Doors/Windows for Witch's Shop

I still have at least the rest of this week off from work. Will be starting a new job next Monday, but there are always lots of things to do still. Should do more cleaning/organizing around the house which is my main goal for today. I also have a relative in town for surgery tomorrow, so that may take up some time as well.

But I am happy to report that I reached out to Teri at Lawbre and the door and windows I ordered last month should be shipping out soon. I'm not adding any windows to the kit, but I did want some better detailing for this build than what was included. Ultimately, I decided to invest in a few Lawbre pieces. The door and small window I ordered should be fairly close fits that will need minimal adjustment to the existing cutouts. I ended up going with their standard arched panel door that I normally see used on interiors mainly because of the width. There isn't a lot of area on that front panel to expand! Below are the pieces I selected:

I felt like the additional detail of the "hood" for the small window would add more interest to the dormer, but would likely end up getting lost if I chose the "hooded" windows for the larger window below. There is the roof overhang there that I think is a strong enough element to work with already.

The other items I ordered this week are a couple of false doors from Miniature Mansions in the U.K. Lawbre's options here only seemed to come in a double door, which would be way too big for what I needed. The false doors I found elsewhere would likely feel clunky in comparison to these upgraded choices. Then I discovered Miniature Mansions! They have a lot of great trims and components and they had just what I needed for the interior false doors:

Looking forward to these pieces arriving! In the meantime, I'm going to need to make some finish decisions and start getting to work on the interior and exterior. I am less worried about historical accuracy with this project as it is more of a small "fantasy" build. This build should have a Victorian/Edwardian feel to it though. Hope to have more to share later this week!

Seattle Miniature Show 2016

The Seattle show was this weekend so I stopped by this afternoon. Last year was the first time I'd gone in decades and I went on Saturday so it was really crowded! This time, I went on Sunday and it was much less crowded. I didn't end up buying anything though. Not that there weren't some great items, I just didn't see anything that really spoke to me.

I still fondly remember going to the show probably 20+ years ago when it was at the Seattle Center in the Flag Pavilion. The show was much larger then and I think attracted a wider range of artisans. I would love to travel to some of the other shows around the country that I know are larger like the Bishop show in Chicago. Someday!

One thing I saw and really liked in the displays this year was "The Watchful Eye" by Peggy Zorn. It is a 1/2" scale wizard's home with a thatched roof. It was so detailed and really a great piece. Of course it had the "Best in Show" ribbon!

Dry Fitting for the Witch's Shop

Well, it was a busy last couple of weeks at work, but I am officially between jobs now! Got to spend a little time in my studio today and I decided to start with a dry test fit of my Larimer Shop Kit that will eventually end up as the Witch's Shop. This actually helped quite a bit to be able to get a sense of the actual dimensions of this building. 

I had also placed an order for new windows and a door from Lawbre's website, but haven't seen the charge actually go through or heard anything. I'll have to reach out and check on the status of my order. I'm really hoping I'll be able to get them, I love the additional detail those pieces have and I think they'll add the architectural interest I'm wanting for this project. At least, moreso than the included Houseworks pieces.

It was super helpful to understand how much room there is inside the building. While I like the idea of making it as realistic as possible, since this is really just a two-story front-opening roombox, I'm not going to bother with trying to include a staircase or all potential rooms. I'm intending on including some nonworking doors to allude to rooms beyond. And rather than add more windows on the sides, I think it is actually more realistic to assume that this building could end up having other structures on each side as if it is part of a larger city block.

The kit is deeper than I had thought, which is good! For a while, I was worried that I wouldn't actually have room to create a realistic bedroom upstairs. The kit does come with an exterior chimney that they show attached to the side. But in this case, I really think that the fireplace on the first floor needs to be in the center of the room. I'd like to include a fireplace in the bedroom too and then just have a chimney coming out of the center of the roof, but then I won't have room for the washstand I purchased. Will have to think on that a little bit. I can always work on getting the shell assembled and start the inside and outside wall finishes while I plan the rest.

Also, I'm wondering about including a skylight? Might be fun to do, but not a necessity. The flat roof portion isn't really that big.