Nursery roombox update 1........

Well.

So far so good.

Have made a decision on the wall lights and will have two equally spaced on the chimney breast.

No problemo.

Except I have made the chimney breast construction from foamboard, so that it can be hollow to take the wiring from the wall lights and the light which will be installed in the fireplace. Foamboard is lovely to work with. It is light and easy to cut with a craft knife. It has a smooth surface which can be painted or papered over, with the proviso that it has a tendency to warp when it comes into contact with anything even remotely liquid.

Like paint or wallpaper paste.

The back false wall which I'd papered a few weeks back had dried into a definite curve, which is annoying but fortunately not irrevocable. I simply 'hot glued' a strip of wood along the back which has straightened it out beautifully, and also given some strength and support to the lightweight construction.

I was determined that this warping wouldn't affect the chimney breast, so before wallpapering it, I glued some right-angled quadrant moulding to the inside corners using hot glue, which sets immediately and doesn't cause any warping at all.

At this point, after I'd measured and cut the wallpaper, but thankfully BEFORE I'd pasted it on, I remembered about the wall lights, so carefully measured and marked their positions. Making holes to thread the wires through would be a 2 second job using a large embroidery needle.

Or so I thought.

*sigh*

Naturally, the wood quadrant I'd used to stabilise the interior corners, covered the back of the area I where I wanted to install the lighting.

Buggrit.

Moving the position of the lights wasn't really an option or they'd be too close together and look odd. So there was nothing else for it. I had to root around for just the right size of drill bit to drill the holes through the wood, rather than simply poking a needle through.

These things are sent to try us, as I'm sure any miniaturist will agree. If there's one thing we can always rely on, it is that something unforeseen will crop up at the the most inopportune time.

However, the correct size of drill bit was eventually located and the holes have been drilled. The chimney breast has been papered and is currently drying in the airing cupboard.

Hopefully warp-free.

I'm not holding my breath.......

While it is drying, I am trying to get on with some other things, but am being thwarted at every turn.

Somewhere in the house, I have a little gripseal bag with assorted brass door knobs. I need two for the door but can't find them anywhere. Of course as soon as I've bought some more, I will come across the bag.

I also need some 1/16" thick stripwood, exactly 1 1/2" wide, to make the window casement shutters and the fielded panels for the front of the window seat.

Predictably, I have dozens and dozens of lengths of 1/16" thick stripwood, in every conceivable width.

Except 1 1/2".

*sigh*

So, in the meantime I am going to paint the skirting boards.

Progress so far..........



Ok. So yes.

I know it looks even further behind than the last photos, but that's because I've had to strip everything out to install the lighting. The photo also highlights the floor, which I intend to 'age and distress' by painting on a slightly darker acrylic wash and rubbing it off before it dries so that the grain of the wood shows up better. Hopefully that will also take the sheen off the resin, avoiding the necessity for a further coat of matte sealer.

Note to self - experiment with some of the floor offcuts FIRST before committing to this course of action.

Right, back to it then.

Straight after a cup of tea and chocolate HobNob.....