Wallpaper in the farmhouse kitchen and dining area

I got a lot of work done on my Craigslist farmhouse’s kitchen and dining area this weekend. I still need to install some trim, but I did a little decorating, just for fun. Here’s a look:

The light fixture and bowl on the chopping block are Etsy finds, mentioned in this previous post.

I made the little woven table runner on a small loom. Here’s a look:

weaving

The wallpaper, including the flower mural, is scrapbook paper.

This little chopping block is from a thrift store.

All photos by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

In case you missed it, I’ve got a contest going on right now. I’m looking for a new for the dollhouse! Here are all the details.

Progress on the attic

A new house flipping project, Blogs and websites that inspire, Flipping my mini house

With some help from a blow dryer, I was able to loosen up the glue holding the carpet and divider wall in place. Here’s a look at my progress:

A closer look at the living room

Flipping my mini house

A closer look at the 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.

A closer look at the Flip This (Mini) House project

Flipping my mini house

For the past few months, I’ve been holding off on revealing the Flip This (Mini) House project. Today’s the day I’m going to give you a closer look at some of the finished details, starting with the kitchen! Let me know what you think!

Mini kitchen reveal. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Tiny kitchen, flipped. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. Flip This (Mini) House. All rights reserved.

Something's cooking in the kitchen... Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. Flip This (Mini) House. All rights reserved.

Retro-fying my dining room

Tweaking store-bought dollhouse furniture

Not long ago I got this dining room set on eBay:

eBay find

To me, it looks like furniture actually looked in the 70’s. There’s none of the teak, Danish modern 1960’s thing going on with it, which is what I’d ideally like for the dining room.

I decided to give it a makeover to see if I could convince myself to love it. After all, I’ve been looking high and low for the “perfect” set for months, and I don’t think I’m going to find it.

Here is some vintage fabric I just picked up at a St. Vinny’s in Canada (My goal: to visit every St. Vinny’s in the world).

Authentic Canadian fabric. Photos by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

I especially love the bottom pattern. I might have to turn that one into something for my real house.

Here’s the fabric again, beside one of the dining room chairs. I’m determining which pattern works best with the scale. I also set each in the kitchen/dining area to see which colors blended best with the wallpaper and adjacent kitchen tiles.

Choosing fabric for the chair.

The winner is… This one!

What the heck! You mean the original fabric was actually paper???

Before and after.

A whole set of chairs!

And a matching table runner, to top it all off.

Trying it out in my in-progress dining room.

I’ve got to admit… I really like it! The next step is to make a matching cushion for the window seat bench behind it.

Making progress on the roof

Flipping my mini house

Here’s a look at how my shingle installation is going.

Step one: Paint a bunch of shingles, let them dry.

Start your installation at a bottom corner, as shown.

The first shingles going into place. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Some of these are fishscale shingles, more appropriate for a Victorian style house. You can use them with the rounded part buried under other layers, as I’m doing. I actually prefer them to the rectangular kind because the scalloped edge seemed to keep them from curling a little.

When you start your next layer, stagger these shingles. This means you’ll break a shingle in half, and start your row with it, so your seams do not line up, the way real shingles are layered.

If you have a variety of colors going on, like I do, be sure to mix them up.

If a couple of your shingles seem to be glued into place too low, you can carefully trim off a bit to even them up.

Drawing lines on your roof ahead of time as a guide would probably make the job easier.

Here’s where I’m at right now. I’m almost done with the carport. I have a lot of roofing ahead of me. Too bad I don’t have a cooler full of tiny beers.

Trying out paint colors on shingles

Flipping my mini house

Painting dollhouse shingles. Photos by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

I’m trying out paint colors on shingles. I’ve decided to go with a mix of yellows and browns. You may be tempted to shingle your house and paint it later, since this is much faster than painting shingles individually. I think it’s worth the extra time to paint them individually, varying the color a bit from shingle to shingle, so your finished product looks more realistic.

I will show you where to start applying your shingles soon!

More shingles. The fishscale style are fine for my house — I’ll just keep the round part hidden beneath other layers.

It takes a long time, but this is what television is for. So you can watch it, guilt-free, while accomplishing mindless projects like painting 8 zillion mini shingles.

Have I mentioned how excited I am that the Real Housewives of New York are back? I love them all!!!!! Even Ramona has carved a small place in my heart.

You can find me on Twitter and Tumblr now!

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http://flipthisminihouse.tumblr.com/

Floors in the kitchen and dining room

Flipping my mini house

My kitchen floor grouting is complete and my dining room floor has been installed! Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the unglamorous process, with some books, chip clips, and wedged-in tools all doing their part to make sure the floor stays nice and smooth!

Creating a stencil for floors

Flipping my mini house

To make your floors fit, create a pattern or stencil using paper, the way clothing designers create patterns before putting scissors to their fancy fabric. This works for wallpaper too. Here are the steps I took to install my living room floor.

First I cleared out my living room. Next I began constructing my stencil, basing it off the shape of the far wall. See (below) how it fits like a puzzle piece against the wall? This required a fair amount of adding and subtracting to get it right. I’d slice a little bit off here, tape in a little extra there, until I had it just right.

Create a stencil to lay on top of your flooring. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Next I added another portion for the section of flooring that is by the railing. Then I put the stencil on top of my flooring and taped it into place.

Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Next I carefully cut out my floors. I ended up with this:

Now came the moment of truth. Would this amorphous shape fit just right into my mini living room?

Yay! It fits! And since the floor is actually made of individual slats of wood affixed to a paper backing, it’s flexible enough to maneuver into place.

Below, if you look to the left of the stairs going up to the bedrooms, you can see one small piece going the wrong way, where I stuck in an extra piece since the flooring was just a bit smaller than the length of the room. Once I install wallpaper, white baseboard trim, and put furniture in place, this will be practically unnoticeable. Chip clips are handy for holding the flooring in place as adhesive dries.

Use chip clips to force your floor flat. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Finally, I’ll pile some books on top to help ensure it stays flat.

Keeping newly installed floors flat. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Living room wallpaper is going in soon! I can’t wait to show you the results!

flipthis(mini)house

Join me as I turn a flea market find into a mid-century marvel

flipping a dollhouse

Wallpaper in the farmhouse kitchen and dining area

All photos by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.

Progress on the attic

A closer look at the living room

A closer look at the Flip This (Mini) House project

Retro-fying my dining room

Making progress on the roof

Trying out paint colors on shingles

You can find me on Twitter and Tumblr now!

Floors in the kitchen and dining room

Creating a stencil for floors