The exterior part 2

 

Welcome to the chateau!

It has been a couple months since a started focussing on the exterior. A year ago I started covering all the siding with clay and spackle (i made a previous post about it), but then I started working on the inside and the exterior didn’t happen anymore. But now I did set my mind on it!

I started with building an extra part for my dollhouse. My dollhouse is a Beacon Hill by Greenleaf and I was so lucky to find a second one. The second one became the base of my addition, but I have been totally bashing this one during the building.

First I used the left part of the house, but I mirrored everything. I also decided to add more windows, so it would look more symmetrical and French. On the picture you see the side of the left part.

At first I intended to only use the original left part and make a small addition to the original house. But I discovered I could add the original right part against it too. That way I had a complete wall. So in the picture you see the side wall of the original left part (but mirrored) and next to it is the front of the original right part. I also made some changes to the windows. 

I have also removed the porch completely and made a new foundation and stairs. I sanded the stairs slightly in the middle to give them an aged look.

For the windows I wanted to do a different division then the original. It was such precision work to get it right. Also since I wanted more windows in the additional part as there are in the original beacon hill I had to copy the windows. I made three additional windows out of balsa wood.

  

To attain the real French look I made stone trims for the outer corners . They are made of balsa wood. I glued all the pieces on stripes of paper. It took me a couple of days to make all the stripes, I needed a lot of them!

Now it was time to go to the architectural details! I added some trims to the windows. I bought the white curls above the windows on etsy. The trims beneath did I make by cutting a wooden bar with this beautiful design, which was perfect for the trims.

I love mouldings and I had seen this beautiful moulding some time ago. So I was looking so forward to finally assembly them on my house! Unfortunately when I started I discovered they were so though to work with and I didn’t have the right tools. They are from plaster and a lot harder to work with then the wooden mouldings I’m used to. Also some were slighty thinker, some were straight, other bend… So it was a real puzzle to find out which piece fitted best on which wall. Eventually I found a quite easy way to miter them. With a miter box, a saw and clamps it worked. The most important trick is to not put any pressure on the saw. The mouldings are only 30cm long, so on the longer walls I need to use more then one. They were really dificult to fit perfectly next to each other. I had to sand them a lot by the connection and fill with silicone sealant.

But eventually I was so happy to carry throught!

Last minute I decided to remove the balcony door on the second floor. I never liked the original door. I was looking for another one, but it looked like every door I found on internet looked odd compared to the other windows and the front door. I have thought about making a door myself, the same shape as the windows, but they looked to slim to be a realistic door. So I decided to make another copy of the windows an replace the door by a normal window. So now the balcony is a ‘fake’ balcony. I didn’t like the idea actually but I’m pretty sure in the end it will give the best look. I made the same balcony by the double window on the addition.

 

So finally ready to paint! I have been so excited for this part since I started a long time ago on the exterior!
I painted everything the same color first. Then the trims and windows were painted in a lighter, almost white color. I have been aging the walls by using a slighty different lighter color and dabbing it with a sponge. With acrylic paint and a lot of water I aged the bottom, the windows and corners.

I have been painting, repainting, aging an unaging a lot till I found the right color and look.

painted in one color

final color

Then it was time to add the final touch! I bought tis beatiful balconies and maching railings on etsy. I painted them black and give them a satin varnish to give them a real iron look. 

And finally… the result! Next time the roof!