DECIDED

 

So finally I decided to paint the old dresser!

So then deciding on the colour , now the purple did appeal i have to confess but I thought it would be just too dark for this.

So I looked at my store of Farrow and Ball sample pots, singling out the blues and greens.

I settled on the colour Cooking Apple Green, a very pale green.

When I got near to the bottom on the first coat , I thought about whether to paint the inside. I decided I would as it would help brighten it up.

Not wanting to run out of paint, I decided to use one of the other greens, but when I started painting it inside I realised that it may be a better choice for the main colour.

So I checked it out by painting it inside the door detail. This one is called Breakfast Room green by FB, look at that depth of colour compared to the quite pale Cooking Apple ! Of course I then changed my plans and painted the inside with the cooking apple green.

So the final finish was Cooking Apple green inside the cupboard but also on the shelves and back of the dresser top and the Breakfast Room green on all the rest.

The back looks almost white, so I am assuming it's the inside of the cooking apple that have matched the colour to.

Then it's time to decide, do I change the handles, paint the existing handles, also do I leave the door panel's as is, paint a design in them or maybe find some dolls house paper to add? 

Well I thought I'd check out some plates on the newly painted dresser 

only to find I had got Paul to put the plate stays too far back and they could not go behind them ! This is because I was worried it would reduce space for other items to stand in front or between them. So now I have had to ask Paul to remove and reglue them, so will need to repaint the shelves once the glues set.

Typically once it was all painted I decided that the uneven top needed to be replaced . There I was sooo close but no just had to throw a spanner !

So wood was purchase and Paul was soon cut and carving a new piece to fit the top, then glued in place.

So the dresser is now finished , just need to put the other door handle back in place , along with the cup hooks I removed and then it can go back into the dolls kitchen and be re loaded up with China.

I do have plans for Paul to make me a wider one later in the year ( don't want him missing the Chat N Snap makes ) which if and when he does, I'll have to be good and sell this one on and not try and keep it.  What's that saying . . . . . Less is more . . . .  If only I believed lol

OUR FIRST SUNDAY THIS MAY

Well the weather's been good the this past week, but I did have visitors on Tuesday so no heading to and clearing out of the doll studio started until well Friday. I removed the majority of what was sitting around on the floor one afternoon.

Then went off on a tangent as usual and decided to ask Paul to put a couple of strips of wood on my small wooden dresser , so the plates would be more secure. Then I decided maybe it needed painting, so time was spent on the dresser and not in the studio cleaning up, although I did manage to get back in and decided to start with the kitchen area.

Which like everywhere else , things had been dumped and needed sorting out and putting away or selling on.

But I did manage to start clearing the kitchen space, ready for a good clean . So talking to a friend about what I'm doing, I decided to share some photos of some of the items I have acquired over the years for my kitchen set up.

So first up is this amazing 1950/60's Triange kitchen cupboard in it's original blue paint. Complete with worn out sign on the top.

Unfortunately it does have a missing hinge on the top right hand cupboard, we did search for one when I bought it but did not fins anything small enough or similar but I'm going to look again and try and find something which can do the job even if not exactly the same.

It' s had a few changes of handles over the years due to the assortment now on all the different door.

But one of the special things about this cupboard is this extra work surface that pulls out from under the top ! 

I just love this little hidden section based on a cupboard available no doubt at the time.

Seen from the side you can see it's quite deep , it's also quite heavy. You can just see the little round feet it stands on.

Which means the bottom cupboard and the drawers are quite deep. 

No idea what it's supposed to be used for , maybe storing slightly bigger items that children could play with in their kitchen.

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The drawers.

Again with this long tall cupboard space at the top, why no shelves ? Was it a case of saving on cost by not adding a couple of shelves or at least one on this side ? 

I think I will now get Paul to add one shelf in this long tall cupboard or maybe two since it can then be of more use. Filled with food for a larder. I will leave the bottom cupboard big and deep for storing kitchen pots and pans etc.

So there it is, a perfect larder cupboard for the dolls kitchen.

Well it looks like this doll studio clean up, is also going to be a look at everything and repairing, if needed, along with a change around possibly. So what was supposed to be a week long job, will now probably take a good bit longer but at the end it will be worth it .

Today's headliner is a Sasha who came and went ! But she is a beautiful 68 girl , so well worth a second look.

Unfortunately I came down with some bug last night , so was not up to taking new photos today. But it is lovely to see some of those doll's who came to live in the village , if only for a short time, again now and then.

On the doll front, I have sold a big piece of my Maileg , which is great as I had saved the box I could post it in as well and it was taking up a big space in the studio before I moved it out and now it's sold it's saved a lot of space.

I have to confess that I have bought a couple of dresses for the Sasha's and some shoes for my Roche dolls. But at least dresses and shoes do not take up too much space.

Things are slowly going and it may take a couple of years but sooner or much later, I will get my doll items in order and back to a much more useable state. Unless of course I come into money , then I'll buy a bigger studio !!! lol

On that note I will wish you a happy healthy week ahead, remind you that it's almost the fifth, so doll photo day, one is already sitting ready and waiting and it's not mine. I usually slide in last thing by the skin of my teeth ! 

Dee

STILL DECIDING

 

Now Arabella has turned up to give her opinion on the dresser. She has also changed but she only wears 'names' , or so she tells me. So it is just as well she is wearing a smocked dress by Catherine French. 

"Why do you want to paint this old bit of furniture ! " exclaims Arabella " Just throw it out and buy a new one from a decent retailer "

"Arabella ! This may not be of the best quality but it is well made with love and effort "

" Well use some effort and doss it in the bin ! " giggles Arabella

 "Arabella ! You need to learn to make do and mend ! Not throw out and buy new " 

"Mum , be serious ! " she replies " It's a lost cause "

"Well Ava said it would look nice in a blue "

"She likes everything blue because she thinks it matches her eyes ! " Arabella scoffs rolling her own eyes !

" I know then if you MUST keep the thing, I know just what to paint it " sighs Arabella " Black so it vanishes !"

"Arabella ! "

" Okay then ! come with me " 

"Purple !" she say beside the purple kitchen cupboard 

" Mm I'm not sure "

" So says the woman with a big purple cupboard in her kitchen " cries Arabella " Mum go BIG or go home ! " 

" I'll think about it "

" if you want to save that old crock it needs some big help  , like purple just like my shoes! "

Decisions decisions !  I'm supposed to be cleaning out the studio not painting dressers !! 

MAY 1st , STILL DECIDING !

 

Liberty, who has also been changed into a dress bought off eBay, again that had to wait for warm weather, thinks maybe the dresser should stay as it is ! 

Libby is if it's not broke don't fix it state of mind.

But if you were to paint it a nice lilac would be good , Libby says , but only of you want to !

Lilac, mm a nice colour but not so sure ! 

So it's already May ! This weekend is also a bank holiday weekend, so naturally the weather could be wet ! Typical British bank holiday weather !

Sunday will be the 5th so get those photos in , if it rains we will be needing something nice to look at.

Wishing everyone born this month a happy birthday 

Dee 

JUST LIKE PAINTING THE

 FORTH BRIDGE ! 

So finally the weather is lovely and it was time to get into the studio for the big clean !

This is what I am faced with, having taken this photo after I had already moved a few bags and boxes.

The other side just as you walk in.

AFTER

A start as been made and most of the boxes and bags that were covering most of the floor are now

out on the patio table.

I did manage to put a couple of items away as I worked. But there is much more to do sorting out and tiding.

Ava , who was changed the other day into this new dress from Ginny at a Passion for Sasha , which along with a few other dresses as been waiting for the days to warm up before being used.

Ava is checking out the old dresser , that I asked Dad to put some wood along the shelves , to stop the plates from falling down when standing at the back.

So it's out in the sun drying.

Now the age old idea of giving it a coat or two of paint has risen it's head again.  I believe this was

made by a dad or hobbyist, from a plan in a woodworking magazine. So if I do paint it , I am not ruining a vintage old piece. But like every time , I'm in two minds ! But I think this time I may go for it ! 

Ava say's it should be painted blue, to go with the proper vintage one that stands on the other side of the cooker, in the doll studio's doll kitchen. I think that is a good idea for the colour, but there are others who disagree ! 

A LOVELY SUNNY SUNDAY

 

So what a beautiful week we have had weather wise ! Lovely warm sunny day's , cold nights but who cares about that , by then your in bed lovely and snuggly. Yes from a plant point of view a few may have had to return to the greenhouse for the night but you believe just over the hill is that gorgeous late spring warmth.

Due to the lovely weather , it's all been about sorting the garden. With Paul carrying on with those long awaited jobs.

The long awaited wide path/paved area to my doll studio is finished ! I have only been mentioning this every so often for a few years. But now it's been done, the last of the bigger bricks have been used up.

We have brought two of the troughs round from the front garden, where over the years they have been getting overshadowed by the plants in the border.

The fight will be stopping Paul from filling the area with pots of plants!

Also his statue arrived on Friday ! 

I'm pleased to say that it's much smaller than I thought, so I'm not worried about him being in the garden. More about his placement and arrival on the garden blog on Monday.

Now Paul's finished working on the space in front of my doll studio, next week I am hoping to get out there and start clearing it out and sorting the whole space back into order. Also along the way find a couple of missing items of clothing. 

I did receive a couple of dresses that Michelle made for a couple of my Roche dolls, so that was a nice parcel to arrive.

Michelle is an excellent dress maker for the dolls and always willing to have a go at a non Sasha item if she can.

Today's headliner is Ginny again but this time she has changed into her summer outfit now it's warmed up. She wearing the new Petrana outfit that I treated myself to a couple of weeks ago.

I do think these younger looking prints work well on Ginny. She , to me , is a younger Sasha, like Toby and Zak.

On the sales front, still slow but the odd item going now and then, which is helpful as if you know anything about me , you will know that there is always another doll casting their pretty face at me and whispering about how nice it would be to come live in the village or the family of dolls !

I will sort out more un needed items to sell while cleaning the doll studio, hopefully some will not take too long to leave and so open up more space. I need to also stop knitting or find another pattern, as I keep knitting the same thing and don't really need any more at the moment. 

This coming week , along with sorting out the doll studio, I need to start changing the dolls into the summer clothing or summer will arrive and they will all be sweltering in the warm clothing.

So I wish you all a lovely happy healthy week ahead.

Dee

x