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As One Door Opens.....


BigC

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Hi...I am a complete novice to this wonderful hobby and I am currently in the fro's of constructing my own Georgian dolls house (basically from scratch) and whilst I'm still working on the facade (and externals) for quite some time yet, I would like to ask for some help from the forum members who have been down these hallways before. Hallways being the operative word.

Thinking ahead I would like to look at some kind of flow pattern for the house, meaning stairwell placements and door positions off the hallway and landings...now the only thing I might suggest is that everything is quite tight in there (although still basically one twelfth scale)..From the image below how would you arrange stairs and door positions so as they have a purpose...I will be making the stairwells myself (I think) so any ideas involving false backs, returned stairs and mini landings, blind rooms and doors will be given serious attention.. Perhaps I should mention the box measurements for the hallways which are approximately 7 inch wide x 12 inch deep x 9 1/2 in height. (178mm x 305mm x 241mm)..pretty narrow..Then Georgian town house hallways and landings were perhaps quite narrow. I think this topic needs a lot of thought which is why I'm posting ahead of time....

Thankx sincerely  in advance for all your help innovative ideas and suggestions..(links and images please) Constructive criticism greatly accepted.

Regards Colin

 

sml room boxes.jpg

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You're going to hate this suggestion but you look a little 'boxed in'. If this were a present day house then it would have undergone some serious alterations over the years. Many London houses of this type / age will now have the kitchen on the ground floor and larger.......so you could take away one or both of the GF walls and add an enclosed staircase that appears to lead toward the rear on the house (and ultimately to the other floor behind 'false' doors set in the back wall. This would give you scope for a 'Grand' sitting room over the whole of the first floor. Above you could employ a combination of 'false' doors to create the impression of a lot more space than you actually have.................Those 'false doors and stairs' can be a godsend to quite a few miniature houses.

Told you you'd hate it!

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This  looks identical 'picture wise'  to my Grosvenor Hall, each floor staircase is in two pieces half a flight visible and the other flight is there but is round the bend so to speak, look at the  picture left part of each hall

Oh and by the way this is not my house, the picture is off the net mine is only partially finished but  If you want measurements of the hallways width and height I can do that for you from mine, the shell is made..

grosvenor hall open.jpg

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Its far from identical Jeannine Grosvenor Hall total width is around 40 inches which would allow for a 10 inch wide hall and two rooms at 15 inches. Colin's total width for the interior is 24 inches so that's 16 inches less to play with.

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3 minutes ago, KathieB said:

Still, it's a good example of a disappearing staircase. :) 

And entirely possible Kathie but the front on this house represents what the Georgians would term a '1st rate property' but with 6 inches plus lost to this type of return staircase the rooms would be 9 inches which (again using the Georgian rating system) would equate to a '3rd rate' and even then the main house rooms were a little wider than that. I'm all for 'smoke and mirrors' but a nine foot wide room is pushing it.

Sorry if I sound a little pedantic.......I'm probably better off not commenting!

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1 hour ago, MikeUK said:

Sorry if I sound a little pedantic.......I'm probably better off not commenting!

Nonsense. I've found that the best ideas/solutions arise after all of the not-so-good ones have been discarded. One thing I like about this forum is that so many ideas/opinions are put forth. Often the end solution (is that redundant?) is a combination or variation of the suggestions. It's like thumbnail sketches --- among hundreds of duds, a gem will shine. :) 

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5 hours ago, MikeUK said:

You're going to hate this suggestion but you look a little 'boxed in'. If this were a present day house then it would have undergone some serious alterations over the years. Many London houses of this type / age will now have the kitchen on the ground floor and larger.......so you could take away one or both of the GF walls and add an enclosed staircase that appears to lead toward the rear on the house (and ultimately to the other floor behind 'false' doors set in the back wall. This would give you scope for a 'Grand' sitting room over the whole of the first floor. Above you could employ a combination of 'false' doors to create the impression of a lot more space than you actually have.................Those 'false doors and stairs' can be a godsend to quite a few miniature houses.

Told you you'd hate it!

Nonsense Mike...I love constructive criticism. :)

I look to people who have been there, done that and worn the proverbial T-Shirt....I get the fact that I have made a boo boo on the measurement of the width of the house...Its probably me trying to get as much out of a sheet of MDF as possible and they come usually 8x4 in old money..so 2' cutting width makes for economy of sheet or so I thought..anyhow there is no getting away from the width factor now..another mistake was probably not having a central doorway and had it on the left perhaps with one large room on the ground floor...(I'm not concerned about a basement kitchen just yet, maybe that will manifest itself at a later date, who knows...but I will have to run with things as they stand (I think)..I could add an extension box to the rear to mask a stairwell showing the bottom or portion of one to give the impression of a staircase...Would this work???

I appreciate all your input guys, as I say its a mistake (I'm not working from plans)..Everything is fluid and in my head....building on the fly ad hoc is not always the best policy I know, but who hasn't done this among us from time to time....From a purists standpoint its not ideal but not totally beyond repair...compromises may have to be made or illusions created...

Please dont stop offering your suggestions....I'm all ears....and I will probably think of a few of my own to run by you great people.

Thank You....Regards C

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 Mike I put the picture on to show Colin the style of the stairs,I figured it was easier than trying to explain . I wasn't suggesting he did the same size in his house , identical was meant to mean the layout and design of his house compared to mine , not the size LOL

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No worries Jeannine...Thanks for the image...tis best this way as I'm a raw newcomer and may not be familiar with all the terminology and process that are common to the experts on this fine forum..thanks for your input......and that goes for everyone......I realize a compromise will have to be sought and this thread has thrown up a healthy discussion and think tank in which to thrash out the best solution...I'm also blissfully aware that its of my own doing and I probably should be left to wallow in my own soup, which is why I appreciate everyone's comments, workable or not...it may also supply someone else with an answer to their problem....Regards C

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Oh no Colin, don't you dare get disheartened now, you keep going love, you are doing a great job and should be very proud. . Oh and by the way the staircases in my house are much wider than regular ones, they are supposed to be grand and they swing out at the bottom. I think the work you have put into that house is terrific and I know it will come together.

My hall is 10 inches and the rooms either side are 12 1/2

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Thanks for the kind comments guys....I'm not losing the faith, far from it, I, or should I say we (everyone included) will work out a way to solve this one way or another...In truth the initial concept was to build a dolls house from scratch, I had no idea of scale etc etc etc and I kinda got sucked into things of both historical and measure...when in actual fact all I ever wanted or intended was to build a half decent representation of a miniature house...I'm aware that its pretty close but inches seem to matter, but like I say I'll work it through...I knew there would be mistakes and anomalies I'd have to solve along the way, hell its not the end of the world...I've met new friends and learnt so many new things from this great community in only a matter of weeks...People giving up their time to help others which they effectively dont even know...that is so cool....I thank you all for that aspect...The thirst for knowledge is frustrating...making mistakes then altering things or creating illusions as to cover these faux pas up is all part of that learning curve right!...but knowing how to do this correctly is where I'm at right now....and if push comes to shove we'll just rub it all out and start over again.....It's not a big deal... honestly..I realise that I'll never be overly brilliant at building and decorating Dolls Houses aside some of the great builders around, my house may seem like a pile of rubble...Education is all about mistakes dealing with and rectifying the situation for the better...this project is no different for me and I shall see it through to its conclusion warts and all :) 

Regards Colin... 

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1 minute ago, havanaholly said:

Oho, now THAT's an idea!

Mmmm,  as I am working out the elevator for "Her Highness" aka Gloucester I suspect that Idea is moreorless always on My mind.... 

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1 minute ago, BigC said:

Problem there Anna is Stairs are always on my mind hahahaha....

Ahhhh, well, what about a "hint" of stairs, ie add a back Wall with an opening showing the bottom two-three steps, giving the illusions of stairs going up when in fact it is a sort of "tromp l'oeil" effect? Sort of smokes and mirrors but effectove

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Yes Anna that idea is in the mix :) 

How to go about it in relation to everything else given my very limited knowledge of these things is the frustrating part...I'm going to make a few mock ups of the suggestions offered before going headlong into one idea or another..It may be that none of them work and have to re address the whole situation...hopefully some compromise can be found. Thanks for your input, appreciated as always.

Regards

C

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1 hour ago, BigC said:

Yes Anna that idea is in the mix :) 

How to go about it in relation to everything else given my very limited knowledge of these things is the frustrating part...I'm going to make a few mock ups of the suggestions offered before going headlong into one idea or another..It may be that none of them work and have to re address the whole situation...hopefully some compromise can be found. Thanks for your input, appreciated as always.

Regards

C

Hmmm, I seem to remember there were some sort of a "how-to" of the tromp l'oeil effect in a Dollhouse and Miniature Scene magazine earlier, Perhaps someone else remember that too and if so from when. My MIL have our stash of them right Now but I Will check with her too to see if She might know which issue I am thinkng of. 

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