Mini Marathon - Snowdrop Cottage

The garden is finally finished for the front of Snowdrop Cottage so I can now show you the photos.  I've had this kit for ages but because I didn't do so well on the exterior of The Old Rectory and need to scrape it off and re-do it, I was nervous about tackling this type of exterior again.  But I bit the bullet and this time didn't add the granular medium so thickly and that left room for the sand between them.  I'm delighted with the end result and would like to shrink down and explore inside a bit more :)

So here are some photos of the exterior.  First an overview of the front facade:

Now a view of the garden and paving stones.  I am looking for a smaller bench to go on the right hand side where the paving provides an area to sit.

I still haven't distressed the roof I see - will have to get to that.  And I made so many flowers that I have enough to do a small feature on another house which is good.

A closer view of the left side

And now one of the right side

 And now moving to the interior.  I have papered it and the lighting is installed.  You will see that I've put a staircase on the left of the living room.  I think it needs a bit taken out of the bedroom above too, to show where the stairs go to.  I had intended that it would be a hallway behind the faux door in the bedroom but I realized after the stairs were well and truly glued in place that they were going the wrong way for that.  It bothers me now but I can't pull the stairs out of the bottom room because I've run out of the wallpaper - the next lot of it that I bought was quite different in colour and I like the pale green that I've used.  So the bedroom will have to sacrifice some space I'm afraid!

 Here is a closer view of the staircase - another 'Cottage Stairs' kit from Petite Properties.  I added the extra strips of brown timber at the top and bottom as a contrast and to give more dimension, and also added a baluster at the bottom.

 I do keep straightening the light shades but they have a mind of their own.  When I have finished sticking my clumsy great hand into the rooms I will fix them up and add some more glue to keep them in place.

The living and bedrooms both need a chimney breast now and a fireplace.  Which makes me realize as I am typing that the chimney breast needs papering too and I don't have any paper.  I'll have a look and see what resin fireplaces with chimney breast I have already got from Petite Properties.

So that's another exterior done.  I have yet to decide what to do with the wires from the lighting though.  At present they are loose at the rear of the house.  I keep coming up with different ideas but haven't got a round tuit yet vbg.
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Mini Marathon building continues - Post Office Cottage

 Post Office Cottage is another of the houses in the mini marathon.  It took me a while to decide what to do with this one but in the end I thought that I'd make a tiny post office in the right side of the ground floor, put in a dividing wall with an entrance to the left side, and make a small bathroom on the first floor.

So here is a view of the front.   I've done it quite different to the way Bea did hers I think, but I'm really happy with it.

This view shows the paving from the door around to the telephone box.

I have been working on the inside a bit too, making a couple of counters for the post office and a letter rack, but I'll show them later on when I've stained them again ready to put in place.

I didn't do any garden for this one because I had planned to put a garden bench under the smaller window at the front so that my mini people could have a chat with friends and neighbours when they came to the post office, but the area turned out too small so I have to have another think about that ;)

Mini marathon progress - Privet House

I've realized that I haven't given you an update on the mini marathon for a while.  I now have several cottages completed so today I will show you Privet House.  As always this house is just sooooo much nicer in reality than it is in photos, and I was delighted with it as it took shape.  The colours in the photos are a bit off, the green is more of a hunter green and the distressing on the house isn't as obvious as it looks in the pictures.

 Here is a front view.  Looks a bit stark at the moment - I haven't decided what to do about that.   A vine?  A tree nearby?  Flowers?

 A view from the left side

And one from the right

I put stairs into the house, just on the ground floor for now, and will later put them on the first floor too.  They are the 'Cottage Stairs' kit from Petite Properties.

I made a faux cupboard under the stairs.  I think now that it probably could have had a straight top but I built it to follow the line of the stairs.

I googled for some 1930's wallpaper and linoleum and liked this green and cream one for the kitchen.  It goes really well with the green and cream of the house.  As you can see, I haven't put the lights in yet so haven't glued the upper story floorboards in.

Privet House has an attic too but I'm not sure whether I will use it as rooms or whether to just put the wiring and battery up there.

So that's the second of the mini marathon houses.  What do you think?