Antrim Exterior Finished

We finished assembling The Antrim Dollhouse Kit a few weeks ago, but I have been searching high and low to find the spray paint I want in satin finish (everyone has it in flat and semi-gloss only). I gave up and finished it in flat. Then I finally got a call back from a company that could special order it, but it would have been another week. Argh. Rust-Oleum’s Painter Touch Ultra Cover 2x is by far the best spray paint I've used. It has a wide spray tip that is way more comfortable than that regular button that makes your finger cramp up on other cans. Plus it really does provide double coverage, so less painting.

I think the finish is nicer than if I had used regular paint and had to deal with brush strokes, I went through about 10 cans of spray paint! One tip if you are spray painting large flat surfaces: paint the piece in a vertical position versus having it flat on the ground. When I painted the sides, they looked great; when I painted the front that was in a horizontal position on the floor, lots of dust/lint/dirt got caught and stuck on/fell the surface. I never knew how dirty my garage was until it kept getting stuck on my dollhouse. Oh well, I'll sand it off later.
Here are a few shots of the interior. I still have to figure out doors, windows and railings for the balconies. Finishing the interior will probably be more fun. This house is HUGE. 40" W x 34" H x 15.5" D. I was planning on adding hardwood floors throughout but haven't found the wide plank version I'm looking for. I would love any advice on flooring, I am open to suggestions.

Photos Down Under

My photos made it to Australia before I did. Mary from Red Nest stumbled across my blog and asked to use my photos of the SFMOMA Modern Playhouse on her website selling the house. If only getting to Australia in real life was that easy.

(image of rednest.com.au website, with my blog circled)

Skea modern paper houses

My Realitty found this and I just had to post more pictures. It’s a paper model of a house, intended to be burned as a gift to the dead in Chinese funeral rites. I hope I don't have to die to have something this cool. The paper house effigies, featured in a CNNGo.com article, are made by Skea.com, a Taiwanese company.

I really love these designs and will more than likely borrow some of these ideas in a couple of houses I plan to build. The first house is the "smart living apartment No.2" click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the page to see additional pictures. Click through all of the smart living houses to see different interiors and bathrooms.

 

Above is the "Angux & J.Yean Design Luxurious Mansion".

 

Next is the "single story house". Don't you just love that bathroom? Bubble bath and all.

 

Above is the "Luxurious mansion".

 

They even have a green house "Thermal Green Hill House".

 

Taking it to the coast is their "Cape No. 7 Beach House".

 

I love the roof top pool on "Breeze Garden Luxurious Mansion".

 

I like the staircase in the "Glory House".

 

I take it back, I like these open stairs better in the "Thermal House Breeze".

 

I wouldn't call this Victorian, but I see the idea from the wallpaper and flourishes in "Victorian Thermal House".

 

There are a few more on the site. The larger house is the "European style house sunshine" and the smaller one "Dubai Maritime 21".

 

I like the karaoke bar as well, I might try to do something similar with the tile like wallpaper "KTV BAR".

 

(story from CNNGo.com article, images from the Taiwanese company Skea.com)

Mid-Century Modern Furniture

Along the lines of Paul McCobb and modern furniture designs... The School of Architecture at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign had a Modern Furniture Exhibit in 2007. The website has these great historic photos as well as bios and pictures of most mid-century modern furniture designers. I have a few of these chairs in miniature, but I would love to make several others. I think the site is worth a gander if not just to find out more about the incredible designers that set the standards for modern.

(all images form School of Architecture at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign website)

Cassie Marie's Dollhouse Rehab

Merci beaucoup to Anne for the tip on the work of Cassie Marie Edwards. Cassie is in the middle of refurbishing an old dollhouse and making her own modern furniture.

You may recognize her designs inspired by the work of American furniture designer Paul McCobb (1917-1969). I love McCobb's work. He was a decorator and retail display designer with no formal design training. McCobb eventually turned to mid-century modern furniture and in the 50's his "Planner Group" collection became the best selling line of modern furniture in the US.

Great work Cassie! We look forward to seeing the finished house.

(image from Cassie's website and flickr page, but she also has a blog)