Flower shop stairs

... around the corner and going up.

While working on the stairs for the flower shop, I did ask myself why I didn't just plan for a straight flight of stairs...  or even better a fake door with an imaginary stairwell behind it ???

The answer is; I had a picture in my head.. a hint steps at the back of the room. 

I wanted steps or stairs to help create a bit of structural interest to the otherwise very square box that will be the shop. This would also allow for a small partition to form a bit of a work and storage space for the florist under and behind the stairs at the back of the shop.

I had only build one set of stairs before, those for the furniture store next door. These stairs are similar, only this time there will be no landing instead the steps 'turn' around the corner.  

 

As with the previous stairs, I started by creating a 'model' on the computer - pretty much like stacking boxes to replicate the steps and risers, making sure the finished height matches the height of the wall. 

To work out the three steps that turn the corner, I simply divided the 'landing' from the previous stairs into three wedges and crossed my fingers it would work out.

Once the dimensions were worked out, I printed them off and then stuck the paper onto card stock and cut them out (a little like you would put a paper pattern onto fabric when sewing). This saves trying to measure and cut everything square - which I am absolutely not very good at. 

Once the side pieces were cut out, I cut the pieces for the risers and it all went together surprisingly smoothly. 

Since these stairs will be fully enclosed by walls, there is no need for a handrail, nor did I need to worry about keeping the sides clean and tidy. I undercoated the risers with black gesso - I like using black, it gives a different 'worn' depth to the top colour.

I then cut the steps from 3mm balsa, sanded the front edges to round them off, then painted them with an oak stain before sanding each step again to give the worn patches in the middle.

After testing the stairs for size and fit in the room, I began building the partition walls around them and suddenly realised I would have to decide on a paint colour for the walls in the stairwell even though it will never be seen once the stairs are in place. 

As you can see the top riser goes above the wall to allow for the first floor.

Once the stair and partition structure is in place, the storage space under the stairs is really tight as you can see below so I haven't glued  in place yet. I will wait and do that after I have had fun decorating the back.

I started by cladding the back of the partition wall under the stairs with narrow strips of wood and painted this wall a warm clotted cream before adding the beige trim and skirting.

I then added a short wall piece, cladded and painted the same way to act as the back of the shelving. Once the shelves were in place, it left just enough room for a little row of hooks to hold a few items out of view from the shop floor. The little brush and dust pan are by 

María José

 miniatures and are just so beautifully made. 

This is were I left off a few months ago... 

...and I think it will be nice - and fun - to get back into this project by decorating this tiny space. After all, it is only small and there is no way I will be able to get to it easily once it is in place. 

We have a vineyard, are heading into harvest but at the same time are suddenly having to get property packed up and ready for sale, so as you can imagine I have a lot going on and will have very limited mini time (and energy) in the next few months. Playing with this little space might just turn out to be a nice and manageable distraction from what is going on around me. 

Take care of yourselves and your loved ones.

Anna X

Starting the second room ~ The Flower shop

It has been a while! I hope you have all arrived safe and well in 2022.

I had to put my minis aside for a while because of some family stuff going on. I am finding it a little difficult to pick up where I left off. Almost forgotten where I was up to so I thought writing down what I did before it all came to a grinding halt would be a start...

I had build the carcasses for the two ground floor rooms of this house HERE back in October so after finishing the smaller of the two for 'Kaj Larsen's Furniture' as much as I could HERE , I started turning the other into a florist shop.

~ ~ ~ Ea's Blomster ~ ~ ~ 

[Ea's Flowers]

The box needed a rear door and stairs in the left hand back corner, so I decided to get those ready before finishing the walls and floor. 

I had bought a door, I wanted to use but when I took it out of the packaging, I was disappointed to realize that there was no 'glass' in the transom windows above the door. I knew I needed to adapt the door a bit to fit but these things are still irritating, don't you think?

The door needed to swing the other way, the frame was not deep enough for the build-up wall and anything with glass is so much easier to paint without the glass in place -So I started by pretty much pulling the door and door frame apart. 30sec in microwave on high to soften glue - Thanks for that handy tip Brea (Otterine's Miniatures).

The door will sit flush with the external wall, so to allow for the extra thickness in the wall, I had to cut away the architrave that was glued to one side of the frame.

I added perspex to the transom and cut tiny pieces of wood to match those already in the window frame to hold it in place. I also cut strips for wood to add a door stop all the way around the inside of the frame - to stop the draft!

While it was all in pieces, I sanded and stained the threshold with oak stain. The door and frame was painted first with an 'undercoat' of dark brown the two coats of a fawn before being sanded and 'dirtied' in strategic places.

The finished door seemed a little bare, so I decided it needed a simple curtain. Lace was too fancy since this a back door allowing the florist to get to the rear yard behind the shop, so I made this simper curtain from a scrap of very fine cotton with lines of drawn threads.

I am forever surprised how much time you can spend adapting bought pieces - but equally satisfied that the playing around can transform a plain pine door into something that looks kind of real.

Next up, the stairs...

I will put that in the next post so this one won't go on forever LOL.

Have a lovely Monday.

Anna X

Finishing the first room box

'Be careful what you wish for' - would also be a suitable title for this post.

The whole idea of adding a Furniture & Bric-a-Brac shop to this house was to have somewhere to put furniture and other bits and pieces until they find a more permanent home.

I was determined not to put anything in the box until I had at least finished it, but as you can see, that plan did last long LOL. 

It was oh so easy to just 'try' a few minis in the room and before I knew it...

I had fun one night making an assortment of painting and just popped them in here to dry. The window leaning on the right hand wall will one day sit in the stairwell of the Florist's house next door. 

The rocker (a plastic Chrysnbon kit) is also destined for the Florist's apartment - I gave up counting the number of layers of paint I gave this one before getting a colour I liked. 

Resting on the rocker is the light that will be fitted in this room - when I get around to it. 

I really wanted to finish this box, so... 

Step one: Empty it.

I hadn't planned to have a shelf when I started this room but liked the idea of being able to pile a high shelf full of boxes and odd bits and pieces. 

I made the shelf from strips of basswood and stained it to look like oak. The brackets are just card painted with black gesso. Now it is nice and sturdy and ready to be piled full 😊

Then I moved on to finishing the outside of the box.

I had painted the walls with crisp white milk paint - In real life the walls would have been lime washed and would be shining white right after painting, but... 

...it was just too blinding white!

After looking at it for a couple of weeks, I gave them a thin coat of a warm white called London Fog (that kind of says it all, doesn't it?) It still needs to be distressed but I am so much happier with the colour. 

To make the studwork, I cut strips of 1mm (1/32") balsawood. Even with balsa that thin, I had to shave a bit of the edges to shape each piece so it didn't protrude from the render. 

NOTE to self: make the layer of render (filler) thicker on the next boxes. 

Before gluing the strips in place, I stained them with the same stain as the self inside to look like weathered oak. I had found this 'stain' recipe online (and have happily forgotten where). It is so easy to make and is non toxic. 

All you do is put steel wool and some black tea leaves (I just emptied a couple of teabags) into a jar and cover it with white vinegar. Then leave it for a little while (I had mine sitting around for a few months, only cause I didn't need it at the time) - and That's IT! 

Like other stain it is awfully messy to use so wear gloves, but I absolutely love the subtle colour of it. 

...and with that: 

The ground floor of the K. Larsen Furniture is as finished as it can be for now.

Have a lovely weekend everyone, and thanks for stopping by.

Anna X