Whew!  The plant stand fits in front of the window in the hall...confirmation that I measured correctly :)

I think I'll make curtains for the windows and plants to fill the stand today.  I have a handful of new leaf punches I've been dying to try out. 

Perhaps I'll even have enough time to frame some artwork for the hall.  It would nice to see another room done, I started the Fairfield three years ago.

I had to build a chair for the desk in the Fairfield's study that would fit in the kneehole of the desk.  Since I had such fun making tables with tiny turnings I kept going with them.

I like it!  I'm excited to finish the room, I want to see it filled with stuff...this is meant to be Grandma's private room, off limits to company, so is where her clutter will accumulate.

Tonight I will turn these into a plant stand...

Finally! 

I counted how many I made for both houses, out of curiosity...three hundred sixty-seven. Whew!

I've got a few book jackets left over so will make them up into more books to scatter on nightstands and tabletops...not right now though, I need a break!

Both houses have been vacuumed and dusted (except the attic)...

my studio has been cleaned...

it seems like a good time to take stock of where I am on both projects.  Let's start with the Fairfield...

The living room and foyer are furnished, I just need to add artwork and accessories.  The grandfather clock needs a new face, the windows need curtains, and I need to make a lamp to sit on the table in the bay window.  I also need to make a long trailing plant for the sofa table on the end of the fireplace wall to hide the crooked table leg.

The dining room is also furnished.  It needs curtains, a fireplace screen, and more plants under the windows.  The table needs a centerpiece and the hutch needs to be filled.  I also need to make some potted topiaries to sit on either side of the fireplace to hide that I didn't have it sitting flush to the floor when I glued it in place.

The kitchen needs something more, but I don't know what...other than I need to stock the pantry then glue the pantry doors in place.

The bedroom is almost finished.  I need to add artwork and make a better jewelry box for the dresser.  The curtains need to be glued in, as the double-stick tape was only meant to be temporary while I tested their look.  I'm not happy with the lampshade but I don't think I can change it without breaking the light.

The library needs some work.  The bookcases need more books (I'm working on that), I want to make a little TV on a stand, I have to build a desk chair and a fireplace screen, then I need to add some artwork and accessories.  I'm not happy with the finish on the desk, but I think a coat of matte varnish will fix it.

I haven't started on the upstairs hall yet.  That thing on the floor is the kitchen pantry door, just look past it.  The windows need curtains to hide the glue I couldn't wipe away because I couldn't get my hand back there when I glued them in.  I'm not sure how I'm going to get curtains in there either, but I guess I'll figure out something.  There isn't any room for furniture in the hall, but I should be able to sit a houseplant in the far corner...that and some artwork on the walls will be all I'll do here.

The bathroom is finished, but I'm going to swap out the ugly plastic plant with a realistic looking paper one.  I'll add a rug in front of the sink too.

The attic need more stuff...boxes and trunks and boxes of old stuff. I need to recreate the shadow play, make a fort behind the stairs, make either a twin bed or cot for when the grandkid sleeps over, and finish Grandma's workroom.  I've never been happy with the sheen on the walls, so I'll start by repainting.  The bottom portion of the chimney needs some work too, it's too clean looking.

I just realized I didn't take a picture of the front porch...I've got hanging plant kits to put together, a porch swing to hang, and a letter slot to glue to the door.

The Chantilly is coming along much faster than the Fairfield did, it was a much easier build.  I didn't paint or paper the interior walls, put in flooring, put in baseboards or crown molding, and I didn't electrify it...it's a vacation cottage, not a big Victorian home.

I need to finish the coffee table and make a chair (once I figure out what kind of chair I want) for the living room.  The walls need artwork, the floor needs an area rug, and the fireplace needs tools and gee-gaws on the mantle.  I'm thinking about making more throw pillows for the loveseat but I haven't decided yet.

I need to make a dining table for the breakfast nook and either make or find another chair.  I tested the chairs from the Fairfield's attic when I was cleaning, but none of them looked right.  I need to make a shelf/pot hanger something or other for the wall over the refrigerator, and I need to stock and hang the racks I already have for the opposite wall.  Once I'm done with that I need to accessorize with kitchen stuff.

The boy's room is furnished, though the bed isn't completely dressed yet.  I've got all the accessories for this room already picked out, I just need to put them in place.  First I'm going to attempt to hang something else over the Monet on the wall, as I don't think it suits a boy's room.  I'm contemplating putting stars all over the pitched ceiling, but can't decide if I'd like it or not...I'll have to test the look using some double-stick tape.

The master bedroom has me in a bit of a quandry.  The furniture arrangement works best with the bed angled into the corner, but I don't like the empty space behind it, and I don't like seeing the  join where the roof meets the top of the wall.  I don't know if it would look awkward to sit a tall plant or a folding screen behind the headboard, or if I should try to trim out the join.  I'm planning on a climbing vine to cover the exterior of the house which I could let it creep inside, but that might be too weird.  I'll probably leave this room until last, while I think about it.

I commented to my husband earlier today that I was almost done with these houses, but now that I've written down all the things I have still to do to finish these I suspect I can stay busy for another year before I'll need to build another.

I finished another batch of books yesterday...and the library in the Fairfield still isn't done yet.  I filled the small bookcase and added books to the big bookcase.  I need to make another batch to fill the library table and finish the big bookcase.

The bookcases in the Chantilly are complete.  I finished the last shelf with a display of tiny seashells.

The books I had left, which were too tall to fit any of the bookcases, were placed on a shelf in the kitchen as cookbooks.  They'll sit far enough back in the room that you won't be able to tell you're looking at The History of Flight instead of French Cuisine.

I'm going to take a break from bookmaking today.  I need to clean my studio and vacuum out the houses.

The Fairfield is now on my worktable, next to the Chantilly.  She needs to be accessorized before she's finished...I was overwhelmed at the thought of all the empty bookcases when I put her away.

Thankfully the books I made that were a little too tall for the Chantilly's bookcases which I thought I was going to have to save for a 3/4 scale project fit on the bookcase in the Fairfield.  Yay!  Some of them are oversized coffee table books laying on their backs, but that's okay, not only does it fill the space faster but it looks like my real life bookcases.

Because the Fairfield was my first house I didn't know not to glue the bookcase in before I filled it with books.  Never again!!!  I remember that I did it that way because I wanted it to sit flush to the back wall and I put the baseboard on around it, but boy oh boy, it's hard to glue books in there now.

At least the bookcase and library table on the other side of the room aren't glued in place yet.

I wanted to finish making all the books so I could fill the bookcase in one sitting, varying the height and thickness of the books, but the ones I had done were starting to jump down to the floor so I glued them in before they wandered away.

When I was done with that I glued the shelves into the Chantilly's bookcase.  I've been going back and forth on whether to use three shelves (books the same size as on the other bookcases) or four (the bookcases won't be matchy-matchy)...it's been driving me bonkers so I took a deep breath, crossed my fingers I was making the right decision, then glued them in.  Done...it will bother me no more.

I made two more pieces of electronic equipment so the shelves have a reason to be closer together.  They're not any particular kind of pieces of equipment, just equipment.

Now I just have to make a billion more books.  Sigh...never enough books.

I'm getting better with each batch.

Batch One

Batch Two

Batch Three

Most of batch two and three ended up 3/4 scale instead of 1/2 scale, I'm afraid...but I have some 3/4 scale furniture in my stash, so I'll end up using them eventually.

Batch Four ready to go

Susan, this one is for you...recognize it?

Brae, this one was inspired by you, because as soon as I saw it I heard you say "Grandma likes her liquor!".

Here's a shot of the canisters  you couldn't see yesterday...just the two little ones were there, they seem too small to be the right scale, don't they?  I think if I add either the striped bead or the white canister behind them to make a trio that they'll then look okay.  What do you think?

Notice the addition of the turkey to the top of the cabinets, Susan...I can't find any roosters to paint copper...yet.

I was reaching in to get the refrigerator to put a hole through the handle to slide a towel through when it dawned on me that the obvious (and easier!) solution was to drape a towel and dishrag over the side of the sink instead.  Now the kitchen looks more lived in, and I didn't have to break the frig handle then figure out how to fix it.

I added a tablecloth, bowl of pears, a newspaper and the beginnings of salt and pepper shakers to the table...and put a rug underneath.  The tablecloth needs another spraying of hairspray to hold the edge down and the pleats in before I remove the pins.  I just noticed, looking at the picture, that I need to shorten the rug a bit too, it's too long.

Does anyone have any more suggestions?  I appreciate the input.

I've been puttering around in the kitchen the last couple of weeks...ten minutes here, half an hour there, whenever I could find time.  It's not going well, finishing the kitchen is harder than I thought it would be.

I'm going to splurge on some kits to make houseplants to go on top of the upper cabinets, the houseplants I've been making from plastic aquarium plants don't please me...I'll replace those throughout the house with paper ones.

I'm indecisive about whether I need more stuff on the long back counter.  I think now that if I add more to the corner by the stove it should be okay, as the two canisters I've got there seem too small to be in scale with the rest of the accessories.  Wait...the two canisters you can't even see...sorry, I'll take better pictures tomorrow when the batteries in my big camera have recharged. 

The only other thing I haven't done yet that I know for sure I will is to make a tablecloth.  If anyone has ideas for finishing the room please post a comment, I can use the help.