Beacon Hill Classroom Progress

Happy New Year, everyone! I know I should be posting on resolutions or reflecting back on this year, but the light was coming through so beautifully, I couldn't resist taking these pictures. :)

This is the main classroom in the Beacon Hill Girls' School. In the foreground is a small teaching area (what subject, I don't know yet!)with a standing chalkboard on the right that I'll show in more detail later. In the background, you can see a hint of the traditional American schoolhouse desks sitting on some checkboard patterned paper. That's my way of trying out different flooring ideas.

The top picture also shows my crown moulding shortcut. After wasting many pieces trying to cut the proper angle, I finally decided to cheat and make the corners square cut and put a section of wood block in the corner. A fancy finial will come later. You decide: crafty or cheating?

Again, blog friends, Happy New Year! I hope that 2012 is full of everything that is good and lovely for you and all your loved ones!!

School Necessities

I thought you'd like to see some of the school furniture I've been building. Someone is really struggling with her spelling... :)

Built in Cabinetry and a Mystery Gap

I wrestled with whether to make the final room in the Beacon Hill first floor a kitchen or a library. Then I looked at this Home Economics class picture above from my 1920's textbook and I realized that no education for girls of the time would be complete without a teaching kitchen! I already had the Chrysnbon stove below and it certainly fit. Decision made, I moved ahead.

There is a strange gap between the windows and a support structure in the Beacon Hill that has always bothered me. If I did ceiling trim, where would I put it? Inside? Outside? I could do ceiling beams but that didn't fit the Beacon Hill's architectural story in my mind.

I put in open shelving below the windows, but the gap still drove me crazy.

Well, what kitchen can't use more storage? The solution: Cover it up as built in cabinetry! Here's a preliminary mock up using foam board. Purchased shutters from miniatures.com would function as panels for the cabinet doors.

I built a simple table and covered all of the foam panels with balsa, the shutters and pieces of trim wood. Wondering what the opening cabinet door is for?

It's a drop down ironing board, also authentic to the very modern 1920's kitchen.

Here it is covered with a cute fabric that will have to be changed out because it just doesn't match!

Now the next question is paint or stain? To be continued...

Built In Bookcase for the Beacon Hill School

You spoke and I listened! Thank you all for the input on the bookcase from my last post; you said that a big bookcase overwhelmed the space and blocked the stairs. Oh, my...this non-builder then had to build something a bit more custom to allow for display space and an entry area that worked with the architecture of the Beacon Hill rather than against it! Well, how did I do?

I'm planning on a combination of faux boix effects and paint to match the existing paneling and to cover all of the random wood types that I had to use. (I told you I'm not a builder!)
That fiddly bit of cut arches and flat topped post were meant to match the existing stairs. Lots of finish work to do!
View from the front door:
I can picture students stopping here to set down lunch pails and remove wraps before going to classes.
Thank you all for pushing me to stretch my skills! I'm so much happier with this version :)

The Room Next Door

I've shifted next door from the main classroom and moved to the foyer. For those of us who know and love the Beacon Hill, it has a wonderful turned staircase that I fell in love with as a child. It takes up quite a bit of space but adds a little architectural interest to the room. I added some more wainscoting for more interest too :)I'm using PA dutch style colors which I love but I've got a decision to make and I'd love your advice! If I place this bookcase or one scaled down a bit, it creates more of a cozy room feel, allows me to display books and objects and creates a nook behind it for students to hang jackets and lunchpails.
This picture below is without the bookcase. (Ignore the weird paint job on the doors!) I'm not even sure if I should leave the stairs wood or not? If I had the woodworking skills I would rebuild the stair railings... maybe in the future!
and again, with the bookcase below. I'm leaning towards the bookcase... what do you think?

Extreme Mini Makeover!

Oh, the colors of the 80's! My poor Beacon Hill was subjected to the teal and aqua color scheme that would be just right for an episode of Golden Girls but NOT for a classy lady like the Beacon Hill! In my 12 year old eyes though it was perfect :)

For those of you who like to know the backstory of how the Beacon Hill became mine, here are my former posts: Christmas and Here. It was quite a challenge finding just the right color for the exterior (chronicled here) but the interior was even more desperately in need of some serious makeover work!!

Ah, that's getting better! How did I get there? So glad that you asked!

A few layers of Gesso and a calming shade of "Hearth" by Martha Stewart tinted with a bit of white, and I was ready to begin adding some architectural details. The crown molding and baseboard is from Manchester Woodworks' Ebay store but I took a low tech and low budget way to add the wainscoting details.
The wider wood pieces are just strip wood from the craft store and the rounded edges for adding a sort of bullnose edge and to fill in the annoying gaps in the bay windows are made from...
Bamboo skewers from the grocery store! Fifty for $1... how's that for a deal? :)
And here it is painted, although still looking rather rough. I'm not sure if white is the best of if I should go with the deep shade of green on the baseboards for a more 1920's authentic look?? I'd love your input!

Beacon Hill Identity Crisis

Well, maybe not a crisis yet; but it could be if I stay this indecisive. Can I have a little sympathy? :)

It's fall which seems to restart my minis interest; some kind of nesting instinct, I guess! I've come back around to rehabbing my childhood Beacon Hill and was still wrestling with what to make of it. Another house? Modern family who likes antiques? PA dutch influence? No, that just clashes with the Victorian architecture. I just wasn't feeling anything until I thought of this idea:

I believe it's going to be a girls' school that takes in a boarder or two. I am a teacher and collect antique schoolbooks and recently found a "Elementary Home Economics" course book for girls of 1922 teaching everything proper about Cookery, Sewing, and Care of the Home." It is delightful!

Did you know that there are two kinds of "vitamines" and that fat is one of the 5 foodstuffs? Works for me!! If anyone has lost their recipe for Prune Whip, I've got you covered! :)

Look at this wonderful picture below:

Can't you just picture these girls working and learning in the Beacon Hill?

A Tale of Two Chairs

Sometimes two aren't better than one! I got these two little chairs for a dollar in a bargain bin at a craft store. Cute but dull and the flowers weren't quite my style. While looking at them side by side, I thought that they would make a cute little child bench for the children's nursery in my Beacon Hill. First I worked to the saw to try to cut off the legs that would be touching but that was just too much work! So...
7 seconds in the microwave did the trick! The heat made it easy to pull the chairs apart. If you do this, PLEASE stay close and only do it a couple seconds at a time. Minis aren't worth a fire or burnt fingers! I finished with my saw again, used glue and bits of molding and dowels and finished my shabby little bench.
Here it is, rather rough and unfinished but I love it :) I'll scrape off the extra bits of glue and paint the whole thing again, but this shabby look is perfect for now. I even love that it is a little "bottom heavy." I think it adds to the childish feel, just perfect for the kids' room.

Vintage Graphic Art Meets Furniture

I have this thing for vintage signs and labels; the whole graphic design-meets-antiques is so appealing to me! Years ago in Country Living Magazine I saw an ad for a dresser that was decoupaged with an old vintage poster across the drawer fronts. Since my husband wouldn't quite understand me doing that to our real life furniture, I get to try it in mini! That's what this hobby is for, right? Totally whimsical and just fun to do! The fruit butter cabinet above has the ends of fancy toothpicks for handles.Moo-ving right along (ha, ha)...Bess Milk label is just quirky and fun enough to liven up my neutral kitchen in the Beacon Hill. Each panel opens downward to be a vegetable bin, holding potatoes and onions and the like. I might have to age it a bit to mellow it.
The dry sink probably won't be in this room, but it's fun to see the country and vintage theme coming together. Just keeping it country :)

On A Roll!

Ever have one of those days where you're having fun and where creativity just seems to flow from your fingertips? I had one of those wonderful days recently and just churned out a series of accessories and shelves for my Beacon Hill dollhouse.

In case you're keeping count, I have 3 houses; the Orchid which is a Victorian era shop and living quarters with a little shabby-chic girly flavor, a Westville which is a 1930's era farmhouse and my someday-to-be-glorious Beacon Hill. The BH was my dollhouse as a girl and after years in storage, it is home. I've talked about it in a previous post or two with pictures of the broken bits and dust bunnies that it collected. I've cleaned it up and applied gesso to almost every surface and now..... I have no idea what color to paint it.

As I usually do when it's time to make a decision like that, I avoid the issue altogether and make accessories! :) But oh, what fun it was! The house will be our current era, filled with folk art and antiques.

Here's a rundown on the items pictured:

1. More Michael's hutches put to work as a girly dresser and a bookcase. I added molding to the bookcase. The dresser has eyelet hooks as the hardware, at least for now.
2. The black painted bookcase and shelves are Michael's hutches too. I distressed and papered them for a country primitive look.
3. A plastic rooster I stole from my son's room and turned into "copper" with teal, white, and copper acrylic paint.
4. A yellow cabinet with a fruit crate label decoupaged on the front. The coppery handles are pieces of fancy toothpicks as are the pegs on the little shelves.
5. The girl picture is scrapbook paper (Graphic 45 brand) and the frame is a cardboard frame for scrapbooking the a glued string designs onto and then painted.
6. More bead charms make the little (tipped) chair and telephone for the girl's room. They'll be painted someday.

Probably more info than you needed :)