Now I am onto the kitchen area. I want to finish this room before I continue upwards to the second floor staircase installation.
In order to wallpaper the front wall, you have to make a special cut on your wallpaper, in the shape of the side Partition #2, so that the wallpaper fits properly against the staircase.
You have to do a similar cut for the right side wall, where the exterior door goes. You can get the best fit by creasing the wallpaper around these walls to get a template of the wall shape.
I have another pattern of tile paper that I would like to use in this room, so I did the same thing as in the foyer. I made a template of the floor and then used it as a guide for cutting the tile flooring. There was just one difference, the closet.
It is not a good idea to cut out an entire template of the floor with the closet floor included, since you will not be able to properly maneuver and glue such a large, intricate piece of paper flooring. You have to do the closet floor separate from the kitchen floor and then join them, so they appear to be all one floor.
The best way is to cut out the template for the closet first and leave about an inch overhang that will go through the doorway, into the kitchen floor. Glue this closet flooring first. Then glue the kitchen floor in place, covering the extra inch of closet flooring coming in through the closet door. Make sure that the patterns match so it looks continuous. This makes the overlapping wallpaper seam face towards the inside of the closet, making it invisible.
To do this, you need to cut both pieces of flooring paper, so that the patterns match when joined. This takes careful planning, dry fitting, cutting and doing it all over again, several times, until it looks correct. Make sure that it is perfect and you know how to maneuver the wallpaper, so that it falls into the right place before applying the paste. The correct wallpaper paste will give you plenty of time to allow you to slide your wallpaper into position, before it dries.
That being said, there was a major mishap with this flooring and it's quite the patch job even though it's so well hidden that you can't tell. For some strange reason, half of the wallpaper began wrinkling while drying. Now, this is normal on occasion, but it should flatten out once dried. Mines did not. I tried flattening it down with a small roller and the paper creased. Basically, it was ruined on one half of the kitchen. I didn't have enough paper left for a complete redo, so I had to match the pattern with a patch of paper for the entire right side of the kitchen. The paper appears to be drying this time around, at least, I am hoping that it doesn't have the same issue again. If it does, I wont have enough paper to salvage this tiled floor and the whole thing will have to be covered with wood flooring instead. I am really hoping that doesn't happen because I really love these tile papers.
I am not sure what caused this to happen. I was using wallpaper mucilage, instead of YES Paste. YES Paste is a lot thicker than mucilage. Maybe because I had used YES Paste for such a long while, I didn't realize how wet and runny mucilage is and I might have applied too much. Be careful for your wallpaper paste. Make sure you use just enough to coat the back of the paper but no more and if your wallpaper becomes damaged, there is a big possibility it can not be saved. Wallpaper is one of those things that does not repair very well, when the damage is in a large area.
I am going to hold off on putting the baseboards, just in case it has to be scrapped. So, I am turning the dollhouse upside down and I will work on the ceiling instead. I was able to find this unique looking scrapbook paper that I will use for a tin look ceiling.
Just like with the tile flooring, a template of the ceiling has to be made and then you can cut out your ceiling with it. Your template must have a perfect fit because this type of paper does not patch. I used tacky glue to apply this paper to the ceiling.
The tile flooring dried correctly and was able to be saved. I went ahead and applied the baseboard and ceiling trim to the entire room except for the right side, kitchen door wall. This door will be hinged so until that is done, this wall can not be finished with baseboards.
I applied trim to the back for the first floor staircase, which creates the kitchen pantry. I applied shelves inside of the pantry as well. All of this can be done with strip wood.
I applied trim to the pantry door opening on the top and right side but the left side trim has to be different. This is the trim that will hold the door hinges so you can not apply it until the door is hinged to it. You have to use the harder basswood rather than balsa wood for this purpose and it has to be wide enough to hold hinges. The trim also has to be the same thickness as the door. The door has to be sanded until it moves freely inside of the opening, without snagging.
After the doors fit has been perfected, you have to stain or paint the door and trim before applying the hinges. Miniature hinges are very small and delicate. You have to have a lot of patience to get these in. Once the door was hinged in place, I added the door knob. These door knobs were plain white but I painted them with a tiny flower for more detail.
I then took the completed door and glued the trim in place. This is a very delicate process and you will most likely have to sand your door down again, since the hinges change the door size slightly and it might not fit in the opening. Always hold the hinged door by the actual door, not the trim.
These doors will never be completely perfect and they are very delicate. They are only to be used as an added detail and you should not expect them to work like a real door would. Open and close them gently and never use force. Allow them to open and close as far as they will go, without adding pressure to them.
I applied a coat of gloss varnish on the tile floor. This room is pretty much done until I have to return to it in order to install the kitchen door.
