I was just browsing through a Pinterest board of Victorian houses when I came across this picture of a Victorian mansion which is almost the same configuration as the Fairfield. It's been extended to the side, but otherwise has the same corner tower.
How cool would it be to live in a house like that for real? But speaking as someone currently househunting for a real new home, it does rather shriek 'money pit, money pit, money pit' !
Friday, 20 December 2013
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
The mother of all gothick
I have to blog about the amazing house we visited a few weekends ago: Strawberry Hill in Twickenham.
You could make an amazing dollshouse out of some of these features.
Created by Horace Walpole in the 18th century, the house is one the finest examples of Georgian Gothic revival architecture. It's recently undergone a major restoration and the internal rooms are gradually being opened to the public as they are restored. There isn't much furniture as it was all sold off, but the architectural details are just wonderful.
The whole thing reminded me so strongly of the Gothick Gatehouse dollshouse that used to be available, which featured the same trefoil windows and Sue Cook gothic details. I wonder if this house was their inspiration?
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
Gone away for a while
The Fairfield is now all packed up and in a box, as we are packing our house up to get it ready to put on the market. Over the Easter weekend, the dollshouses will move into self-storage where they may be staying for 6-12 months until we find a new home. Our real life living room looks much bigger now :)
Here's an excerpt from my main blog which explains how I packed my houses:
"I'm packing the dollshouse stuff the same way I did last time we moved. I tend to stick things into my houses anyway, either permanently, or temporarily using tacky wax, so there aren't many loose things. Life is too short to take everything out and wrap it individually. So what I do is wad up tissue paper and carefully place it into each room, filling the nooks and crannies until the entire room is held lightly in place with tissue paper. If there is something heavier that lacks support, for example a doll, then I will wrap it individually and place it back into the room. For big rooms, once I've covered everything with tissue paper, I might fill in interior voids with crumpled newspaper or bubble wrap. Once all the voids are filled, I either seal the opening with cling film in the case of a room box or 1:48 house, or in the case of a bigger house, wrap it in bubble wrap then lightly hold that on by wrapping parcel tape around the bubble wrap. So that nothing can shift or fall out as it is a sealed environment. Eventually, when I unpack, I will unpack on a low table placed in the centre of a bedsheet on the carpet, and I will carefully open out each piece of packing material to check that nothing small is embedded in it. Last time very few things came loose, and I was able to spot them in the packing material. Worst case scenario, they fall onto the bedsheet where they can easily be spotted."
In the case of the Fairfield, once it was all clingfilmed up, I wrapped it in bubble wrap. I then placed it into a large box resting on some more bubble wrap. I then gently 'wedged' the house with small throw cushions placed between solid walls of the house and the sides of the box, so it can't slide around. I draped a TV quilt over the top of it to complete the protection and bracing, and closed up the box.
So this blog will be on hiatus for a year or so until we get into our new home - where hopefully I will have both a dollshouse display area and a place to work on my mini!
Here's an excerpt from my main blog which explains how I packed my houses:
"I'm packing the dollshouse stuff the same way I did last time we moved. I tend to stick things into my houses anyway, either permanently, or temporarily using tacky wax, so there aren't many loose things. Life is too short to take everything out and wrap it individually. So what I do is wad up tissue paper and carefully place it into each room, filling the nooks and crannies until the entire room is held lightly in place with tissue paper. If there is something heavier that lacks support, for example a doll, then I will wrap it individually and place it back into the room. For big rooms, once I've covered everything with tissue paper, I might fill in interior voids with crumpled newspaper or bubble wrap. Once all the voids are filled, I either seal the opening with cling film in the case of a room box or 1:48 house, or in the case of a bigger house, wrap it in bubble wrap then lightly hold that on by wrapping parcel tape around the bubble wrap. So that nothing can shift or fall out as it is a sealed environment. Eventually, when I unpack, I will unpack on a low table placed in the centre of a bedsheet on the carpet, and I will carefully open out each piece of packing material to check that nothing small is embedded in it. Last time very few things came loose, and I was able to spot them in the packing material. Worst case scenario, they fall onto the bedsheet where they can easily be spotted."
In the case of the Fairfield, once it was all clingfilmed up, I wrapped it in bubble wrap. I then placed it into a large box resting on some more bubble wrap. I then gently 'wedged' the house with small throw cushions placed between solid walls of the house and the sides of the box, so it can't slide around. I draped a TV quilt over the top of it to complete the protection and bracing, and closed up the box.
So this blog will be on hiatus for a year or so until we get into our new home - where hopefully I will have both a dollshouse display area and a place to work on my mini!
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Shopping at the City of London dollshouse festival
Today I went up to the new City of London dollshouse festival and did very well - you can read more about the visit and see other things I bought on my main blog (linked in margin).
For the Fairfield, I bought these exquisite stuffed animals from Pat Kay Toys and Dolls. The bear is fully jointed and will go in the girl's bedroom. The tiger is not jointed but is so cute. He will go in the boy's bedroom.
From another stand I bought three beautifully made 1:12 boxes, and also this gorgeous little painted carousel which actually pivots. I am going to try it in the girl's bedroom and see if it looks like playscale size.
For the Fairfield, I bought these exquisite stuffed animals from Pat Kay Toys and Dolls. The bear is fully jointed and will go in the girl's bedroom. The tiger is not jointed but is so cute. He will go in the boy's bedroom.
From another stand I bought three beautifully made 1:12 boxes, and also this gorgeous little painted carousel which actually pivots. I am going to try it in the girl's bedroom and see if it looks like playscale size.
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