The Ballroom

Today’s challenge.

I almost have no idea where to begin with this room it’s so large. Two floors but the upper overlooks the lower with a balcony. I know that I want to hang a chandelier as this room would be perfect and i’ve secretly always wanted one however I cant afford to invest in that just yet and I’m not sure how else to dress this room.

I’ve considered the possibility of wallpapering and painting, or a little of both. Potentially varnishing the staircase to enhance the burnt wood shading effect from the laser cutter. Tiling or carpeting the upper and lower floors, or both. I just cant decided what to do or where to start. Even google is unable to provide inspiration for such a huge dollhouse room.

And so for now, as I do with all my rooms when I’m lacking inspiration and just want to do something I’ve painted it cream…

Inspiration welcome… urgently!

A Room for the Children

This is one room which my previous house was too small for. I decided to make it another of the attic rooms, leaving the larger rooms for areas such as the kitchen and bathroom. I think making a room for children has a lot of potential. Bright colours, creative shapes and exciting objects.

I decided to begin this room from the floor upwards. I had some small scraps of paper (craft paper for card making not wallpaper) which I decided to base the floor around. I didnt have enough of one particular design to cover the whole floor in one particular pattern and so decided to go with a patchwork effect. Initially my idea was to tear different sized pieces for the flooring like a scrap book however this didnt look particularly effective and I felt the need to tidy the pieces up which defeated the initial purpose. I then settled for cutting retangle and square shapes instead.

Each piece was then carefully laid into place and stuck down with a glue. Luckily I had enough of each colour piece and the shapes I created covered the flooring nicely without too many skinny pieces near the edge or crazy overhangs. Once the floor had been completely laid down I coated it in a final layer of PVA to give it a sheen effect similar to that of a vinyl.

I decided to paint all the walls white for fear any patterns or colours would detract from the flooring I had just created. Particularly as the attic rooms are fairly small once furniture has been inserted. Again I only used item to decorate which were left over from my previous house. I globe light is a particular favourite of mine and I’m sure it will get moved from room to room as I go along before I find it a permantent home. The baby’s dress and the blankets were all hand-crocheted which are a lovely finishing touch.

 

I made the hanging mobiles on the cieling from laser-cut star shapes I found in one of my craft drawers. Colouring them in with a permanent marker pen gave then a metallic sheen which I think add nicely to the feel of the room.

Looking through the window.

Decorating the Lounge

I used the free wallpaper samples again for this room on the flooring and one of the walls. I was slightly worried that the flower pattern for the wall would be too big as it was intended for an actual house however I carefully positioned it so the biggest flower would be cut out for the doorway and I think the result is very good. I pained the remaining walls a magnolia colour and installed a ceiling light left over from my previous dollhouse. The fireplace also contains a working red flickering light however is still to be installed. This room was smaller than the lounge in my previous house for a lot of the furniture, particularly the sofa, seem too big and so I will probably get a new one at some stage. Until then I decided to try some other options, such as a dressing room.

 

The Craft Room

(Bit of a poor quality photo)

I decided to start my interior decorating with a Craft Room in the Attic. I used the free wallpaper I got from the DIY stores last weekend for one of the sloping walls and for the flooring. The remaining walls are still to be painted a white/cream colour. I decorated the rest of the room with objects I had left over from my previous house, the sewing machine is my favourite!