Outside and in again...and where the drinks trolley ended up!

Let's start with the outside...or if you want to see where the drinks trolley found it's home you can scroll down first.

It took a mammoth effort to finish the exterior of the Maisonette but I am so glad it's (mostly) done!

I figured there would never be a better time than Lockdown to get things finished.

I'll no doubt still add things to it...there's always another idea!

The stairs were challenging as they needed to be quite steep.

That funny little booth with the map is hiding the back of the built in cupboard in the patisserie.

I found some paint that was a close enough colour to the other walls I had already painted so I was able to finish this wall.

I didn't use anything fancy to make the stairs...just whatever I had lying around.

I don't buy cardboard I use anything nearby, that cardboard was some packaging.

I've already added an 'Apartment for Rent' sign.

This wall looked far too bare...

That's better!

I finished all the trim around the edges of the walls to tidy it up.

Then after I took the pics I realised I'd forgotten the trim on the inside kitchen wall.

Lights!

Back inside now...I've been adding little details...the fun things that make it feel cosy. 

Looks like someone's been reading.

Cushions have been made...

As I'm challenging myself to make everything in this little apartment I decided I should try making a fire screen. 

And in this pic you can see the drinks trolley has ended up on the right side of the fireplace which was where most of you thought it should live. Thank you so much for all your comments, they were very helpful!

Now I'm thinking about what to make next.

I haven't made furniture for the Patisserie yet. 

I have to be in the mood and I'm waiting for inspiration to hit!

Drink anyone?!

Every now and then a random idea pops into my head of something La Maisonnette needs.

At the beginning of lockdown (6 weeks ago now) I thought I should make a drinks trolley.

It turned out to be one of the most frustrating things I've ever tried to make.

The whole thing kept twisting out of shape and it was always leaning forwards.

 In the end I had to pull it apart and remake it.

It's now been standing up straight for weeks! 

But because there's no reason to hurry during a lockdown I have only just set it up with drinks.

Now, I'm no drinker so the labels on the pink bottles are just random labels, I don't even think they're wine labels. But when I found I had a green bottle...well...I've watched Moulin Rouge the movie enough times to know I needed a bottle of absinthe in there!

The big challenge now is finding the right place to put it.

Here it is to the left of the fireplace. 

If it stays there it can't be seen when you're looking in the house from the outside...and it's very hard to photograph there!

Here it is to the right of the fireplace.

Not easily viewed there either.

How about near the dining table?

By the stairs?

Next to the couch?

Tricky to photograph there too, makes it look wonky!

Let me know your thoughts on where it should go!

This is how it looks most of the time 😂

Anyone else knock things over all the time?!?!

The other thing I made months ago is the coffee table.

I seem to be obsessed with the antique gold finish on things in this house.

That's not a mirror in it, it's 'glass'.

The outside of the house is now finished! 

A major accomplishment - hooray for lockdown! Pictures coming soon.

Thanks for stopping by here, let me know your thoughts on where that drinks trolley should go.

La Maisonnette - Entrance Hall

I have no idea what they call the entrance hall in France.

This is the view from where the actual outside door will be.

I am happy to report that after months of the door languishing on my husband's workbench, now we're in lockdown he has fixed it for me.

Just love the lighting in this pic!

I looked through my vast stash of dollhouse furniture trying to find the right piece for the entry.

But it suddenly dawned on me that so far I have made every piece of furniture in this little apartment myself. 

So really there was only one thing I could do!

I would love to have a bow front chest of drawers in the real house but as I can't (too expensive) I made them in miniature (from cardboard) instead. I wasn't going to make them so they could open but I just couldn't bring myself to make them 'pretend' drawers so they do open. 

Because this whole room had to accommodate the kitchen, lounge and dining rooms and the staircase I wasn't sure I should waste any space on an entrance hall. 

(Yes, I've been working on the lighting too...but that's another post!)

But I also didn't want the tiny occupants to walk straight into the kitchen from the outside. 

As it turned out I needed a wall there for the kitchen anyway. 

It think it took longer to decide what should be displayed on top of the drawers 

than it did to make the drawers. 

The angel came from a hairclip I bought on my first overseas trip to Los Angeles in 1992. 

The clip had a row of those little angels. 

It eventually broke and that angel has been patiently waiting for decades for his turn to be upcycled!

It took even longer to find something to go on the wall!

That picture of the water lily is from a very fancy wine bottle wrapper. A friend was about to throw it out when she heard me gasp...so pretty, I've been waiting a couple of years to use it.

I'm using this time in lockdown wisely.

Not too much baking...more mini making.

The government just gave us another two weeks!! 

I live in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city - that's where this Covid Delta outbreak is concentrated.

Here are the current rules we're living under:

Today I started installing that exterior door.

The Patisserie has almost been transformed - VERY exciting!!!

Hopefully that will be next weeks post.

Thank you all for your comments! You've no idea the difference they make to my day.

La Maisonnette Kitchen

 

Welcome to a very tiny kitchen!

This little space has been quite a challenge.

No room for appliances in this compact space!

And as you can see from the pic above,  I've used the space right to the very edge of the Maisonette.

I should have probably built that cupboard a bit smaller but clearly measuring isn't a great skill of mine!

Originally I made a marble benchtop but it didn't look right so close to the marble fireplace.

I was making the hole in the benchtop to fit this bowl but the bowl looked too new. 

I prefer a slightly grungy, lived-in, vintage vibe.

You knew there'd be pipework!

I searched everywhere for a better bowl for the sink.

This little bottle of 'stuff' was sitting on my windowsill. 

It was with my mother's art things when she died. I kept it because it was cute.

I had looked at the lid as a possible sink many times and eventually when I couldn't find anything else I tried it in the hole and of course...

it was a perfect fit!

Thanks Mum! xxx

Like I said the kitchen is compact and there's not much storage,

so I made a shelf for above the sink.

There's a pretty pic of the kitchen a couple of weeks ago...but things are always changing!

There's always another idea...

I had the idea to make an old fireplace mantel shelf to go on the other side of the kitchen.

And I thought a French kitchen needed vintage canisters, so I just made those too.

But once I'd made it I decided it looked better here above the sink.

And you may have noticed that in this pic I've added a cupboard door...just because it was too hard to fill the cupboard!

I saw a real life table like this on the internet and I just had to make it in miniature.

This time I measured better!

There's only a little hotplate for cooking here.

I figure as there's going to be a patisserie downstairs the tiny occupants won't need to cook much!

And there you have the kitchen!

We're in Covid lockdown here in New Zealand again because the Delta variant was discovered in the community.

So you know what that means for me - more mini making time!

I'm working on the patisserie already.