Ceiling for the bedroom installed

Today Kassandra and I finished installing the ceiling in the newly refurbished bedroom.  She chose a white, decorated ceiling - actually, the same as she installed in the living room.  It took us very little time to put it in place:

Before...

... and after

 

Simple yet elegant.  She is very excited now to get some decorations for the walls.  She says she is expecting the delivery of a new night stand, and a mirror.  

In the meantime, I guess we will be looking for some pictures to hang...  Once they are installed, we will be putting up the lighting again.

Renovations! Kassandra is at it again...

I was afraid that this could happen... Kassandra was very excited last time I talked to her.  She said great changes had happened in her life, and wanted to do some renovations at her new place. 

"What is it this time?", I asked.  "The floor in the ballet studio?"

"No, my dear.  A bedroom renovation.  And I can't wait.  Some days ago I purchased a new bed, furniture and linens.  So we need to get this done this weekend."

And as it could not be any other way, I agreed to help.  We started by tearing off the old wallpaper - that crypt wallpaper that she had liked so much, and I was skeptic to put on - and started installing the new one.

It was sad seeing the bedroom like this...

... but we started working very excited to see the results

"This is a change from your usual choices", I said.

"Yes.  I have noticed that my own tastes have changed recently, and this is more atuned to my new style."

Left wall finished

It's starting to look good...

"For the last wall, I am doing something different.  I am using a mural with birch trees.  To break the monotony and provide a different visual effect."

"Wow.  You seem to have been studying interior decorating."

"Ha, ha, not really!  I just saw this wallpaper and liked it very much.  I thought it would be an interesting addition.  Let's see how it looks."

"Well, I think it looks fantastic, Kassandra!"

"Thank you, dear.  We are only lacking the floor.  Luckily, it won't take us long to install it.  I cannot wait to see the whole room finished."

"Very nice!  I'm assuming the wallpapers and the floor come from you usual sources?"

"Oh yes!  My friend Ana provided them.  And Jessica Cloe did the birch forest.  Let's put the new bed in place!"

"Oh, that is very nice!  Where did you get it?"

"It was made for me by Joann, of ZJMiniatures.  She is fantastic making furniture.  My sofa and ottoman are also from her.  I love her style!  The bed linens come from her shop too."

"I assume you are not going to use your old furniture, right?  It will look out of place in such a modern setting."

"Of course not!  I have bought two cube storage shelves.  I already have them, but I have to paint them in white.  And today I ordered a new nightstand and miror."

"I can't wait to see your new decoration!"

"Well, give me some days.  I think you are going to love it..."

Kassandra's new home is finally finished!

It's a great day today!  The house construction is finally over.  Kassandra is over the Moon, and now she just wants to decorate, decorate, decorate!

We started work today by finishing the library's ceiling.  Kassandra found some really nice ceiling decorations at Miniature Wallpaper.  The paper is of very good quality, and they ship them inside a cardboard roll, so it will get to you without any wrinkles or damage.  However, in our case, it was impossible to make it flat, even though it was put under some weight for more than a week.  We managed to work with it, and since it is thick, it was not affected by the manipulation.

We started by taking measures to put the two sheets together: 

It looks better in the picture.  It is darker in real lifer.

When working, Kassandra was disappointed to find that they had included a copyright notice in the same wallpaper, forcing us to take out a strip of about 0.5 cm:

 The good thing is that the sheet tile very well, and we had a very nice piece of paper when we finished:

We had to hold it with something because it kept rolling on itself...

 

But the final set up was grandiose!  Kassandra was very happy with the final look:

She got a new carpet from Ana Circea's shop

Finished the library, we started with the living room's ceiling.  We proceeded the same as in the library: took measures, mounted the sheets, and applied them to the ceiling:

Kassandra says she loves how bright and big the room looks now.  She is also happy that the stairs hole  is finally covered.  She says the next thing to do here is to hang some pictures on the walls.  Do you see the picture of the lady next to the aquarium?  Kassandra says it is featured in the intro of a vampire TV show that she loves.

And finally, we went to the conservatory, to mount a carved ceiling piece:

It only lacks a lamp now, which is already on its way...

 We are very happy of today's day of work!

Update on the ballet studio

Remember the empty door frames in the library, and how Kassandra and I decided to wallpaper them?

We did the same thing with the round window of the ballet studio.  It looks so much better now:

Before

After

It was very easy and fast to do.  I only took a scrap piece of paper of a descarded sheet, cut it to measure and glued it with double-sided tape.  

We are currently working on the bedroom wallpapers.  More info on that tomorrow!

The Ballet Studio - finishing with the wallpaper

My ink printer is running out of colored ink, but I managed to print two more sheets of striped wallpaper to finish the ballet studio.

It was *almost* two sheets.  I had to patch them up with a little bit of scrap paper from other sections of the wall.  But then, I had the two windows to cut out.  And to do so I had no other recourse but to take several measurements from the roof and draw the patterns in the wallpaper:

Cutting the space for the hinges was easy.  The window, not so much...

Thank goodness for sharp X-Acto knives!

First window cut, one to go.  See the tiny bit without paper at the bottom?

I proceeded exacty the same with the second window.  With the first one as reference was a little easier, and finally the wallpaper was put in place:

Looking good!

And done!  Now the only thing lacking are the lights and the mirror.  Hopefully the lights will arrive soon...

The Ballet Studio

The ballet studio is a reality!  Even though it is not completely finished, Kassandra considers it ready to be used.  Here is the construction process.

We started installing the wood floor.  Kassandra was very particular on which kind of floor she wanted for the space, and I think it looks very nice:

Another lovely creation of Jessica Cloe.  And indeed, even though Kassandra is not very fond of pink, she wanted no other color for the wallpapers on the studio; so we bought yet another design from Jessica.  And the wallpapering started:

We had to cut a template first so the wallpaper would fit on the wall

It was no fun to cut the wallpaper so it would fit all the nooks and crannies of the ceiling, but we are happy with how it turned out.  Then, the wallpaper for the back wall.  It was very big, and it took almost two A4 put together:

It wasn't easy to glue it.  Too many angles and the ceiling beam!

And then the last wall, which had the round window.  We used the same template from the first wall, turned around, and tried several sizes of circles to cut out the window:

It is not perfect, but the missing millimiter is barely noticeable...

And then, the windows.  They needed painting, which we spray-painted in white, and then we installed a couple of blinds in the same pink and white stripped pattern:

Still missing some wallpaper on this wall, but very soon...

The blinds are the lovely creation of Mini Maison Miniatures.  The only things that we are lacking are the electric lights - which are on their way from Canada at the moment - and mirrors, that Kassandra has still not found.  But she was very excited to put up the decoration, and so she didn't lose a second to do it:

The *almost* finished studio!

I am in love with the record player and the speakers!

Two posters of Kassandra's most recent performances: The Nutcraker and Jewels: Diamonds

Some dance magazines and a box with vinyl records

How delightful are the round box and the pointe shoes?

Kassandra is so so happy with her studio.  She says she still has some stuff that needs to bring.  "But I am in no hurry.  It will come here, in time."

It is incredible that with so little decoration a scene can communicate so much! Unlike some dollhouse scenes, that tend to be a bit crowded with adornments, this one is perfect just almost empty!  It just lacks the little details, such as more pointe shoes in their boxes, and maybe even a tiara.  I even have the intention of getting a ballet barre.  But, as Kassandra says, all in good time...

Kassandra's big renovation is OVER! - Parlor, day two

Yay!  It's finished!!

So it turns out doing the last of the walls was not that difficult.  I made patterns as always, but having the pattern of the hall for the stairs made things easier.  I only had to cut it a couple of times before it was good.

This time I printed the two sheets of paper and attached them together before gluing them to the wall. I was quite nervous because they were my LAST two sheets of paper.   It was not difficult to align the design of the wallpaper, but I began to sweat when it was time for cutting them with the patterns.  If I made a mistake, I could not correct it until I was able to get more paper... Well, thank goodness no mistakes were made, and soon enough I had the patterns all cut up:

One more time, the cornice to the rescue!

And sure enough, everything went up perfectly:

The stairs did not present any problems, and it was not problematic to glue the paper, even though it ended up being quite long.  I think the parlor looks regal now:

I hanged up the curtains for Kassandra.  Last time I saw her she was very busy rearranging the furniture, and she looked delighted with her new home.  Hopefully I will be able to see her later today, and everything will be already in its place.  More pics of that to come!

I wonder what she will be asking for after this...

Kassandra's big renovation part 5 - the hall

So it began!

I started out by cutting a pattern so the sheet would fit the stairs as perfectly as possible; I also made the patterns for the other two walls; obviously, the stairs were the more difficult.  I had to redo the pattern four times:

Patterns waiting to be used

Trying on the pattern in the wall

So, off to print some sheets.  It was very easy with the pattern at hand; and, as always, I had to add a cornice because the paper was a bit short for the wall:

It is not the same cornice as in the parlor, just to give it a different touch, since it is a room less heavily decorated, and the wide one seemed excessive to me.  And then the back wall, which was super easy to affix (probably the easiest of the whole house!):

And the last wall.  Not as difficult as the stairs, but with the pattern peechy keeny!

Cutting

Yay!  Perfect!

The hall looks great now!

And everything back in its place

I learned the hard way that you cannot use Blue Tack with these papers.  I tried to glue the hooks with it, but I made a mistake and had to take it out.  To my dismay, the Blue Tack would not separate from the paper.  Every time I tried with a little ball to pull it out, the rests became bigger.  So I had to tear out the paper, print, cut and glue it again.  Now everything is attached with superglue (hooks and lamp magnet), currently in the process of setting.

It is almost done!  Just one wall to go, and the big renovation will be finished!