The interesting thing about building from nothing instead of a precut kit is that although the kits in my opinion are expensive doing it from scratch is slightly less. Through trial and error you figure out what you are doing and if you are doing it well. Last year before I started on this journey of insanity I got a few books for Christmas about miniatures, building furniture, housing, curtains and drapes, garages and how to decorate and enhance the building in 1/12 scale, The other good thing is that I found other blogs on the subject. The one that I've paid attention to the most is one from a lady I believe is in Canada Kris Campas. Her blog is 1" minis which I have to say works nicely in furnishing the house that I am building. Although I still haven't figured out how to get her plans to the scale that I need I have figured out how to reduce them to the point where I can match them to the book on furniture in 1/12 scale that I use to build the things that I am building.
I basically use her designs on the books scale sometimes from wood, sometimes from Mat board or Poster board. I have to tell you that the mat board is the cheaper way to go especially if you are just starting out on how to build something. You can get them at any hobby store that does framing, art supply places and even Joann's fabrics that have a framing shop has them so they are in ready supply. The other things that she uses is 3/16" foam core which works nicely as a cushion base for a anything to sit on. You basically add some type of batting or according to the furniture book 1/4" or 1/2" foam which is hard to find without using mail order, fabric and glue to make cushions for sofas, love seats, chairs ottomans and divans. I didn't know what a divan was until I looked it up, basically a fancy day bed with out framing. Ms. Kampas has all types of projects with step by step instructions that occasionally can be confusing but if you send her an email she will be more then happy to set you straight.
She comes out with a new blog every month sometimes they are in parts like the one for her kitchen cabinets which is in seven parts or plans for parson chairs and dining table. She seems to like the 1950's decor but with a little imagination you can up date it. I view her each month for ideas and inspiration.
Yes I know I've been side tracked but I am still building my little dream house. The floors and walls have been cut and I've started laying the flooring for the rooms in the house. I've found this really great iron on flooring called edgebanding although it's wide 3/4" it looks great and you can always use a straight edge to slice it down the center to get the "right" planking width. It comes in a variety of woods Ash, Cherry, Pine, red oak, white oak, maple, walnut, mahogany, white birch which is what I choose. It also comes in Melamine in white, almond and black. What I like about it is that all you need is an iron and pressing cloth to apply it to the "floor" and if you make a mistake reheat it and shift it until it lines up the way you want it. The bad thing is if you buy it from one of the wood working supply you can not get it in the 3/4" size. They have 13/16",2" and 7/8" width. The other place I've found it is in England Bromley's which has it in 3/8th" widths in 25 ft lengths for about $15 in Cherry and Oak. They have a deal if you purchase 3 for $32 in either oak or cherry wood. 25 feet may seem like a lot but the dimensions of the house I am building is 42 inches wide by 16 inches deep it has taken 2 rolls of the 3/4" to do the second floor that is including the cut outs for the stairwell and the bathroom. Which is why I switched to the slim sticks for the flooring. Depending on which way I laid the flooring length wise would be 3.5 feet for each strip going across if I laid it width wise it would be 1.33 feet which is a little less then a foot and a half. So the conversion to slim sticks on the main floor. But it does look beautiful. I do like light stained woods.
I've used craft sticks in abundance. The wide ones in the Sun room are the wider ones 4.5" and stained in Golden Pecan which isn't really golden it's more a red pecan. I've used the slim ones 5.5" in the kitchen and bathroom. Painted the bathroom floor and I'm going to stain the kitchen floor Golden Oak. The living room I discovered that all slim sticks are not created equal. The longer 7.5" are rougher and not exactly straight some are some aren't. The 5.5" ones are smoother and glue easier. I know I was supposed to use the wood glues for the flooring but I used Elmer's Glue-All which works perfectly as long as there is a thin coat of it. Whenever there is excess glue seeping out I use a damp cloth to wipe it off. At this point I am half way through the living room dining room combination. It's slow going and I discovered the joy of push pins and T-pins to keep my wood straight, and flat to the sub flooring. I've purchased some craft wood strips from Hobby Lobby and those are going to be used for the baseboards and shoe moldings 1/8 x 3/32 for the molding and 1/16th square for the shoe molding. I still haven't figure out what I am going to use for the crown molding yet. I've picked up the triangle strips from Home Depot and I think I will be building my stair case next. I've got 3" x 1/4"x 36 sheets if basswood and I've got the 16 gauge wire and drill to twist it for the balusters. Home Depot may not be the miniaturist dream shop but it does carry 1/4 square dowels as well as round dowels in the sizes I need and they are cheaper then any mini store supplier.
As to wall paper I'm thinking seriously of using the sheets from the scrap booking notebooks. They are large enough, sturdy enough. I've got enough gesso to cover all the walls and ceilings and then paint either with interior paint. For the outside, I will paint or stucco the building or at least the first floor and dye the stucco which is actually the stuff they used to join wall boards together and hide the seam. In either case the whole project to date has cost $140. So not doing to bad to tell the truth. It did help that I had most of the wood for the building on hand although I did have to buy a base for the house to sit on of 3/8" sheathing plywood for landscaping the area around and providing a dining Patio and someplace to put the garage so the master bedroom could have a terrace I also had to get two 2x2 studs for the base to sit on and hiding the transformer for an additional cost of 15.
So not to shabby going here :)
I basically use her designs on the books scale sometimes from wood, sometimes from Mat board or Poster board. I have to tell you that the mat board is the cheaper way to go especially if you are just starting out on how to build something. You can get them at any hobby store that does framing, art supply places and even Joann's fabrics that have a framing shop has them so they are in ready supply. The other things that she uses is 3/16" foam core which works nicely as a cushion base for a anything to sit on. You basically add some type of batting or according to the furniture book 1/4" or 1/2" foam which is hard to find without using mail order, fabric and glue to make cushions for sofas, love seats, chairs ottomans and divans. I didn't know what a divan was until I looked it up, basically a fancy day bed with out framing. Ms. Kampas has all types of projects with step by step instructions that occasionally can be confusing but if you send her an email she will be more then happy to set you straight.
She comes out with a new blog every month sometimes they are in parts like the one for her kitchen cabinets which is in seven parts or plans for parson chairs and dining table. She seems to like the 1950's decor but with a little imagination you can up date it. I view her each month for ideas and inspiration.
Yes I know I've been side tracked but I am still building my little dream house. The floors and walls have been cut and I've started laying the flooring for the rooms in the house. I've found this really great iron on flooring called edgebanding although it's wide 3/4" it looks great and you can always use a straight edge to slice it down the center to get the "right" planking width. It comes in a variety of woods Ash, Cherry, Pine, red oak, white oak, maple, walnut, mahogany, white birch which is what I choose. It also comes in Melamine in white, almond and black. What I like about it is that all you need is an iron and pressing cloth to apply it to the "floor" and if you make a mistake reheat it and shift it until it lines up the way you want it. The bad thing is if you buy it from one of the wood working supply you can not get it in the 3/4" size. They have 13/16",2" and 7/8" width. The other place I've found it is in England Bromley's which has it in 3/8th" widths in 25 ft lengths for about $15 in Cherry and Oak. They have a deal if you purchase 3 for $32 in either oak or cherry wood. 25 feet may seem like a lot but the dimensions of the house I am building is 42 inches wide by 16 inches deep it has taken 2 rolls of the 3/4" to do the second floor that is including the cut outs for the stairwell and the bathroom. Which is why I switched to the slim sticks for the flooring. Depending on which way I laid the flooring length wise would be 3.5 feet for each strip going across if I laid it width wise it would be 1.33 feet which is a little less then a foot and a half. So the conversion to slim sticks on the main floor. But it does look beautiful. I do like light stained woods.
I've used craft sticks in abundance. The wide ones in the Sun room are the wider ones 4.5" and stained in Golden Pecan which isn't really golden it's more a red pecan. I've used the slim ones 5.5" in the kitchen and bathroom. Painted the bathroom floor and I'm going to stain the kitchen floor Golden Oak. The living room I discovered that all slim sticks are not created equal. The longer 7.5" are rougher and not exactly straight some are some aren't. The 5.5" ones are smoother and glue easier. I know I was supposed to use the wood glues for the flooring but I used Elmer's Glue-All which works perfectly as long as there is a thin coat of it. Whenever there is excess glue seeping out I use a damp cloth to wipe it off. At this point I am half way through the living room dining room combination. It's slow going and I discovered the joy of push pins and T-pins to keep my wood straight, and flat to the sub flooring. I've purchased some craft wood strips from Hobby Lobby and those are going to be used for the baseboards and shoe moldings 1/8 x 3/32 for the molding and 1/16th square for the shoe molding. I still haven't figure out what I am going to use for the crown molding yet. I've picked up the triangle strips from Home Depot and I think I will be building my stair case next. I've got 3" x 1/4"x 36 sheets if basswood and I've got the 16 gauge wire and drill to twist it for the balusters. Home Depot may not be the miniaturist dream shop but it does carry 1/4 square dowels as well as round dowels in the sizes I need and they are cheaper then any mini store supplier.
As to wall paper I'm thinking seriously of using the sheets from the scrap booking notebooks. They are large enough, sturdy enough. I've got enough gesso to cover all the walls and ceilings and then paint either with interior paint. For the outside, I will paint or stucco the building or at least the first floor and dye the stucco which is actually the stuff they used to join wall boards together and hide the seam. In either case the whole project to date has cost $140. So not doing to bad to tell the truth. It did help that I had most of the wood for the building on hand although I did have to buy a base for the house to sit on of 3/8" sheathing plywood for landscaping the area around and providing a dining Patio and someplace to put the garage so the master bedroom could have a terrace I also had to get two 2x2 studs for the base to sit on and hiding the transformer for an additional cost of 15.
So not to shabby going here :)
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