up the window.  But, with the additional piece in place, I was able to turn the one small window into two skinny windows instead.

I made the vanity mirror from a metal scrapbook frame by K&C Company that fit just perfectly in the open space.  I built up the back a bit with strip wood and used plastic mirror sheet by Darice to make the mirror.

The vanity is a Mackintosh sideboard and the sink is from ELF Miniatures I dabbed a bit of black paint on the end of the faucet to make it more realistic).  The wall sconce over the sink is by Heidi Ott.

The eucalyptus plants were made from a Bonnie Lavish kit.  The vase is by Alex Meiklejohn, purchased at the Bishop Show.  The soap and dish were also purchased, but I don't recall where I got them.  The shell shadowbox was made with bass wood and tiny shells and starfish from Timber Ridge Studio.  The shells are approximately 1/4" and the largest starfish is about 1/2" in size.  :]

e is polymer clay with a sewing thread wick.  The candleholder is a half-scale cake stand. :]

The toilet started out with a wooden seat that I refinished with Testors gloss black spray paint.  I like the retro vibe of the gloss black seat.  :]  I made the tissue box from a 3/8" wood block, Martha Stewart self-stick ribbon and a tiny piece of real tissue.  I wound some actual toilet paper around the holder as well.  The hook and hangers were purchased.

The wallpaper is scrapbook paper by Recollections, though they don't print the names on the sticker.  I papered the ceiling/skylight wall with regular drawing paper to balance out the green.  The light switch plates are actually stickers from miniatures.com.  They photograph nicely!  And, the wastebasket is from a Chrysnbon kit.

The flooring is by Old World Tile, a high quality printed paper you finished with a sealer.  I reviewed this product in an earlier post.  I used Triple Thick Gloss Glaze by Americana that ended up giving me a perfect linoleum finish.

The rug is Seaside Seahorses by Nantucket Brand, printed Velour Card Stock by The Crafty PC.

After the mad marathon finishing Baxter Pointe Villa, I could really use a nice long soak in that tub!  :D

Saltwater aquarium in 1:12 scale

by brae  

This post has moved to the new blog.

Baxter Pointe Villa - 2011 Greenleaf Spring Fling

by brae  

Presenting Baxter Pointe Villa!  :D  Many of the photos in this post can be clicked to enlarge.  For a list of posts about how I made things, please click here.

And, from the back.

Here is what the original kit with the side addition looked like on the Greenleaf website.

Mine's a bit different, no?  ;]  I took a front wall from a second addition kit to make a deck on the second floor of the main house.  I also added depth to the side addition.

The cottage is named after my current dwarf hamster companion who won the lottery by being featured in the Greenleaf Gazette's Critter Corner as Hamster in Half Scale (well, to a hamster, $25 worth of yogurt yummies is decidedly a jackpot).  :D  Baxter is now an old timer (nearly three years old) and has retired to a luxury beach cottage right on the water.  Here he is in his younger days...

The scene in the background for some of the shots is appropriately captioned On the Beach.  Though I am a hobbyist photographer myself and I've been to the beach many times, the only photos I have seem to be in mid-autumn or have a lighthouse in the background.  Not necessarily a bad thing but not what I was going for.  And, any 'sunlight' you see in the photos, well, that's just my dining room ceiling fixture with its GE Reveal lightbulbs.  :D  Even I can't believe how well this fixture lights this house from outside!

I tried to make as much as possible and used some tried and true techniques from the Newport as well as diving into some new territory for me.  I'm very pleased with how the build turned out overall, but I must say the aquarium is my favorite!  I used the Greenleaf tutorial for it, adding my own sculpted polymer clay fish and LED lighting.  :D

I would love to sit in this living room, honestly.  It has such a serene quality to it.  That's real water in the pitcher, and yes, I spilled it three times while photographing.  :O

The painting above the fireplace is Racing with the Moon by Jacqueline Penney.  The candles in the fireplace are polymer clay and are lighted...I just haven't been able to train my camera to actually take a decent photo of them lit up.  I made a lot of the books myself but supplemented the collection with some from The Miniature Bookshelf and other miscellaneous suppliers.

The aquarium divides the living room from the kitchen, and there's a breakfast counter in front of the tank that I made from a curved scrap piece from the kit.

Here's the door I made and posted about earlier...it's a means to feed the fish!

This is an efficiency kitchen with only a range top and a half fridge.  When you are vacationing on the beach, you don't need to be indoors cooking.  :D

What a view!

Upstairs is a minimalist and serene bedroom.

Adjoining the bedroom is a bathroom with a soaking tub under skylights.  I have a lot of detail shots I'll be sharing in a separate post.  I love how this room turned out especially!

Outside the bedroom is a covered deck inspired by an Amanda Nisbet design.  I painted the ceiling Lilac Love and reproduced the brown and white fabric in her original design using Illustrator and having it printed by Spoonflower.  The journal is by Glenda of Peppercorn Minis.

The cedar shake exterior with white trim was inspired by Catskill Farms.  They have countless beautiful cottages on their blog that are perfect inspirations for miniature homes.  I had to hand split approximately 1,700 1:12 scale shakes to get the right proportion for the build...first lengthwise and then across the grain.

This was easily a six- to nine-month project crammed into three.  Even with all of the things on my idea list left undone, I still think I accomplished a lot in the time I had.  Lots of long hours and late nights.  :D  I plan to continue checking things off the wish-I-had-had-time-to-do list, so you'll see more of this house in the days ahead.

I also want to say a big thank you to everyone who helped with ideas and support throughout the whole process.  Your kind words and friendship mean more to me than you realize.  Thank you!

...more details to follow...but not tonight.  :D

UPDATE: Baxter Pointe Villa took 3rd in the contest.  :D

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