Pocket-sizeMcMansion Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Back story: Working on my 1st build and have jumped in with both feet - it's only wood and glue after all. I started by planning a simple bay window add on but the more I thought about my house, I started getting a clear picture of what I wanted each room to look like....fast forward. I wanted the end of the house to have 2 skinny windows that run up along the sides of the chimney for all three stories. After drawing the windows on the walls in dry-fit, I realized that the room was too closed up when I wanted "soaring" plus I was dealing with my choice of kitchen flooring being 5/8 thick -taking additional height away from the room. After asking here, I found that is possible to raise the ceilings in a dollhouse-Off I sprinted to my hobby room to make more marks on the walls. Well, that idea was brilliant while it lasted but making the 1st floor taller-unbalanced the house....(Front 1st floor windows, then a big gap, then 2nd floor windows and a smaller gap - it just looked wrong). In the end, I decided not to try to cut the original walls but to use them as templates to cut new taller walls. I ended up adding 7 inches! WOW! The addition solved a few problems I was dealing with: 1) the flooring on the first floor is thick but now won't take away height in that level. 2) The living room has high soaring ceilings and full length windows on that end of the house. 3) I'm be able to add a dowel within a false floor across the long span of my living room without worrying about the floor sagging. The dowel support will be screwed into place across the long span. 4) The kitchen windows will now be above the kitchen counter top without adjustment. The original cut-outs were only 1 7/8 above the floor, so a 2 inch high cabinet was going to block part of the window or I would have had to have short-not to scale kitchen cabinets. I also wanted space above my kitchen cabinets. 5) The 3rd floor attic (artist's studio) will now have 8 foot ceilings and the easel won't look out of place. So that's my progress report. Tomorrow is cutting and auditioning the final height of the levels and placement of the walls I'm adding to the kit to create the nook, the 1/2 bath and the audio/visual area of the living room (flickering light behind tv screen to simulate a live broadcast. So I've been making progress but if yo'all are still with me-I have another (2 part) question.............Is it really noticeable if the angle of the stairs going up is too steep/not to scale or can I get away with having steeper than normal stairs? My dilemma: I am wanting to tuck a nook in under the stairs. The nook/alcove opens to the kitchen. I need to take the stairs up at about a 55 degree angle to get enough head room clearance so the nook area is believable. The second thing I want to do is to have an upper landing in order to turn the stairs and change how a person would arrive(?) in the upstairs area. Doing this moves the top of the stairs enough to allow for a separate entrance to the bath from the guest room (instead of guests traipsing through the Master bedroom in the middle of the night. ;) I tried a diagram....hope it makes sense. Blue represents the opening below for the stairs..right now it is along the wall. The idea I'm mulling over is to change the direction of the opening and narrow it just a bit so I can squeeze in a (slightly narrower than scale) door that would open into the upstairs bathroom and have a pretty railing too without devoting a lot of real estate to stairs. After I get this sorted, I'll begin fretting about to break up the "high rise apartment look" that adding 7 inches caused. lol Right now considering changing the front "stoop" to be an entrance atrium rather than an overhang over a slab as originally designed before I started bashing away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chapchap73 Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 You sound like you have already figured out a lot! I don't think you would have a scale problem with your plans for the upper hallway bathroom door. I have been in lots of RL houses with smaller than normal bathroom doors. As far as the nook area goes, I would say do a mockup with the stairs at each different angle and your furniture placed; then take pictures of it. I find that the camera is very useful in detecting any flaws that my eye can gloss over. Also, show the photos to someone else. Sometimes staring at a problem makes me obsess over stuff that I shouldn't, I.E. nobody can see it but me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 What Sarah said! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L Swearengin Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 I have a real house with VERY small bathroom doors. They cost more to replace than standard size. Go figure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterine Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Classics makes a narrow door in 1:12 scale, and I've used them countless times in various builds. You can find them on eBay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 4 hours ago, L Swearengin said: I have a real house with VERY small bathroom doors. They cost more to replace than standard size. Go figure. Probably because they have to be especially built to size. I would think it would be simpler to make custom size doors to fir the openings in the bashed house. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocket-sizeMcMansion Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 Had a bit of a set-back with the 3 story side......um, and I cut both of the longest sides crooked and had to make 2 more today. Fixed a slot that was a bit munged up in the original kit - waiting on the glue to dry now. I'll be back soon with pics when I get the newly cut walls fit together and then y'all can follow my progress from the beginning of the actual build. I've had it partially put together a few times as I planned the lay-out but the dream is getting real now as I start making decisions and modifications that will not be easy to change. *quivering with excitement!* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocket-sizeMcMansion Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 My thoughts on windows and doors. My vision for the windows on the left side of the house is for the 3 levels to have full length windows in the living room, master bedroom and artist's attic studio. I knew there wouldn't be a commercial option for that plus I want a more modern window with clean lines than the dollhouse sash types. So I'll be learning to make windows/doors. I'm leaning toward a very plain window-possibly without trim or very plain trim. They will have deep sills, especially in the kitchen where I want to use some thin plexi to make glass shelves for the kitchen herbs. The next major decision that nags and can't really be answered until I mock up the new walls is if door to the the new 1/2 bath downstairs will be able to be opened via the front door of the house or if I will need a working window to provide access. And is having 1 working window in the whole house stupid looking??? I'm designing my house so that not all of the house's secrets are revealed by your first look through the back of the house. Some parts of the house will only be able to be viewed by looking in the windows or through the doors. For the downstairs bathroom, I have some wiggle room in the placement of the door along the vestible wall so I'm hoping the angle will allow me to open and close the 1/2 bath's door with a pencil or small dowel. I need to plan the angle of the mirror over the vanity sink in that bath so the commode can be seen in the reflection. On the second level, I want to use a 3/4 wall to separate the master suite from the en suite. You'll know something is there but in order to see the master bathroom, you'll need to look through the side and front windows. You'll see 1 vanity/wash basin through a partially open door at the front (furthest from you) part of the dollhouse. The increase in ceiling height is also letting me have taller windows/dormers on the front of the house. I've found inspiration for a great stone shower that can inset into the center dormer BUT it will be a very limited view for quite a bit of work. I need to audition some furniture in the space to see what the view will be. I'm worried that very little of the shower will be visible. I might think of something else or may be something that I do just because I'll know it's there. The landing for the stairs going to the third floor creates a short hall/alcove that leads to the master bedroom. The only view of this landing will also be a mirror. These stairs were the old servant's stairs so they are dark and narrow anyway with a simple overhead light bulb hanging down to light them. Just past the landing is where the master bedroom door will be located. I'd like a working door but realistically, I may have to settle for an illusion of a door here. That's a cross that bridge later problem lol That's my mutterings for this evening............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 5 hours ago, Pocket-sizeMcMansion said: ...And is having 1 working window in the whole house stupid looking???.... My Laurel rehab had only one working window, in the bedroom: If it looks stupid, it looks stupid. I made it for a child to play with. You could hinge the bathroom wall, door & all, for access, as well as having the working door. I hinged the wall I added to the Magnolia to separate the bathroom from one of the bedroom, and I hinged the bathroom wall with its door I added in the Brimble's I'm working on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocket-sizeMcMansion Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 Great idea! Thank you Holly for the idea of hinging a wall. I think it might be possible as the hinge side/pivot point could be in a dark-ish hallway and hidden and I've planned for very little furniture or accessories along that wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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