Looking worse...

image from Clipart Library

...before it ~ hopefully 😳 ~ starts to look better!

Apart from the inevitable unrealistic stair situation, I suppose there was nothing particularly wrong with the house but mock-Tudor just isn't a style I'm fond of ~ nor are Ephemy and Susannah, and it is their house, after all 😉 

The rooms on the left, because they are all different depths, have separate opening front panels.  Over time, all the panels have "dropped" a little.  9mm MDF, which is what the house is made from, is quite heavy so I think that the hinges just weren't quite man enough for the task.

Ephemy and Susannah really didn't like the Tudor "stepped" design...

but the question was should the rooms all be trimmed back to the same depth as that on the ground floor, or built out to line up with the top floor 😕

It was extremely difficult to take photos of the ceiling area of the top room on the left-hand side!  However, I did manage it in the end 😏  

I'm not sure what the original plan had been but as a piece of wood had been attached to both the front and back walls (see also top photo), I assume that it had been planned to add a false ceiling.

As you have probably guessed, we had other ideas...

not least, a completely different roof-line!  Luckily the section on the right hadn't actually been fixed in position and just lifted off.

However, I had to cut away the section on the left...

and whilst I was doing that, it was decided that the rooms on the left would all be cut back to the same depth as the one on the ground floor.

Before I started work, I had noticed that the right-hand back wall had pulled apart from the left somewhat.

Luckily my demolition exploits haven't made this any worse, but realigning the wall into its proper position will have to be the first task carried out before any other alterations can be done.

It was decided to stop work at this point so that Sir Peter and I could have a series of discussions with Ephemy and Susannah about what they want done with their new home.  I'm pleased to report that the planning stage is very nearly complete now, so hopefully work can commence shortly!

Fernleigh House

image from Freepik

As per usual, all gung-ho I had made a start on the demolition/alterations to Fernleigh House, when it somewhat belatedly dawned on me that perhaps it might be prudent to make some plans on what actually needs to be done 😏  So work was temporarily halted whilst consultations took place with Ephemy and Susannah as to what they would ideally like their new home to look like, both externally and internally. 

Quite major alterations have already been made to the front of the house, which I will show you in an upcoming post.  Suffice to say not a vestige of the "mock Tudor"-look in the photo above now exists 😉 Discussions are still ongoing with regards to the roofline, and whether it should be completely altered or just made so that the third floor is more accessible for decorating.  It's not as easy to work up there as it might appear!

 As for the internal layout of the house, that's proving to be a little bit of a headache to be honest.  As I mentioned previously the stair openings are very unsatisfactory, as is so often the case 😒  However I think I can make it somewhat better by moving the internal door openings from the back of the house to the front, thereby giving a little more space for the stairs and landings.  The rooms on the left are good sizes, though, even after the alterations that have already taken place.  Likewise, those on the right are okay in theory.  However, on the ground floor the plan is to have the living room on the left and a kitchen/diner on the right.  This, of course, means that it is going to be a rather tight squeeze fitting the latter into the room currently ear-marked for it!

An extension is therefore being seriously considered on the right-hand side, perhaps using one of the many small kits that I've accumulated over the years and never got round to actually building 😏 One kit in particular might be a very good candidate for making into something else.  The question is whether to add said kit to the side of the house or perhaps see if it's at all feasible to add it to the front.  The house itself is made from the usual 9mm MDF but the kit I have in mind is 6mm, hence wondering whether it would be lightweight enough to possibly attach it to the front opening panel 🤔 Regardless of whether it goes on the side or the front, the footprint of the house will obviously have to increase in one direction or the other.  This kit is also double-storey, so it has the potential to create an additional room on the floor above.  This would give a little more scope for what to do with the rooms on the first floor.

Originally it was planned to simply have a guest bedroom and bathroom on the first floor.  However, if an extension is added to the smaller room, then those two rooms could become the guest bedroom and en-suite.  This would then enable the larger room to be used as a second sitting room/study/library combination.

The plans for the top floor are straightforward with the room on the right to be the master bedroom, and a bathroom on the left ~ there will of course be an internal wall put in place for the latter in due course 😉

So that's where things currently stand, with plenty of decisions yet to be made and plans to be drawn up!  Hopefully it won't take too long to sort everything out 😳

The new project...

...and another decision to be made.  As I told you last week, I had already decided to completely scrap Augusta Lodge but I still had a decision to make about Angel House Galleria.

Whilst I really liked the back story I had concocted about Captain Jack, I just wasn't at all keen on the Tudor style of this house.  Another issue, as is so often the case with dolls' house kits, was that the staircase situation was also not satisfactory.  I know some folk leave the stairs out of their little houses altogether but I don't like that idea at all 😏 Whether I went ahead with my original plan to turn the building in a group of little shop spaces or made it into a family home, there would have to be at least some alterations both inside as well as externally. 

 I must admit that by this point I had rather gone off the idea of the shop spaces to be perfectly honest, and didn't want to find myself getting totally frustrated with the project like I did with Augusta Lodge.  So, as I didn't want to scrap this house, I made the decision that it would remain a home 😌 There will be a lot of alterations made over the coming weeks, and it will definitely not be in a Tudor style 😉

I do still intend to have some shops in due course making use of my smaller kits, perhaps stacking them together so that they take up less square floorspace.

And here are the ladies who have taken on this enormous project: Ephemy Lamb and Susannah Lytton, along with their dogs Patrick and Bobby 😊  They recently told me that they aren't sure whether they are being brave or foolish 😄 

Still, I'm sure that they will have plenty of advice from their architect, Sir Peter Buchanan (seen in the photograph above with his mother, Lady Constance and uncle, Christopher Long)...

along with the best building contractors in town, Derek Landry and Albert Holland.  Methinks Graham (Derek's son, who they employ as a painter and decorator) is wondering how long it's going to take him to get all the decorating done 😉 Never fear Graham, there's a helluva lot of work to be done before you'll have to get involved ~ unless, of course, your Dad and Albert rope you in to help with some of the building stuff 😄

Ephemy and Susannah, both 39 years old, have lived together for 15 years although they have known each other a lot longer.  They first met through mutual (older) friends who were celebrating their silver wedding anniversary.  A few weeks later, those same friends invited them both to join them and a few other friends for a long weekend away.  They spent a lot of time together over those few days, and continued to see each other afterwards as they had many interests in common.  Gradually their friendship blossomed into love and they decided to move into a little flat together.

Ephemy is a senior lecturer in culinary arts management at Hazelton University, and Susannah is the practice manager of a very large veterinary practice in Hazelton.  They adopted their two little dogs a couple of years ago, which is one of the reasons they are now looking to live in a larger property.  Susannah is lucky enough to be able to take them both with her when she goes to work, though, so they are rarely left "home alone". 

Patrick is, obviously, a West Highland Terrier.  Bobby, on the other hand, is very much a mongrel ~ no one has been able to decide with any certainty what breeds may be in his ancestry, and suggesting ever-more outlandish combinations has become a running joke amongst Susannah's veterinary colleagues!  They are still young dogs, both being about three years old now, and were picked up together, as strays, on the same day.  The rescue centre suspected they had lived together before being abandoned as they didn't like being apart from each other, so it was decided the two should be rehomed together.

So there we are my lovelies, my new project!  No doubt there will be a lot of trials and tribulations ahead, but I am still looking forward to getting started 😊 

Well, hello there!

image from Freepik

omg ~ nearly a whole year since I last posted here 😮  As you can see I am still alive and kicking, but if you read my other blog you'll no doubt be aware that I've been having some health and mobility issues these last few months.  In my last post on this blog, back in November 2024, I told you about the reorganising I was doing out in my craft room.  That task has been going on, somewhat sporadically, over the last year but rather than detailing everything again, here are a couple of links to the posts on My Cosy Orkney Home if you want to read about it 😊 

https://mycosyorkneyhome.blogspot.com/search/label/chat

https://mycosyorkneyhome.blogspot.com/search/label/the%20craft%20room

Getting back to this blog, you may remember the difficulties I was experiencing with Augusta Lodge.  Well those trials and tribulations have finally disappeared.....because I made a Very Big Decision (VBD) to stop torturing myself and just dump the whole bloody house 😲  This was, for me, an enormous decision and I dithered over it for a very long time.  But omg, the relief I felt when I finally did decide that was the sensible route to take was enormous!  In fact I have made a number of other VBDs over the last year regarding my dolls' houses, which will become apparent over the coming months.

I have started on a new project, which has temporarily been put on hold whilst I finish off sorting out my craft room, but watch out for upcoming posts 😊