This doesn’t happen very often! Here’s a blog that’s so delightful that I’m sharing it on both Holly Recommends and Flip This (Mini) House. Thanks to my friend Janet for seeing this in the first place and recognizing how much full-size and mini-size inspiration I’d find in it.
Click the links beneath the photo to check it out!
Photo credit: Emily Katz and Adam Porterfield’s home as featured on Houzz
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.
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:
Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Now came the moment of truth. Would this amorphous shape fit just right into my mini living room?
Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
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!
A decision has been made. After much hemming and hawing, I’ve chosen this shade of deep teal and given my house its first coat of paint. To get the perfect shade, I mixed it myself using a variety of tubes and bottles of art and craft paint. Here is a little peek at the secret formula:
The magic ingredients. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Final product. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
I tried to make a lot since matching that color is going to be really tricky. Still, I didn’t end up with nearly enough. I’ll mix another batch soon on a bright, sunny day so I can have the best chance of getting a close enough match.
Here is a look at my house now. It’s splotchy and definitely needs another good coat, but you can see how cute it’s going to be. I’m still debating on trim colors. I’m considering leaving the front door alone and just adding a cute doorknob, and maybe some mid century miniature doodad like this backplate.
New exterior color. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
To remind you, here is the ‘before’ version of my house:
Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Here is a view of just the front panel of the house now:
Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
When I’d gotten to the point where I barely had enough paint left to continue, and I was losing my enthusiasm (especially on the side with the carport), I got reinspired by this artwork on HGTV:
Frozen HGTV art inspiration. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
I realized that the wall inside what will be the office needs a little art, so I made this mural using a Sharpie marker and some of my leftover paint:
Mini mural, step one. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Future office. Needs some art. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Mini mural, painted. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Having accent colors inside the house that match the exterior will make the finished project look much more cohesive.
While I still had my paint and paint brush out, I painted the seats of these clearance chairs to match. I’m not even sure if I’m going to use them in the house since they aren’t much of a style match, but they might work someplace.
Mini chairs before. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Mini chairs and mini mural. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
The mural will get cut down to fit on the wall of the office. The chairs will get sanded a little and… who knows.
Coming up soon: Another coat of paint, trim to be painted, shingles to be applied, and chimney to possibly get a facelift. It’s exciting times in Flip This Mini House land!
Here is an in-progress project:
Pom-pom love sign by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
This groovy little pom-pom sign will be a great addition to my mid century house! The tiny pom-poms and backing are available at most crafts stores. It’s easy to sew them onto the backing. You can write or draw your design on ahead of time, or just wing it. Make sure you have enough of each color to complete your shapes or letters. I ran out of light blue on the “e” and had to finish it with white, but I think it turned out pretty cute anyway. This is a quick, simple, inexpensive project. I’m still deciding if I’m going to turn this into a wallhanging or the face of a throw pillow.
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