Floored!

Today I am watching glue AND paint dry. Double fun!

I dug out part of my supply of 80s wood blinds. You know the kind. They were woven together with all kinds of colorful threads and rolled up and down. I buy them at thrift shops and garage sales. They come in various widths and I think that they are usually luan mahogany.

I use these for half timbers on the outside of buildings, plain trim on the insides and flooring strips. They are really neat because they can be cut with scissors to whatever length you need. If you luck out and find one that was for a big window you will have wood for years.

The ones I am using for the floor this time are 1/4".

I have even used the heavier ones for building. The staircase in the Witches' Warehouse was made from some that were about 5/8" wide.

The nice thing is they don't need staining. They are always dark brown when you get them.

Anyway, on to the business at hand.

This is what the floor looks like while the glue is drying. Nope. I didn't have to weight it down. There is a trick. Instead of putting a line of glue down the length of each board I just put a small dot of glue about every inch along the length. That prevents warping if you aren't too heavy handed. I used the ever popular Elmer's.

I haven't put the finish on yet but it still looks pretty good.

yesterday I finished gessoing and painted the Wedgwood green on the bottom floor.

Today I cut the bay on the second floor to match the one on the first floor. Then I painted the second floor Dark Forrest Green.

It looks lighter in the photo than it does in real life. For that matter, so does the green on the first floor.

I dry fitted the two floors together to see how they look. I think I am going to like it.

I am going to eliminate some of the trims and add on some Houseworks trims. I still have to decide when and where.

I also took a shot at painting the outside with Chamomile Ceramcoat.

What can I say? I like yellow and green together. It will kind of go with the Ursa Minor teddy bear shop. They're not the same shades but similar.

I have already eliminated the arched window over the front door. I am going to make an arched door to go there instead. I am thinking that the one above will turn into a window the same height from the floor as the side windows. I may put a small desk in that area.

I have decided that the staircase will be a dog leg in the front corner closest to us in this photo. That will come later tho.

Right now I need to get all of the floors in and paint the attic.

I guess I should get back to work. See you tomorrow.