Slowly Getting There

I've spent a couple of days constructing the parlour room box.  I started with a room box as I didn't want to take on a huge project and not have time to dedicate to it (running around after 18 month twin boys can take the wind out of your sails for anything else!).

It's also a little test to see how many things I'm able to make myself, and how many things, realistically, I'm going to have to buy.  I love shopping, but it is amazing how little things add up, so where I can make something, I will, and use up things from my craft cupboard rather than instantly buy something (New Year's Resolution Alert!).

I made the room box by sneaking off some wood offcuts from the loft conversion we did at the end of last year.  It was all a bit 'dead of night' and secret, as I'm not fully out of the miniatures 'closet', so to speak. You'll have to forgive the wonky angles!  The window is especially appalling, with cracks everywhere, but it's a first go, so there are bound to be mistakes.

I laid floor boards to cover the mess on the MDF, from Sussex Crafts, and they improve the room dramatically!

I treated them with linseed oil and then a coat of antique pine wax to give them a bit of age and dirt.  I think they are still quite 'mahogany' in colour, so next time I think I'll stain them darker, which would be better for the period.  

A few more props, and it is starting to look less like a disaster, and more like a room!  The andirons and fireback also came from Sussex Crafts, and I like them a lot, but I think the fireback is too big.  I'll use it in a different room later.  There's still a lot of finishing to do, at the moment I am debating whether to use skirting or panelling... decisions, decisions!