mini modern dollhouse by m+ddesign

David Lee sent me a sneak peek of the final designs of his mid century modern dollhouse co-developed with Matias Ocana. The mini modern dollhouse is for 3.5" dolls and is close to 1:18 scale. It is made out of eco-friendly woods, durable fastening methods for structural strength, and they softened the edges to make it child safe. It features an integrated carrying handle so it can be transportable and the open-roof design allows play in the open or closed position.

They do not have immediate plans to produce furniture, only the mini modern dollhouse. They are currently ramping up production for the house to be available in October 2010. For more information please contact David through his website www.davidleedesign.org.

(all images from David Lee Design)

Paris is in the house

So, I got a big box from Paris on Monday, but my camera battery died and the charger got mixed up in the kids toys. Ugh. Anyway, the box was filled for flooring samples, windows, balcony tiles, and the custom M.U.T.T. bed Paris made to match the PRD Miniatures M.U.T.T. mirror and bench my husband got me. I love it!! The built in night stands are so cool and look great with the legs of the bench. I love the bedding. Above are a few room layouts I was playing with.


Originally, I was thinking this guest room would be on the third floor, but Paris has been thinking a lot about the floor plan and has some great ideas I hadn't considered. We're swapping the guest room and master but I'll post more on that later. The big decision now is to choose the carpet. The plan is to carpet the guest room, the hallway and the third floor entertainment room. I really like all of the options, but would love your thoughts. Which do you like best?



Here is another shot of the bed (I'm still drooling over it) with all three carpets.

Next post, wood and tile flooring options and floor plans. More to come...

MiniModernistas on ebay

Ooo, MiniModernistas has some really cute pillows on ebay, these are just a few of the sets she has up. 2 days left on the auction, opening bids are $8.99. Hmm, now which to get? I want them all.

(images from MiniModerinstas ebay)

Mini Adventures

Today was such a treat. It was so nice meeting mini2b and Susan in person, and seeing My Reallity again. (Colette and Daphne joined us for tea as well).

Mini2b surprised me with the White Ribb Chaise from PRD Miniatures, it is going to look fabulous next to the new pool. Thank you, mini2b!! Susan brought all of us little goodies from the north. Thanks Susan! I threw the two portraits, mini ship, magnifying glass (that makes a great frame) and Canadian flags :) from Susan into the Antrim with the couch and chair that My Reallity had given me when we first met. The coffee table is a frame I bought on our trip to the SF MOMA Museum Store. I plan to add legs to make it more to scale. I hadn't realized how difficult it is to photograph clear polished acrylic. TV and side table are from SF MOMA Modern Playhouse, rug is A.G. Minis.

We all picked up some fun minis at the museum store. My Reallity spied this great book "Case Study Houses" by Elizabeth A.T. Smith that I had to pick up. She remembered that I have aspirations to build Case Study House #22. Here is just a photo of the book, but I'll post more on this project another time. Also coming soon... Mini2b loaned me a stack of magazines with some really interesting articles and pictures of modern miniatures that I'll scan and blog later.


For those that couldn't make it, we plan to have more mini adventures in the future. Well, actually next weekend. Tom Bishop San Francisco Bay Area Show is July 30-31. My Reallity and I are going Friday night. Drop me a line if you want to meet up. Until the next mini adventure... :D

Who won the contemporary dollhouse plans?

Argh!!! I forgot to bid. Who won the "CONTEMPORARY" DOLL HOUSE PLANS on ebay?

The plans were designed in the 70's by Doll Domiciles out of Atlanta, Georgia. Its a 1:12 scale two story dollhouse with car port. Looks like it could be a fun project to build. If you won it PLEASE post photos somewhere when you build it.

(image from ebay seller 1950carla0)

Mini Meet Up? SFMOMA?

Anyone interested in meeting up to go check out the Calder to Warhol Fisher Collection exhibit at SFMOMA? Please add a comment if you can come. Let's meet for tea/lunch and then walk over. Join us for tea or just SFMOMA.

Now meeting on SUNDAY: Modern MC any chance you're free? Anyone else in the Bay Area?
Confirmed: My Reallity (aka LeftCoastMini), shale, Mini Pig, mini2b, and me!

SUNDAY, July 25th Noon (add a comment if a different time works better)
Samovar Yerba Buena Gardens
730 Howard Street
(above the waterfall in Yerba Buena Gardens, same block as the movie theatres)
samovarlife.com/tea-lounge/
get parking and public transportation directions here

Then walk across the street around 1:30? Sound like a plan?

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is located at:
151 Third Street (between Mission + Howard)
San Francisco CA 94103
www.sfmoma.org

"This past February, SFMOMA announced an unprecedented partnership to house and display the collection of Gap founders Doris and Donald Fisher — more than 1,100 works by iconic 20th century artists — in a new museum expansion. Calder to Warhol provides a glimpse into SFMOMA's future. This sweeping exhibition showcases the quality of the Fisher Collection, much of which has never been seen by the public. The Fishers collected the artists they loved in depth, purchasing extensive groupings of seminal works. The entire top two floors of the museum, including the Rooftop Garden, feature more than 160 paintings, sculptures, photographs, and video works by Alexander Calder, Chuck Close, Anselm Kiefer, Roy Lichtenstein, Agnes Martin, Gerhard Richter, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, and many more." The exhibit runs from June 25 - September 19, 2010.

Ultimate Paris Wish List

In coming up with a wish list for Paris, I put random furniture in the house to get a better sense of the function of each room, but a far cry from the designs I envision. The more I think about all of the things I'd like Paris to help me with on the Atrim dollhouse, the longer the list grows. My dear husband surprised me with increasing the budget for this project, so instead of my original plan to just do the flooring, I'll be able to pimp out this pad more than expected. So here it is, the "Ultimate Paris Wish List". It may not all happen right away, but it's going to happen as budget and time allow.

Flooring Throughout
Ground Floor: Dark wide plank hardwood floors throughout,
2nd Floor Bathroom: tile,
2nd Floor Office with stairs: carpet,
2nd Floor Master bedroom with bathroom: natural birch,
3rd Floor Lounge: carpet,
3rd Floor Bedroom: carpet,

Spiral Staircase 2 flights

Windows
Living room window: 2^1/2 x 14^1/8,
Bathroom window: 2 x 3^1/2

Doors
4 small doors: 3 ^1/16 x 7 ^1/16 (3 interior, 1 from lounge to patio),
2 large doors: 3 ^1/16 x 7 ^9/16 (front door and master bedroom to patio door)

I hadn't thought much about the exterior, but Paris had this great idea for the windows. He also suggested adding some paneling to give the house more architectural details instead of just being a plain white box.
Paris found this incredible idea for the staircase. I LOVE it! Mine will probably be white with walnut treads to match the furniture on the ground floor. Paris has actually been looking to make spiral staircases, as he's had requests for them for his pods, and there just aren't any modern spiral staircases on the market.

I love the doors Paris made for the FR8 House, I totally want those.

 

Dining room
fireplace,
6-8 top dining table,
chairs,
buffet

Kitchen
Kitchen wall unit,
Island with room for barstools

We went with the kitchen and dining room combo with the fireplace instead of the front door, mainly because you're just not going to find a modern house in real life where the front door opens to the kitchen. Plus bad feng shui. I want a big dining table to make this the perfect house for entertaining. I love these dark wood floors and the two-tone table and buffet I found online here. I LOVE this kitchen, and not just because it's green, but combined with the white and dark it just has that wow factor. I can't wait to see what Paris comes up. We're looking to do walnut and white to match all of the furniture.

Paris had a great idea to extend the fireplace, creating a bigger focal point at the end of the dining table. Here is a sample he sent of a cool option. Paris also sent this shelving unit from Ligne Roset that would look cool on the partition wall.

Living room
Entertainment unit,
PRD sectional couch,
PRD metallic tribal cubes,
shelving unit

I'm still trying to decide what to do with this space, so I'm not certain what I want yet. The blue circle is wear the spiral staircase will go. Paris sent this cool idea for an entertainment unit. I'm going to keep playing around with the layout to see what feels right.




Master Bedroom & Bath
Platform bed,
Exposed cabinets/open closet,
Semi open room divider/sink/counter top,
Single vanity with tub/shower and toilet

For the master bedroom, I found this incredible open bathroom design, that I simply must have. Paris suggested putting and a flat screen TV on the opposite side of the suspended mirror. Genius! He thinks of all the great details. Poorly constructed cardboard mock up was just for me to see if there was enough space.


Office
TBD

Lounge
Bar,
Entertainment Unit,
seating TBD

I'm also still trying to figure out what to do with these rooms. The hallway office, will probably have a shelving unit for a library and computer desk and chair. The third floor lounge / man cave / bar is also still undefined for now. Suggestions?

Bedroom
Bed with M.U.T.T. headboard and night stands,
maybe a tan leather chaise,
Walk in closet or wardrobe unit,
maybe a pine vanity and matching wood cube (depends on space plan)

I currently have the M.U.T.T. floor mirror and M.U.T.T. bench with angle leg, so I asked Paris for a bed to match and he suggested making a bed with a M.U.T.T. headboard so there would be three matching elements in the room. M.U.T.T. stands for Made Using Tossed Trimmings.

Bathroom
cool vanity,
separate tub,
stand up shower,
toilet,
recessed lighting

Apparently, I really like black and white bathrooms. I haven't talked to Paris about this room yet, so there are a lot of ideas here and I'll need his help to reign them in and use what works best. The biggest thing I like, is the large picture with the recessed lighting coming from the dropped ceiling. Pretty cool, right? I also love the bathtub in this pic, especially if I left the back wall white and the side walls dark.

In the photo with a bit of red and the pool, I really love the long black rectangular tiles on the walls. Next to that, I like how the stand up shower and tub are on the far wall separated by the bench/storage unit perpendicular to the vanity.



I pretty much want the roof top to look like the pool area from the FR8 House.
Roof top
M112 Pod Pool
M112 Pod deck
2 Ribb Chaise in white
a couple of the tall white and shorter ribbed ceramic pots with plants