The hoarder next door....

For the past few days, all of my makeover projects have been in abeyance as we have friends coming over for dinner and a sleepover therefore the state of the house has become an urgent priority.

The main issue is the dining room, which, as always, has performed the function of storage unit for the past few months, containing...

• Spare stuff from when we sold our little caravan.
• Spare stuff from when we bought the campervan.
• Spare stuff from when I sold my workroom storage units.
• All the stuff needed for the downstairs cloakroom makeover.
• All the stuff we can't usually find a place for but which can't be got rid of.
• Literally, the new kitchen sink which arrived in a massive, hulking, great box.

I don't know if you ever watch The Hoarder Next Door on TV.  Any time I've seen it I've smugly thought to myself that at least we don't have any rooms in the house which are THAT bad.   However, to my endless mortification, I have to admit, that recently, the dining room has reached those proportions.

I know I'm prone to exaggeration for comic effect but honestly, I couldn't even bear to look at it.  Admittedly I did go in there a few times (well, just inside the door) to assess the scale of the project, and moved a few things around in a desultory fashion.... a bit like stirring a very chunky soup.... but within a short time I simply lost the will to live and beat a hasty retreat, closing the door firmly behind me.

However, with guests coming, I had no choice.  If we were to dine in the actual dining room then I had to just knuckle down and get on with it. 

Scene:  Door of the dining room.  Sandra is preparing to attempt an assault on the South Col of the dining room, a risky and dangerous mission to reach the summit via the glacial tabletop and treacherous north face of the Box Mountain.  As she fastens her crampons, adjusts her goggles and tests her safety rope, as small furry presence materialises at her feet.

Me:*briskly* Oh, hello SD.  I was hoping you'd appear!

SD: *incredulously*  MUMMMM.... whot AR yue doen?!

Me:*limbering up* I have to tidy the dining room.  We've got friends coming to dinner.

SD:*disbelievingly* Kant yue eet owtside?  Ai meen.... just LUKE att it!

Me:*stretching hamstrings* 'Fraid not... weather forecast isn't good so we need the dining room.

SD: *splutteringly* Butt.... itts goen too taik yue aijes.  Posiblie munths.  Ther kude be ENITHING hiden in thair.

Me: *stretching triceps* Well, yes.  I expect there'll be spiders.  There are always spiders.  

SD: *forcefully* Spydurs ar the veri leest of itt.  Aim thinken tygrs!  Lyons! Woolvs!

Me: *hesitantly* Oh don't exaggerate SD. There's no way there could be anything like that in there.

SD:*raised eyebrow*

Me:*falteringly* That's just silly.  Isn't it?  I mean, there couldn't be anything really dangerous, could there?

SD:*placatingly* Probablie knott.  Orl aim sayen is a elifant kude hyde in thair and yude nevir kno.

Me:*appraisingly* Well.... yes, now that you mention it. There is an awful lot of stuff.  Perhaps I'm not adequately prepared for such an undertaking.  Maybe I'll have a think about it and make a start tomorrow.

SD:*encouragingly* Ecksillint eyedeer.  Ai thinc yue shude go and hav a larj geeantee and relacks.  

Me:*gratefully* What a good plan SD.  I honestly don't know what I'd do without your support and sage counsel.

SD smiles and gradually fades away....

Thinking aloud.....

I think I'm just starting to get the hang of this retirement thing, but I have to admit that I do miss the cut and thrust of 'internashunal bizness'.   However, I still have a small supply of little undressed dolls, and lots of lovely fabrics, ribbons and trimmings so I'm planning on making a few dressed dolls soon, just to keep my hand in.  I've been revisiting my 'doll ideas' boards on Pinterest and have started a new little notebook to jot down ideas.   La Mignonette has been seriously denuded of little dolls, as many of the ones I made specially for it have now been sold, so I need to replenish its stock over the coming months.

I'm also musing on offering some sort of Christmas kit this year.... not a full scale, all-singing, all-dancing 25 kit Advent Box like I did last year, from which I still haven't fully recovered... but perhaps a 12-day box of numbered kits, which will make up into a little miniature vignette.  I've already started garnering ideas, some of which are clearly unworkable, but the germ of a plan is beginning to form so I'll see how it goes.  I'd need to have a working prototype completed by the beginning of September if I'm to have time to work up a complete set of kits in time for the end of November.

If I do pull it off there will only be 10 kit boxes available as I can't face the many weeks of work involved in making more.  I may also produce one new festive-themed toy doll kit later in the year, as I'm having serious withdrawal symptoms from all things Mignonette.

So with just 24 weeks till Christmas (!?!?!) I'd better get my thinking cap on....

La Mignonette makeover.... Part 2

Long time readers of this nonsense blog will know that my usual modus operandii is most accurately illustrated by this....

Therefore nobody is more surprised than me that I'm positively galloping along with my La Mignonette makeover.

A few weeks ago I set up its new home in my new craft room.

As it's basically a corner shop, it's only fitting that it sits in a corner, so I used a Kallax double cube unit on its end, with a storage box in the base for bits and pieces related to the build.

With the empty shop in situ on the unit, I glued two walls in place to form the back of the top floor.  I had already wallpapered all the interior walls and painted the exterior walls.

Having painted and decorated the wall units, I installed light bulbs in the top of each section.  I had never tidied all the wires leading to the plug sockets on the back of the building, so I took several hours to cut them all to length and re-fit the plugs, so that there are now no trailing wires at the back.  As there are 15 individual light fittings over the three floors I had to install an additional socket strip, which, of course, meant having to have an extra transformer.

Here are the wall units in place on the new top floor.....  I'm going to have the fronts of each floor fully removeable, to give better access to the rooms, but I'm debating whether to add some additional structural support at the fronts in the shape of 2 columns, to help support the ceilings/roof.

I've decided that the the exterior of the top floor looks a bit bare and nondescript.  I'm going to make curtains for all three windows, nevertheless, the frontage is lacking a certain je ne sais quoi.  So I'm going to add open shutters to the two side windows, and an elaborate pediment to the large central window.

Still more finishing touches to complete, but overall I'm pleased with progress and can now turn my attention to the interiors.

To be continued....