Renovation in real life..

No minis at this stage!

I live in this room (tiny house living!) with a sliding door into the yard (if it only were warmer outside..)

have converted the laundry room into a kitchen

and have a bathroom behind the zipper door on the right!

The builders removed 8 tons of rubble and we are now down to the concrete.

opening up the entire 160m2!

this double room will be my new workshop - yeah!

and on Monday the floor goes out...

Good thing though because I can replace the 50years' old water pipes as well!

What fun!

Regards from the building site 😀
Marion

Industrial miniature bathroom

Let me first share with you the completion of the bathroom in this loft.

Industrial is industrial - and that is why the corrugated iron looks perfect in here

This spotlight was a bit of a find in a railway model bulding store. More below...

Spotlight: it even moves...

The 12v bulb was not strong enough though - so, I replaced it with this one

Supplier

Mini Group in Switzerland

And then, I met a great mini group here in Switzerland at the Fair in Rheda in spring. They meet regularly, mainly in the Basel region. But this time, we met at my place and had a fun evening making toothbrushes.

We tried out many materials, mainly cocktail sticks. And I told them the story of Pepper losing her clear toothbrush handle on the floor ... spending hours to find it again!

Guess what????? Carmen dropped hers as well - but even on my parquet floor we never found the (one and only) she made 😉😉 !!! She went home empty handed... 😒😒

But now my mini activity will come to a stand-still for a while!

I have decided to re-do my entire ground-floor apartment in real life: kitchen, walls, bathroom, floor - the works.

Funny, how one can plan and re-design for others - but my own home....
So, I hired an architect friend with a really creative mind and he came up with a plan that totally convinces me. And since I am the only person living here I can decide about everything :-)

It will change from this....

to this...

... with double the size studio than I have now! So, I can build and store many more houses!!

of course, I had to make a model ;-)

This means putting everything in storage once I start building - just as if moved house. Perfect occasion to clear up and throw out. 

I will 'camp' in the guest bedroom and bathroom (these rooms only get a new floor) during construction to be here to supervise work. And for the weekends I count on my friends...

Since I already renovated a number of flats and houses in real life, I will do the project management. Right now I am busy doing the specs for the builders and getting the quotes. 

It is all sooooo exciting! But it means as well loads of decision making.... 

I will keep you updated though and share this adventure to some extent with you all ;-)

Take care

Marion

Metal stairs in industrial loft

If I thought that the steps were a challenge I was a little blue-eyed...
The handrails were just as difficult!

I worked with polystyrol profiles again because it is easier to glue the same two materials together. For a minute, I thought about using wood but quickly dropped that idea.
I wanted to have them all glued and completed before I spray-painted - so that I could fix them to the landing and it was all done. The plan was a good one... but then once in it still needed adjustments and tiny spacers.
Well, it is done now and I am mighty proud of it!!

I have even put some screws into the steel construction to make it look as real as possible.

And the spotlights for the lower floor are well hidden in the real balsa flooring. The back of the room box looks a little adventurous... hihi

The rear wall warped a little - so, I got some picture rails (the metal ones that are fastened to the top of the walls) and glued them with epoxy to the back. It did the trick...

And the entrance door is in as well. Do you think I should put an EXIT sign on it?

I spent last weekend in Paris with a friend and we scouted mini shops as well. The best one was La Boîte au Joujoux where I found the bike for this scene. They have the 'regular' dollhouse stuff but the odd 'fine scale' goods as well.

wonderful detail work - and all this for € 14 !!!!

I have completed the roof already - well, the inside of it. This is an old building but when renovating something like this it definitely needs an insulated roof and all... not just bare corrugated iron!

cutting the stryol curvy to fit the roof shape

spray-painted and drilled 0.8mm holes for the jewelry wire

Structure held together with jewelry wire

But before putting the roof on, I have to complete the inside because I need easy access. So, I guess next will be a stainless-steel kitchen to fit the style...

And BTW: the video of Farmhouse Room Box is now online - complete with Swiss sound :-)

Enjoy summer!
Marion

Industrial Loft part 1 - brick walls and stairs

So, I now got really started with it. Having limited space for additional full houses (or in this case a locomotive shed..) I decided to make a room- or wall-box.

The support under the landing is only temporary...

For the brick walls I used the products from Bromley. Real bricks would have been fun - but the model would have become too heavy for wall-mounting. As a base I used Kappa Foamboard. The trick was to work on both sides simultanously so avoid warping. And using lots of weights to keepy them wall flat.

For about a week my kitchen looked more like a workshed ... I lived on carrots and cold meat.. and cherries, of course 😉

The experience from the stone walls of the Provence house taught me....
1. 'Making' bricks with the stencil on the foamboard
2. coloring the brick with a tiny sponge and water color in various shades
3. a coat of matte varnish
4. another coat of matte varnish
5. smearing the mortar - and wiping most of it off again!

The stairs were another issue! There just seems to be no easy way out...
- First I tried this method because it looked convincing and easy - but it used up too much of the floor space.

- Then I made a styrene model - but decided that the upper floor was too large. Missed the loft look with the very high room!

- Finally, I decided to make them 'floating' and used 2mm polystyrene, cutting extremely accurate pieces.
This meant to make a cardboard model first. But by now I knew how high and wide the steps had to be...

Two steps are extended so that I can push them into the wall so that I do not need pilars to hold the stairs in place.

The next step is making the in-between-floor on a steel construction.
I am definitely having fun !!

Hugs, Marion

Old Farmhouse Roombox x2

I liked this room box so much that I am keeping it!
This meant: I have to make a 2nd one for my friend in South Africa ... haha

It is a little less detailed (only visible for model builders :-) without working lights. But most likely it  fits her more traditional view of an old farmhouse room better; checkered curtains and all. Actually, I am convinced that she will love this.

Used a ready made dresser...

wonderfully painted chest (not by me.. haha)

no cladding...

The chest for my room box still needs painting - but that is in the making...

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Since I am running out of table space for more houses I decided to do a model that can be hung on a wall - something like a large room box.

It will be part of an old locomotive shed with brick walls, metal structures and all. I was inspired on my train trip to the Mini Fair in Milan a couple of months ago - loads of derelict sheds next to the railway lines.
Inside I plan a modern loft living situation.
Working with different materials will be super learning curve again... something I really enjoy.

The dry fit is done! It was wonderful working outside in the garden again - especially with that Cornus tree blooming and smelling wonderful!

I am busy with designing the stairs and hope that it works out. At the show in Rheda (Germany) last week I decided against using the ready made metal cirular stairs - the were too 'lovely' for an industrial loft like this one.

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Spending the weekend with my friends Elisabeth Elsner von Gronow, Alexandra Cantatore from Milan, Joachim Kühner (porcelain painting), Stephan Wein (goldsmith) with dog Trudi and Marion Kröller was a joy! I had a little display of my 3D stuff at Elisabeth's stand.

And I bought loads of hardware, special wood strips, kitchen applicances from Minifanaberia and glass from Ray Storey, a sterling silver horse from Stefan Wein and I will try this led strip from John Kilner for indirect lighting.

So, this is is for the moment. Let me get back to the stairs project - a rather challenging task 😏

Hugs, Marion