Just like with a real house, decorating the Flip This (Mini) House project never ends. The living room, which I just highlighted earlier today, has gotten a make-under. The bubble chair has been swapped with the Eames lounge chair and ottoman from the house’s upstairs office. The fluffy white rug has been swapped out with a carpet from the house’s storage drawer. Ahhh! That’s better!
A make-under for the living room
A make-under for the living room
A make-under for the living room
A closer look at the living room
A closer look at the Flip This (Mini) House living room
A closer look at the Flip This (Mini) House living room
Much of the art, furniture, and accessories in the Flip This (Mini) House project are repurposed objects I found for next to nothing at garage sales and thrift stores, or that I created from materials from craft stores and hardware stores.
A closer look at the Flip This (Mini) House living room. To learn how to make a bubble chair, faux modern pendant light, and much more, take a look at old posts.
I got together with my friend Janet a few days ago. You may remember her as the friend who found my original mini house at a flea market, back in the summer of 2014. It was just $35! She and her husband then brought it to me and the blog Flip This (Mini) House was born.
Well… She’s at it again. Here’s her latest find. This one I got for the low price of free. It’s in pretty bad shape, but, like my original project, I see a great deal of potential in it. I’m not really sure that I’m ready for another mini house flipping project just yet, but maybe when the snow begins to fall outside I’ll change my mind.
A new mini house flipping project?
A new mini house flipping project?
A new mini house flipping project?
I picked up this sofa at a garage sale a couple of months ago.
While I haven’t been obsessive about the scale within my mini house (in part because there are issues within the house itself, with differences in door frames and things like that), this sofa leaned toward being a little too big. However, I thought I’d refinish it with some of my awesome mid century fabric I got at the St. Vinny’s in Canada last month, just to see if I could make it work.
Choosing between these… and I went with…
This one.
Can you guess what these will be?
Almost ready!
Ta-Da!
The end result is quite cute, but especially with the addition of the legs, I feel that it might be a tad too big for my house. We’ll see if it makes the final decorating cut…
In my real (human scale) home, I have a collection of cutting boards, so naturally my mini house needed one as well. At the miniature show in Chicago, I found three new mini cutting boards, all from seller Dragonfly International. I already have a couple other mini cutting boards, so now my collection is complete. Also, check out the adorable pots and yardstick, also from Dragonfly International!
Regular cutting boards and mini cutting boards. Photos by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
I was at my local craft store the other day, taking a look around since I was running early for an appointment. I came across a glass ornament (I have no idea what it was doing out in April — maybe it was meant to be used for a little spring/Easter scene?) that looked like a perfect mid century modern bubble chair. I decided I’d hang it from the ceiling in the corner of the living room. Ten minutes later, wondering down an aisle I’d never before set foot in, I discovered an assortment of plate and cup holders. One of the cup holders was a perfect match for my ornament/chair, turning it into an actual free-standing bubble chair. Here they are:
Cup holder + glass ornament = perfect 1:12 scale mid century bubble chair! Photos by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
My new bubble chair works great with my other living room furniture.
Bubble chair with a mini newspaper rack and a side table that’s actually a container of lip balm.
The floors and wallpaper are done in my kitchen and dining room! Now I just need to add some trim. Here’s a peek at the progress:
FlipThis(Mini)House kitchen and dining progress. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Here’s a look at the living room with its new floors, wallpaper, trim, and fish art over the fireplace:
Trying out furniture and decor in the living room. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Trying out furniture and accessories in my living room. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
I’ve mentioned how much I love small hardware items like handles, knobs, and hinges when it comes to creating miniature decor. Jewelry is another excellent source for dollhouse design. This vintage fish brooch from St. Vinny’s is going to work perfectly over the fireplace.
Vintage fish brooch. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Vintage fish brooch back. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
I decided to create a medicine cabinet for my mini bathroom. I fashioned it using a mirror from an old eyeshadow compact and a plastic box that once held pins in a sewing kit. Here are the original components in their natural state:
Plastic container that originally held needles and pins. This will the interior and door of my medicine cabinet. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Side view.
This mirror goes on the front of it. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
I was able to snap the mirror off the eye shadow without breaking it, which was great. I glued it to the lid of the box and used regular clear tape as a hinge. I painted it with white paint (unfortunately, plastic hates to be painted). I lined the interior of the cabinet with paper and inserted a little shelf that is actually the same floorboard material I’m using for trim (also plastic-y, also hates to be painted).
Medicine cabinet interior, shown with tape so you can better imagine the scale. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Next I needed some little bathroom accessories, like glass jars of cotton balls and fancy little soaps wrapped in tissue paper. For cotton balls I used the kind of mini pompoms you can buy at almost any craft store. Here’s a look:
Big jar of mini pompoms beside mini jar of mini pompoms. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
To create soap, I used a real bar and cut off little chunks. A couple got wrapped in white tissue paper, and one was set into a tiny ceramic bowl that will make a great soap dish.
Mini bars of soap made from a regular bar of soap. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Little soap.
Are you ready to see the finished product?
Bathroom with handmade medicine cabinet, partially opened. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
As you can see, the paint continues to scrape off, especially when I open and close the cabinet door. I’ll need to touch it up again and then leave it alone. Despite its imperfections, I think it’s pretty cute!
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