New furniture for the bedroom, and free printables!

This weekend Kassandra and I have been busy getting ready her new shelves for the refurbished bedroom.  We had a great time assembling them - she said this was her first time assembling furniture, and she thought it was a lot of fun.

She has decided to go for an Scandi look, and this was the first one we did:

Can you see the assembly guide on the floor?

"Thank goodness for illustrated instructions!", she said.  "I thought we would be having to go through technical names, and I am terrible at that."

"Yes, it is true that this furniture is very easy to put together.  Are you going to use it as is?"

"Oh no, I got some storage boxes for it.  What do you think about them?"

 

"Always black with you, my dear!  But I really like the dotted one!  It gives a pinch of informality to the set."

"Yes, I think so too.  Let's start with the second one!"

And said and done, this was the second shelf:

"Very nice!", she said.  "I like the simplicity."

"Let's put it in place."

"I love it!  I'm so happy with my new bedroom!"

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Fantasy apart, I love that these pieces are so similar to a real life ones from a very well known Swedish  shop.  I am very happy that we can find modern looking furniture for modern settings.  You can find them already painted (I have seen them only in white), or in untreated wood (like mine).  I painted them white, obviously.  I have another set in my Japanese room.  In that case I painted them black.  You can find these kind of shelves at Beautifully Handmade.  

Also, the storage boxes I designed myself specifically for these shelves,  inspired by the real counterparts.  So, if you have these same shelves, I am happy to share with you the free printable to make them.  Also, if you are a devil for the details as I am, here is also the assembly guides printable.

As always, feel free to print as many as you like, make gifts for friends and pass the file along to anyone; links back are nice too.  Just please do not sell the file or your creations.  Thank you very much, and enjoy! ♥

Dollhouse miniatures arriving!

I get so happy when I open my mail box and find little treasures buried amongst the letters!  Today a lot of minis arrived, and I am so excited about them.

First, hardware.  A bag of drawer pullers to decorate some boxes I made, and hinges to see if I can help my mom to fix a 1:144 scale dollhouse that she bought already made and whose door insists on falling off.

Then, a chest box with parfum bottles and jewelry.  It is somehow cute, but I want to try and make something really special with it that I wanted to have and could not buy, because the ones I saw were reaaaaaally expensive.  I hope I can manage it, but if I don't I know I won't have lost much money on it.  It cost less than $5.

And finally, something really special for my vampire tenant.  Gothic furniture for her 1:144 scale dollhouse!

She says she cannot wait to start assembling the kits.  They are very tiny, and they are going to be a challenge, but I am very looking forward to see how they turn out.  They come from SDK Miniatures.

Dollhouse miniature desk for witch or wizard available in my shop

I love, love, love this desk!  It has been sitting in my own dollhouse for 12 years, but it's time for it to go to a new caring home.

To bid him good bye I have dressed it thoroughly with paper goodies and writing materials, and it will look awesome in any setting; I designed it for a witch or wizard home and it has some unicorn drawings on the table, but you can stuff those in a drawer and you will have a beautiful piece suitable for any house.

This is a wood desk with 5 working drawers and includes everything you see.  Even the drawers have some stuff in them:

Obviously, since I made this with one of my own pieces, this design is one of a kind, and once it is gone, there will be no more like it.  It is waiting just for you in my shop.

Sources of inspiration

Sometimes the Muse can strike from the most strange places...

It had been some time since I wanted to try and make a pharmacy/apothecary/laboratory supplies cabinet.

My husband is a scientist, and I can tell you, a messy table/bench is the last thing you need if you want your work to be successful; dirt can spoil many hours of work if you are dealing with cells, and a glass left in the wrong place can finish in the floor with all your precious DNA inside. So I am not very fond of cluttered furniture, not even when it is in miniature. That's why all my cabinets are so tidy - blame it on the hours that we had to spend in the lab when experiments don't come out OK. I figure that if tidiness is necessary in real scale, more so in the cabinet of a skilled witch or wizard. Think about the protocols that are described in magic books and that you have to follow to the last detail... Anyway, the idea of the mad scientist or Victorian chemist have been going around my head, but I was not sure about how to bring them to reality.

Yesterday I put on a CD that I had not listened to in a long time. It's from Attrition, and it's called "All mine enemys whispers". It is inspired by the story of Mary Ann Cotton, who was sentenced to death in 1873 for killing children with arsenic. Attrition's Martin Bowes is a descendant of the arresting officer, Police Sergeant Tom McCutcheon.

And then the vision stroke me! I saw a dark chemist in London, where this woman went to buy the poison; the unsuspected pharmacist who sold it to her; the neatness of the filled jars in the shelves...

Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary, Alexandria

Right now I am on the hunt for different kinds of glass jars to fill the cabinets, and I am already working on the labels, which will be, of course, reproduction of real vintage pharmacy labels.

I hope to have a new line of apothecary cabinets, parallel to the magic cabinets. Science is as much part of my world as it is fantasy. How contradictory the human race can be... Will you come with me on my journey?

Refurbishing the shop

I always knew that my magic shop was not finished yet; even though it wasn't possible to stock up on more items, I was far from satisfied with it. So, inspired by the lovely Wise Ways Emporium (Deb's magic shop), I looked for new furniture for mine. I was very lucky, and found a double shelf that had just the exact measurements. So, here is a sneak peak...

Before:

After:

Even though it looks almost filled, I can assure that there is still plenty of room to add goodies. The black "wicker" shelf will be up for sale in my shop in a couple of days, filled up with witchy artifacts, so stay tuned...

Bedrooms... My favorite room of any house

Even though many of us spend much of our free time in the living room - with friends, family, enjoying meals, football games, reading, listening to music, watching movies, doing crafts - I have always considered the bedroom the "sanctuary" of any home.

Think about it. It's the place when you go when you like to be alone with your thoughts. Or to write in your diary. Or to rest when you are sick. Or to cuddle with your other half. Only your most beloved people are allowed in this room. It's my favorite room to decorate, and the one that is the most true reflection of what I am. And this applies to my real-life house and my miniature house!

I was browsing through Etsy yesterday and I simply fell in love with Wightcrafts beds and furniture. I was fairly familiar with the Tudor housing style, but Leslie's designs are so well made and so affordable! I bought one of his Tudor beds immediately, and I can't wait for it to arrive. My dollhouse bedroom is going to have a make-over, and I am dying to begin with it!

Here is a sample of Leslie's work:


I understand that this kind of beds are not for everybody, though. So if you are looking for a Victorian style, or a more modern kind of bed, you can not miss out debsminis creations! Her beds are deliciously made, and her way of arranging the fabrics is simply outstanding. It's like somebody just tossed them aside! My all time favorite of hers is the Victorian sleigh bed:

From modern animal print sofas to luscious bed and bunks, she is certainly worth a visit! You can also check out her work on her web page. Everything is to die for!