the U.K. hallway.

Published on by Quandie

Welcome to the 3rd floor hallway in my dollhouse in its original state.

And also, sadly, back when the electrical was still working.  I’m still contemplating what to do about that.

As you can see, there was a lot of wood in this hallway, and also some wallpaper that I didn’t love.

I rather surprised myself by deciding not to paint over any of that wood wainscoting and trim.  I thought it might provide a nice balance to have some warm wood tones in part of the house.  So I left the trim ‘as is’, but the wallpaper had to go.

I decided to duplicate the idea of using book pages as wallpaper in this hallway, much like I did in the 2nd floor hallway.  Only this time I used map pages from an old Atlas.

I put Scotland on one wall …

with England and Wales on the opposite wall.

And that’s why I’m calling it my U.K. hallway.

FYI, I did not strip the previous wallpaper, and this time I also did not paint over it before adding the new paper.  I just used Mod Podge to apply these books pages right over the old wallpaper and that worked out just fine.

This hallway is a bit wider than the 2nd floor hallway and thus could accommodate a piece of furniture on each side of the space.

For the Scotland side I purchased an unfinished hallway table from Miniature Crush.

I went back to my milk painting days for this one.  After first painting the bottom of the table in Dixie Belle’s Gravel Road to provide a base layer to distress back to, I then went over that with a custom mix of Sweet Pickins’ milk paint.

One of the really fun aspects of painting miniature furniture is that I can buy the inexpensive sample size pouch of milk paint (or any small sample size of other brands) and have way more than enough paint for my piece.  I purchased these sample bags from The Painted Heirloom for $7 each.

I originally thought I was going to use the color called Birdie on this table, but after mixing it up I decided it was far too dark (once again, colors look much darker on smaller items), so I just kept adding Sweetwater to it until I got the color I wanted.  I think my mix probably ended up about 25% Birdie/75% Sweetwater.

After applying about three coats of the milk paint, I let the piece dry fully and then sanded it to distress back the paint and give it that chippy look that I love so much from milk paint.

I then added one of the Craftsman style drawer pulls (also from Miniature Crush) to the drawer using Super Glue.  I followed that up with a top coat of Dixie Belle’s Clear Wax.

As for the top of the table, I was initially going to add a paint wash to it, but in the end decided that I liked it left in the bare wood with just clear wax over it.

I also lined the drawer with another of the Worn Wallpaper Scraps from Tim Holtz.

For the other side of the hallway I painted up another of the Welsh cupboards from Hobby Lobby.  As a reminder, here is what these look like unfinished.

I removed the knobs from the drawers and then painted the upper shelves in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth and the rest of the piece in their Gravel Road.

Next I added a section from I.O.D.’s Melange paint inlay inside the shelves.

That was a little bit tricky and involved cutting up the inlay, but I got ‘er done (for more detailed instructions on applying paint inlays, check out my how-to post).  If you read the fine print at the very bottom of the inlay, it says “LONDON” making it perfect for my U.K. hallway.

After sealing the paint inlay with some matte clear coat spray, I sanded the piece to distress it.  Then I replaced the knobs on the drawers with some apothecary label drawer pulls from Thumbwick via Etsy.

Never mind that those pulls cost more than the cupboard itself, or how putzy it was to glue little bits of paper behind each one first before then gluing them to the drawers.  I think it was worth it, don’t you?

I also added a bit of Dixie Belle’s Bronze Patina Paint to the knobs on the two side doors.

Then I finished all of that off with some of Dixie Belle’s clear wax.

After adding a few fun garden themed bits and bobs, I placed both pieces into the hallway.

I did create another ‘rug’ using one of the I.O.D. Ephemeral Type stamps, but I’m not sure that I will keep it in this spot.  Let’s call it a temporary place holder until I find something I like better.

The Botanist cupboard is on the England and Wales side of the space.

As I mentioned in my post about the finished kitchen, most of the spots for furniture in my dollhouse are along the side walls.  Unfortunately, that placement doesn’t allow for showcasing the details on these pieces head on.

But that just means that you have to take a moment with each room to study it from every angle and take it all in.  Right?

What do you think of my U.K. hallway?  Leave a comment and let me know!

31 thoughts on “the U.K. hallway.”

  1. Love the UK hallway! Genius idea to use maps. I’m so impressed. I’d have super glued my fingers together putting those pulls on! I do think we need a tiny union jack somewhere in this hallway😄. I continue to be blown away by the quality and details of these miniatures.
    Sent from my iPhone

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    1. Oh my gosh, so funny Sheri. Brilliant minds. After taking all of the pics for this post and getting it all written up, I had the brilliant idea to paint a Union Jack flag rug for this hallway. But shhhhh, don’t tell anyone. I’ll be revealing that down the road when I get it done 😉

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  2. We need to get you one of those angled mirrors like mechanics use to see hidden parts on engines. Maybe there’s a way to hang a mirror in certain locations that act as visual aids for folks who wish a closer inspection.

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  3. These posts on your doll house revival are so much fun to read and take in. I have always admired your talent on your larger furniture renovations but the attention to detail with this project is amazing! Love that you post the sources too.

    thanks, Paula

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  5. it just keeps getting better and better! I LOVE the maps as wallpaper…and it’s perfect with the wood wainscoting. The tiny accessories in the botanists’ cabinet, and the cabinet hardware! The colors you’ve used! Gosh, everything is perfect!

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  10. I love this transformation of the dollhouse, and these ideas could so easily be duplicated in an actual living space!

    Your posts are so uplifting and bring a bright spot of creativity and calmness in this very chaotic world.

    Thanks for that!

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    1. I’ve added a nice hint of pastel color to this hallway with those pretty pinks and aquas in the map pages. I couldn’t keep the entire dollhouse in neutrals, right?

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  13. love EVERYTHING!!! I always love maps and this made great wallpaper! Reminds me of my boys room in our old house, I found a bunch of old National Geographic maps and papered a chair rail. Great job!!!

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    1. I’m not sure what happens to pictures that are attached to emailed comments, but they must go off into Neverland because they don’t show up on my end. If you ever want to send me a picture you can either message me on Facebook (which I admit, I’m not very good about noticing) or email me directly at qisforquandie@gmail.com

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