Little Canvas: renovation

With the weather turning and getting better, I've finally started the renovation of what will eventually be my Shabby Chic house. At the moment it is just a little girls playhouse.

I hope to be able to make it look at least a little more " grown-up" by the time I'm done. I had to wait for better weather, because I knew it was going to be an absolute mess, so I have to work outside. Most of the interior was painted with gloss enamel by the previous owner and that just had to go.

Before work started, I played around with some of the furniture I'll be using to decorate it. Just to get a feel of where I'm going with the house, even though in my head I know exactly what it's supposed to look like! I've learned by now (and it's the advice of all the more experienced dollhouse people), to first plan as much as possible before you start painting and wallpapering.

Now, the good news is.... there was paper underneath the gloss enamel paint. Which means it sort of pealed off in nice big pieces. Well, at least on the ground and top floor. The second floor was more of a nightmare! The bad news is.... there was paper underneath the gloss enamel paint! Now that all the paint is removed, I still have to get rid of the paper and glue!

This is what it looks like at the moment. Hopefully tomorrow I will move on to the next phase: removing all the wallpaper and floor coverings.

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I'm finally starting with my dollhouse's renovation! The first house I'll be taking on is the "big house" with the base. I don't have names for the houses yet, except for the Mock Tudor, which is obvious. I'll probably end up working on them all at the same time in the long run, but for now, I'm starting with this one:

This house has the least amount of work out of my three houses. It only has paper on the walls and floor of one room, and some glue left on the floor of a room in the roof. The base is in a good condition. I will just paint it in the same colour as the rest of the house, whatever that may be. I haven't decided on a colour yet. That being said.... the wallpaper and flooring in that single room was glued in PROPERLY! Meant to stick forever! It took me long enough, but with a damp sponge, mini palette knife, sand paper and some elbow grease I managed to finally get rid of most of it. I now only have the room in the roof left to strip and then I can sand down the whole house! Can't wait to start painting!

Let me show you the process up to where I am now:

This was the interior of the house the day I brought it home