Here is a sneak peek at my front door!
Sneak peek of my mini house. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
The light above the door is made from a tiny bottle of Curve cologne, two candlestick wax catchers, a small brass ring, and a chain. The planters are West Elm measuring cups. The mid century doorknob and backplate are made from a button and star I cut from aluminum foil. The welcome mat is cut from a place mat.
Here are some more photos from the Chicago Miniature show I attended last weekend. I’m a huge fan of Atomic Miniature artist Michael Yurkovic’s work.
All photos link to the Atomic Miniature Facebook page.
Michael Yurkovic of Atomic Miniature. Photos by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
I’ve always loved dollhouses. Last summer (July, I think) my friend and her husband spotted a mid century dollhouse at a flea market and sent me a text, asking if they should buy it for me. It was just $35, appeared to be pretty solid looking, and had an awesome, unique split level layout.
“Sure!” I said.
A few hours later they were delivering it to me. Here’s how it looked on the day I got it:
Day 1 of my mini house. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Since then I’ve been hard at work creating furniture and accessories from scratch, tweaking store-bought furniture and accessories, and making over everything inside. Here are a few of the accessories and pieces of furniture I created from things like coasters, handles, and yarn that I wove on a potholder loom:
Mini blinds made from a coaster.
Tiny love seat made from two wooden handles, a mid century cloth napkin, and some small wooden balls. The tiny newspaper rests in a metal doodad from Habitat for Humanity Re-Store.
A small rug/blanket woven on a potholder loom. Photos by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
It took me months just to get all the wallpaper and flooring removed!
Here’s a look at some of the rooms in progress:
A look at my mini kitchen and dining area, in progress.
Living room in progress.
And now here’s a look at some of the rooms today:
Trying out furniture and decor in the living room.
This kitchen is coming along! All photos by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
For all the details, and to see the final unveiling which will hopefully happen in the later spring/summer, follow me here on WordPress or on the Flip This Mini House Facebook page.
As I mentioned in my previous post, my mom picked up some adorable white cupboards for my kitchen. Here they are in place, in my semi-completed kitchen:
White cupboards in my mini kitchen. Photos by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
They’re a little taller than the window, which is unfortunate but not a huge deal.
I added the refrigerator into the mix, even though it needs some more coats of paint, but left out the stove since the paint was still really wet. It looks very cute, but not exactly mid century, not exactly modern, and not exactly personality-filled like I want my house to be.
I decided to make some small changes. I purchased some cool little gold buttons:
Tiny gold buttons.
…and some woodgrain decorative tape, and gave the drawers and doors a makeover. Here’s a look at the “during” portion of the makeover:
Giving my cupboards a makeover
The great thing about this makeover is that the tape can easily be removed without taking an paint off, and the original brass knobs can be stuck back in place. However, I decided I liked it and felt it was a better fit with the rest of the decor in the house, so I updated everything. Here’s a look at the “after” version:
Kitchen “after”
As you can see, there are plenty of details still needing to be fixed, from paint on the window that needs to be removed, to trim that still needs to be installed. It will all come together soon though. If this new look seems a little weird to you, just wait. When you see the finished product, it will all make sense!
I want my mid century house to feel homey and authentic, although it will be an updated, 21st century version of how a mid century house would look. This tiny mushroom and butterfly stitching project was created by me, but inspired by other 1960’s and 1970’s patterns I found online. I drew the mushrooms and butterflies on a small piece of cross-stitch backing, filled them in with stitches, added some stitched blades of grass, and finished it off with a wood bead border. The whole project took just a couple of hours, and was mindlessly completed while watching television. If you’re going to watch TV, you might as while create something at the same time.
Groovy mushrooms mini wallhanging. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
Everyday objects around your house can be repurposed in unique ways. I love these West Elm measuring cups I got from a friend, and now I have found a great way to show them off: The bigger measuring cups have joined a stack of small bowls in my (real life, full sized) kitchen, while the two smaller cups have been turned into cute planters for my dollhouse. I paired them with some plastic succulents from the craft store to give them a whole new look. They’ll be cute by the front door, someday in the future when I get to that stage. The best part? This project took approximately 1 second to complete, cost very little, and has no long term effects on the measuring cups, in the event that I change my mind and want to return them to their former measuring cup status.
West Elm measuring cups turned oversized planters. Photo by Holly Tierney-Bedord. All rights reserved.
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