Mockingbird Hill Cottage

I plan on doing some work outside today, but rain may step in to thwart those plans. Hopefully, I can get a few things done.  Today, we’re finally going to put the A/C unit in the bedroom. We’ve been getting by with the fan, but we have 3 days of 90 degree temps coming up and I also suspect that the fan is blowing in pollen. Obviously, that’s not good for me.

Yesterday, though I didn’t actually plan on it, I ended up hanging the wallpaper in the Beacon Hill kitchen. I didn’t stop to ponder whether it was the right time, I just plunged in. The room has lots of windows and a long shelf, and one of those pesky windows with ornate trim. In other words, every possible problem was in one room.

The troublesome wall: I had to work around the window trim which required some “creative” solutions, also the long shelf which abuts the wall, AND the overhang (for lack of a better word.) I added the strip of wood over the 3 windows. It looked too unfinished there.

After staining the tops to match the stain on the center unit, I painted them. My first idea was to paint the two cupboards on either end a shade of green. The center unit was already yellow. And I did. But I didn’t like that look. The green was too intense, even when I added a second coat of the green mixed with white. Last night, I repainted those cupboards in the same yellow as the main unit.

But every time I attempted photographing them, the yellow was too bright – almost like a taxi cab yellow. I don’t know whether that was because the kitchen is relatively narrow, and I was shooting into a darker space – a problem with all dollhouses – or whether the yellow was just too bright. Later, when I was in bed trying to go to sleep, I started obsessing on that color and I remembered I have a wonderful bottle of ‘buttercream’ paint. A much softer yellow.

Where was I at 6 am this morning? Repainting all three units. (This makes 4 coats of paint on these cupboards.)

I had to turn the dollhouse around so the rooms were facing the windows in the studio to get this shot.

Oooh! I like it much more this way.

I’m “chuffed” as they say in Great Britain. My vision is coming together. Next up, wood floors. (I don’t want tile.) It took 8 hours over the course of 2 days to install that bedroom floor.

I must gird my loins.

I’m not sure, but I may go with a lighter stain on this floor.

On social media, I’m getting a lot of compliments on this wallpaper. It was worth the wait, that’s for sure.

I’m sharing my dream miniature stove wish list from OC Miniatures in England. This man is so darned talented. The detail is incredible.

Obviously, very much like our Stella. They are expensive, but worth every penny. It’s just getting the pennies when I also have to buy other things for the house.

And then THIS option:

Oh. My. Heavens.

But there is also this model, which is less expensive, but still not cheap:

What would you choose? I’ve been fixating on these stoves for at least three years and always imagined one of them in a kind of retro kitchen like the one I’m creating.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.