"I get by with a little help from my friends" - Beatles
A couple Saturdays back a very close friend of mine Beth called me up and asked if I had any plans. My normal response as of late is, "I'm Dollhousing it up. Want to come over for Extreme Mini Home Makeover, Dollhouse edition?" I was thrilled that her answer was yes!
I have a lot ideas and like my best friends and roommates will tell you, I'm awful at follow through. BUT I am determined to follow through with this dollhouse makeover.
The one area that I told myself (and you, my reader) earlier that needed very little work and restoration was.... THE KITCHEN. Boy! Was I ever fooling myself. I decided that it's 2012 and the dark wood beat boards needed to go!
Here's a reminder: BEFORE
What did that mean? WHITE PAINT. AND I love me some white paint!.
DURING:
I painted the beat board and windows with Marshmallow White paint. (Sample Size) and the walls got primed and painted Gideon's Natural Linen. As you can see I used Blue Painters tape to keep from paint over the white trim. I suggest painting things white first, then taping off to paint color. It's easier to go back in with the color paint than the white for touch ups.
While I was busy painting the walls GREEN. Yes I said green, not natural linen. My friend Beth was creating the flooring mosaic. I decided to redo the walls on a later date to make it feel classic and less springy.
This is my beautiful friend BETH. She's starting step two of building the Kitchen Floor. Cutting out the floor backing. Step one is using the old flooring we saved from before and tracing the pattern onto the backing. For the backing of the floor- I wanted something that glue would stick to and not soak through. Therefore I used "FOR SALE" signs made of flimsy plastic. It's always wise to explain to roommates why you have "FOR SALE" signs scattered on your bedroom floor.
You can see Beth has taken the old flooring and trimming the area to fit perfectly to utilize it for the pattern to trace onto the "FOR SALE" sign. This prevents mis-measuring because some of the old flooring was hidden under the baseboards. We wanted to make sure that the flooring could be easily removed at any time to gain access to the tape wire for electrical purposes.
Beth dry fits the floor backing into the dollhouse, its determined that it's perfect and she begins laying out the mosaic tiles into a pattern. It's important to lay out a patterned before gluing each tile down. It's easy to make mistakes otherwise. For the use of the floor, I used a Glass Tile back splash sheet about $3.00 from Lowes. I removed each tile from the mesh backing. These are glued down with Liquid Nails (clear for Home repair). I prefer this glue because of the ability to easily remove, it holds in place without clamps and allows you to move for up to 5 minutes before it sets. Also, if it dries and you do not like it, it can easily be removed later. It is a little pricey at $4.00 per tube. BUT worth it! Before Beth came, I had already broke the tiles up into color groups and placed them into individual zip lock bags. This, I confess made pattern making easier - it save a lot of time!
FLOORING AND WALLS- END RESULT:
You'll notice the walls and the trim look extra shiny. I used a the triple thick gloss glaze for acrylic paints. I knew once the Kitchen cabinets and lighting are placed in the room it won't be so bright. I find satin paints are too dull. But that choice is personal preference. Also, any paint on the plastic film windows can be removed easily and will be my very last step after touch ups.
BIG Thanks to Beth in helping design and build the diagonal pattern glass tile floor. It turned out amazing! OH, She also helped in removing some wallpaper. THAT WAS A PAIN! ;)
As a reminder..... BEFORE & AFTER Shots side by side:
