Progress on my mini house, as of today

Flipping my mini house

I thought I’d share a few pictures of how the house looks right now. As a reminder, this is how it looked when I received it this summer:

Day 1 of my mini house. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Day 1 of my mini house. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Most of the carpeting, wallpaper, and trim have since been removed. Wood floors have now been installed in the upstairs bedroom, as well as some funky retro wallpaper in the master bedroom. All rooms will be receiving white baseboard trim, but a flatter version than what was originally in the house.

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A small part of the original kitchen floor remains, thoroughly glued in place. A friend lent me her heatgun yesterday. She thought it might help loosen up the floor. I’ll let you know how that goes.

The master bedroom has been wallpapered!

Furniture and decor I've purchased

After recently debating between a bunch of different wallpaper choices (using scrapbook paper, not actual wallpaper) here, the master bedroom has been wallpapered! I ended up choosing something completely different from the samples I showed you a couple of weeks ago. As I’ve mentioned, one of the designers inspiring me on my house flip is Jonathan Adler. I thought what I ended up choosing had that fun, “Happy Chic” feeling I was seeking, but it actually looks a little more on the childish and maniacal side of things than I’d intended. The good thing is, if I choose to take it down, at least I can use it for templates for the next sheets I install in that room.

Wallpaper. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Wallpaper. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

I think I will give it a couple of days and try it with furniture, just to see if it grows on me in a good or bad way. What do you think?

Miniblinds that are mini blinds!

Everyday objects repurposed

Inspired by woven bamboo shades like these and these, I decided to make my own for my mini house. When I saw these inexpensive coasters at Bed Bath and Beyond I knew I’d found my perfect materials.

Inexpensive coasters. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Inexpensive coasters. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

I cut them to fit, and then attached another piece over the top to hide where the cord would be attached and to give them the appropriate look.

Mini blinds in progress! Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Mini blinds in progress! Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

The toothpick will be used like a curtain rod. Next I added a small line of wood glue and held my blinds in place with a chip clip while they dried.

Mini blinds drying. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Mini blinds drying. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Here’s the finished product, with a pair of scissors added so you can picture the scale. I will show them in my mini house later, once the house is a little further along.

Mini blinds made from a coaster. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Mini blinds made from a coaster. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Slowly but surely…

Flipping my mini house
A look at my mini kitchen and dining area. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

A look at my mini kitchen and dining area. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

I finally got my breakfast bar removed. It turns out it was screwed into place. Once I figured that out I was able to remove it without breaking it, which I was really excited about since I thought it was such a cute feature. I’ll drill new holes for it and it will get moved a little closer to the bench in the dining area, so my kitchen will be a little bigger than it used to be.

The little bit of flooring that remains is coming out one little chip at a time. I almost cut my thumb off the other day when I was trying to watch an old episode of Survivor and work on my house at the same time. All I can say is, I’m glad this is dollhouse flooring and not something I’m dealing with on a larger scale.

I’m not sure what, if anything, I can do about the fact that the floor swoops down a little towards the carport. I didn’t notice it so much at first, but when you’re sitting on the floor, staring at it for an hour, it starts to become really obvious.

Speaking of the carport, I was able to get the wall propped back up to be straight. So that’s great news.

Here’s a reminder of how my house looked when I first got it:

Day 1 of my mini house. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Day 1 of my mini house. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

The exterior is now dark teal. Also, I’ve decided the exterior trim will be a yellowish color to match my West Elm measuring cup planters. Photos of that coming soon!

Free printable template to create a mini vintage ornament box

Handmade decor for my mini house

A few weeks ago I shared the mini ornaments I made here, along with the tiny box to store them. I said I’d be sharing a free, printable template so you could make your own ornament box. Here it is. Sorry it’s after Christmas, but better late than never, right? This box can be scaled up or down a little to accommodate different size ornaments. You could also use it as an starting point to create tiny doughnut boxes, dress boxes, game boxes, etc.

To form the base into a box, cut it out along it’s exterior border, and fold accordingly. Snip the sides just to the second line. These four little tabs you create by doing this will hold the other sides in place, once they’re folding around it. It sounds confusing, but once you cut it out and play with it you will see what I mean. You won’t need to use glue for the base of the box since it will hold itself together fairly well once it’s folded, but you can use a dab of glue if you want, just to be safe.

For the lid, use an Exacto knife to cut out a small viewing window. Ideally you should fill that window with a piece of clear acetate for a finished look. Glue it together using a glue stick.

Mini ornaments by Holly Tierney-Bedord for Flip This Mini House blog. All rights reserved.

Mini ornaments by Holly Tierney-Bedord for Flip This Mini House blog. All rights reserved.


Shiny ornaments box designed and created by Holly Tierney-Bedord. Free to be printed and used for personal use and not for financial gain. Not to be sold or distributed without my written permission. All rights reserved.

Shiny ornaments box designed and created by Holly Tierney-Bedord. Free to be printed and used for personal use and not for financial gain. Not to be sold or distributed without my written permission. All rights reserved.

Making the ornaments is easy and inexpensive, but tedious. You’ll need just beads, wire, wire cutters, a pliers, and some kind of scrolly metal detailing like you see dressing up the top of my ornaments. The wire and metal doodads should be the same color. Just stick the wire into the doodad and bead, and use the pliers to make a little loop at the top and little bend at the bottom, then clip off excess with the wire cutters. Be careful that a piece of wire doesn’t fly in your face or land someplace where you’ll stop on it. That’s about all there is to it. It’s an easy project that just requires a little patience.

Choosing wallpaper for my mini master bedroom

Flipping my mini house

There’s going to be a lot of wallpaper in my mini house. A LOT. Like every room. Since it’s a mini house, I’m going to pile on all the crazy things I wouldn’t want to live with in my real house. (Or in some cases, the things I would want in my real house, but don’t have the energy or money to make happen.)

I’ve been thinking about wallpaper for the master bedroom. Here are several choices:

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Originally, the second picture (green flowered) was what I had in mind. However, now I like the sparkly chevrons and the fireflies (# 9) best. Sparkly chevrons was intended to go the bathroom, in part because it’s got some texture to it and the walls in there a mess from having had tiles glued to them at one time. I love number ten, but at some point my house is going to stop reading mid-century modern if I’m not careful. I think that could be detail that takes it from mid-century with quirky touches to just plain wrong.

I’ll have to think about this.

Which do you prefer?

If I can make these ornaments, you can too

Handmade decor for my mini house

A few days ago I shared my Etsy Mini Wishlist. In it were these adorable boxes of vintage ornaments by Baking in Miniature:

Mini ornaments by Etsy artist Baking in Miniature. Click on photo to be directed to Baking in Miniature's Etsy site.

Mini ornaments by Etsy artist Baking in Miniature. Click on photo to be directed to Baking in Miniature’s Etsy site.

I was beyond inspired by them, so I decided to make my own. Let me just tell you, IT WAS TEDIOUS. But worth it. Here is my finished product (click to enlarge – pardon the quality; they were taken with my phone):

I will be providing step by step instructions, a materials list, and a printable template for the box, all for free, very soon!

Etsy Holiday (Mini) Wishlist

Shopping for minis

Ready for the cutest finds ever? Here are five mini must-have stocking stuffers! Click on photos to be linked to their Etsy page for more information or to purchase.

Absolutely precious handmade beagle by Petite Wonders 28

Absolutely precious handmade beagle by Petite Wonders 28

Mini wooden hangers by Sawdust Minis

Mini wooden hangers by Sawdust Minis

Mini ornaments by Baking in Miniature. How cute would these be in my mid century house?

Mini ornaments by Baking in Miniature. How cute would these be in my mid century house?

Mini rolling pins by Honey and Bee

Mini rolling pins by Honey and Bee

Pancakes by Shay Aaron

Pancakes by Shay Aaron

Tiny table accessories

Furniture and decor I've purchased

In yesterday’s post I was showing off my newest purchases, including a cute coffee table and some mini playing cards.

Cards and a cup o'grog. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Cards and a cup o’grog. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Here are details about the playing cards. They are downloadable and printable, for free online, here at jfitz.com. According to this website (which is not affiliated with Flip This Mini House or myself in any way): “Feel free to use for personal or professional purposes…” (followed by additional information. Visit the page to see more information.)

To make a mini set for myself, I saved the image of the cards and then pasted it into a word doc so I could easily locate the image of all the cards within the margins of the page and print it at the scale I wanted.

Start with some good quality scrap booking paper that has a repeating pattern on the back. The smaller the image, the better. One side of the page needs to be white.

Scrapbooking paper. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Scrapbooking paper. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Now print your cards on the white side and carefully cut them out.

Tiny playing cards. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Tiny playing cards. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Since they’re grouped in a tight bunch, you can cut them into four strips, lay the strips on top of one another, and slice off four cards at a time. Then trim them and round the corners. It actually all goes very quickly.

The result is an adorable set of cards, for the cost of a sheet of paper. Here they are again:

Cards on a cute coffee table. Just $.69 from St. Vinny's for the coffee table and just $.69 for the paper the cards are printed on. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Cards on a cute coffee table. Just $.69 from St. Vinny’s for the coffee table and just $.69 for the paper the cards are printed on. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

The little coasters are adhesive cork dots from the craft store. I stuck them on some cotton fabric and peeled them off several times, to lessen the stickiness of the bottoms. They make perfect coasters or little cork pads to go beneath potted plants.

Tiny cork dots. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Tiny cork dots. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

The dots that remain will go into the mini office eventually, as a bulletin board.

The tiny grog cups shown are going to get cleaned up later today with some silver jewelry cleaner. If it doesn’t eat right through them I’ll post results soon.