Step G - Kitchen Bay, wallpapering, Step F - more work on roof space

 My husband asked why I hadn't updated this blog in a while, it's because a lot of time has been spent on either prep & painting, or procrastination :)  One of the things that does my head in about these kits is trying to work out what needs to be done before another thing, which can be circular: eg. In order to wallpaper the attic, I will need to have the false walls in place; in order to put the false walls into place, I need to install the roof; but if I install the roof then it will be really difficult to wallpaper.... etc.

Step G - Kitchen Bay

Fairly straightforward, just had to trim a few tabs and slots as usual.  I felt clever to realise that I needed to paint the external side of the house that will be covered up by the bay - until I realised that I should have also wallpapered the opposite side that is now covered up by the tower pieces.  I haven't added the trim or support brackets yet because they will go on after the external finish.  I haven't added the roof yet until I decide how to finish the exterior, because the roof overhangs a little over the sides of the bay.  I didn't add the window seat because it is naff and I will probably position furniture in the bay instead.

Wallpapering

Let's just put this out there: I hate wallpapering.  I like how it looks, I just hate doing it.  The stakes are high, the potential for error huge, trimming is heart-in-the-mouth stressful, and the glue adhesion unreliable. However, I went ahead and wallpapered the first floor.  I made careful templates first but as usual the wet wallpaper seems to get a bit bigger so I did have to do some trimming afterwards.  

The study was fairly straightforward apart from I realised too late that I hadn't thought about matching the pattern at the corners on any of the pieces I had cut.  But that would have probably been a complication too far.  If it's too obvious, I can always put a trim strip in the corner.

The hallway was slightly trickier due to the narrowness and the three doorways.  Also I used paper from my stash and now I'm not sure I like it, it seems very 'white' compared to the other two papers.

The bedroom was a PITA, trying to get around the false wall with the inserted bookcase in particular.  But also trying to wallpaper inside the tower alcove.  I found some of the window trim (confusingly the window trim is on Sheet 19 which is an extra sheet to the original kit, so there are also duplicate trim pieces on the other poorer quality sheets).  The window trims are not identified as to which windows they belong to, but I think I worked it out.  Anyway, the trim looks like it will hide the joins around the windows on the inside, so I just papered top and bottom.  And then with great difficulty, the upper inside bit that I should have papered before gluing the tower in.  I didn't try to paper around the edge of the tower alcove - I've painted it in a toning paint colour for now but I may add some trim.

I have received some wallpaper for the dining room and possibly the attic from Poppets Dolly Bits but it is all printed on A4 sheets which will be challenging.

Step F - more work on roof space

At least part of the underside of the roof pieces are going to be 'ceiling' so I prepped them all and gave them three coats of white emulsion.

I don't know if this is part of the design or just the way mine has gone together, but when I tape the roof into position temporarily, there are huge gaps above the side walls of the house under the eaves.  In order to tidy that up, and also make the rooms look more realistic, I decided to add some false walls.  With the roof taped and clamped into position, I made card templates with a great deal of trial and error.  The shorter false walls are made from balsa wood and foam board.  The bathroom wall is some plywood I had in my stash.  The doorway is big enough that my scale doll could duck through it, but any door will have to be custom made.