Sunday, June 27, 2010

Chest of Drawers (and some goodies)

Last night I spent some time working on a chest of drawers for the bedroom. I wanted a certain style, so I had a look on the internet and I found the picture shown below....what a gorgeous piece of furniture!I had a couple of tries to make it....the first time I measured the space, printed a cropped version of this photo to the desired dimensions and used it as a template to cut the front and back pieces out of balsa wood. Such crappy wood but at least you can cut it with a pocket knife, which is a bonus if you are trying to cut curves without any of the right tools! I cut the top from balsa wood too and made the sides of thin cardboard, but when I put the chest into the room, it was too big. Yet another mini off to the bin.



So I made a smaller one, and this time made all the pieces from cardboard except the top, which is wood. The front and back are thick mountboard and the sides are thin cardboard. I didn't want the legs having that two-dimensional look, so I glued some small pieces of balsa wood to the legs to give them a more realistic shape. Then the whole piece got lots of layers of paint, trying to make it look old and worn. The bedroom is going to be white, with blue and pink accents.



At present, the handles are just the handles from the picture, cut out and glued on, so they are a bit one-dimensional, but I really like the style and don't know if I could make anything so fine any other way. I might print them on to thicker card and paint the edges black and then stick them on and they might look a little more realistic. By the time I got to this stage last night it was well after midnight, so I don't think I did too badly really.

I did say in my last post that I would 'fess up to having done some shopping recently. It's too far and too expensive to go to SIMP from here (New Zealand) but you can do way too much shopping just by sitting at the computer!! These beautiful baskets arrived last week, and you can see one of them sitting beside the chest in the bedroom. They are made by Glenda, who is a fellow kiwi. She sells them through her Etsy shop, and they are just gorgeous! I have a full-sized bag similar to these but in purple.



Here is another one on the shelf by the front door. The shelf is by Jemjoop.



And while I am owning up to shopping, you will probably have noticed the stunning vase of peonies on the chest....these were made by Pei Li and I am completely blown away by how pretty and delicate they are. They are made of cold porcelain and each flower is a different colour. She is so talented. I really love being able to include other miniaturists' work in this project....there are so many talented people out there! The little bundle of letters is part of the miniature mail that Linda made.

This is a photo of the whole wall. Still minus curtains but I will get to that eventually. One of the things I have made that I really love is the little birdhouse peg hanger that you can see on the wall above the chest. I made it from yet another photo found on the internet, mounted on wood, with a wooden roof and the very tip of a toothpick as a peg. It would be a good place to hang a pretty scarf or necklace. And my favourite picture in the house can be seen above the window. This is a reproduction of a beautiful watercolour painting my mother has hanging in her house. It is one of a pair, but my camera batteries died before I could photograph the other one. I really love this picture!

More later - I have to go and feed the family their lunch!

28 comments:

Cheryl said...

Its really georgeous Carolyn.

Wanda said...

Wow Carolyn. I love the bombe chest!! You've done a great job. It's hard to believe it's made from cardboard. You can't even tell that the hardware is actually a photograph. Trully inspiring. Thanks for sharing your work!

Kathi said...

Your little chest is so pretty! If you hadn't told us it was made of cardboard, we would never know! Great job!
I love that you are using one of your mother's paintings too. I plan to do the same one of these days...

Katie said...

I just love this whole room....and that chest is perfect in there! How creative and smart to use cardboard! And how determined to get it done! Everything looks great together!! Love the shutter up against the wall!

Katie

rudoo said...

Wow!!! It looks fantastic!!! As I was looking at it, I thought "wow, she even found hardware exactly like the big piece". Then I read it is the picture cut out! How clever you are!! Bye the way... where did you find the "inspiration piece" online?
Jonna

Heather said...

I can't believe you made the chest. It is fantastic. I didn't even notice the two-dimensional handles. I really love the room!

Carolyn said...

Hi Rudoo. I honestly can't remember where I found the picture online....I probably did an image search for "shabby chest of drawers" and just saved a picture I liked.

Frederica said...

Hi Carolyn , that looks absolutely awesome , it looks so real, so well done
I love your blog , you make beautiful miniatures !
love from Frederica

( have a look at my blog , Fredericaslittleworld.blogspot.com )

Patty said...

Carolyn!!! Your chest of drawers came out so wonderful!!! Amazing and clever of you to make it! The bedroom is looking wonderful and I LOVE the flowers and the picture of your Mother's!

Frederica said...

Hi Carolyn , I am not sure if I am gonna be at the convention , but Mercedes and I are definitely gonna come and spent our money there , LOL , so we will see you in october.

love Frederica

Marion said...

Wow Carolyn, that's a super idea. I do use card too now and again, but using a picture like you did.... Fantastic and the hardware is soooo realistic. Well done (again). To Rudoo: just type in bombe chest in Google and search under images. you'll never know what might come up and even if you don't find the same one, there will be lots of samples for inspiration.

Bözse said...

Perfect chest, and the handles are perfect, too. If you juxtaposed the original and the mini one, you wouldn't be able to name the real sized chest. And I love your aging style!

Merry Jingle said...

It looks fabulous! And I love your minishopping, gorgeous :)

Minimami said...

Absolutely beautiful and it fits so perfectly to your bedroom!

Margaret said...

You have done a fantastic job on the bombe chest and the colour is great, your little bedroom has a lot of gorgeous items.

Heleni said...

Wow, you make the chest from cardboard? Unbelievable...Carolyn.
All the things are beautiful.

gr.Heleni

Flora said...

Carolyn, I really like this room as a whole and in every detail.
The dresser It is very successful and small accessories are also perfect. I love all :-)
Among other things, is a very rich source of inspiration ...
I am happy that now you can read my blog with the translator ...
I am not able to write in English, unfortunately. I barely read ...
But this is an opportunity to revive him :-)
Many kisses, flora

Eva said...

Look so sweet and wonderful. I love your bedroom. The chest is great with this color and also with all the items from these very talented miniaturists!

temari by the sea said...

I just fell in love......
hugs
Michelle

Miia said...

What a lovely room! And the chest of drawers is gorgeous, just like the real one.

Anthoula said...

It's very beautiful! So shabby chic!

miniacollection said...

Your chest is just perfect, I like its colour and its style. The style of the room is gorgeous as well as the accessories.
Thank you for the links.
Geneviève

Estefanía said...

Precioso!! un estilo muy bonito! Besos.

Witchkrafting with Kat said...

I love the chest it's beautiful, nice to see Glenda's work too :-).

Virginia isabel said...

El mueble es preciosos. Y la habitacion una preciosidad.
Besujis!!!!

Norma Bennett said...

The chest of drawers is wonderful, I so love that shape and the finishing is fantastic.

The room looks so cozy and welcoming with the sunlight shining into it :)

Lara said...

You made a superb chest. It is so beautiful and looks very real!

gypsy atelier said...

hi, you made such a wonderful,and beautiful chest.It all looks like wood you did such a great job on this project,and i can't wait to see what you do next. mini hugs,LaTISE