Swallows Rest Diary: Part Four - A Vintage Triang Dolls House No. 55 from 1963

Swallows Rest is coming along nicely and all the rooms have been wallpapered now.

Gladys and Gerald's bedroom even has a new carpet and they are very pleased.  

Homemade: bed, mattress sheets and covers, carpet.

Extras needed are: a quilt for the bed, items for the dressing table and drawers and a picture or two on the walls.

Timothy and Thomas are pleased with their room and Timothy can't wait to be allowed to stick his posters back on the wall.  Thomas loves his fort and toy soldiers.

Homemade:  Bedding, fort and soldiers

Items needed:  Toys! Apparently ;)  Oh and a record player Timothy insists...although that will go in the lounge.

The bathroom has had a bit of a change with a new blue bathroom suite installed.  

Homemade:  Towel rail and towels and floor mats, toilet roll & holder.

Items needed:  Bathroom accessories.

Oops, looks like Gerald's Dad has been at the ol' whiskey!

Homemade: Bookcase, books, coffee table, fireplace surround and mantel, lamp, pictures.

Items needed:  Books and ornaments and a record player.

Gerald is ready to carve the roast for dinner.  They have just taken possession of a new dining table and chairs since this photo was taken.

Items needed:  Telephone and phone book for telephone table.

Place settings - crockery and cutlery etc.

The kitchen is looking good.  

Homemade: baskets, bread, wall shelving, plate rack, towel rail, dresser, window, clock, jam jars on dresser.

Items needed:  Crockery and food!

Gladys has been busy baking and cooking all day!

 

Swallows Rest Diary: Part Three - A Vintage Triang Dolls House No. 55 from 1963

There is now house name sign above the front door which Gladys is very proud of.

It feels like a real home with a sign above the door.

I'm really pleased with how the sign turned out.

In the bedroom the boys have decided who is going to sleep where.  I've made the matching bedding for them. 

Posters are being stuck on the walls, although their Mum (Gladys) has told them that once it is decorated they won't be allowed to stick pictures on the wall....I wonder if they will take any notice?

Gerald has just come home from work and is having a rest in the lounge. 

Two baskets have been made for vegetable produce.

These will go in the kitchen.

This one will hold the potatoes from the garden that Gerald works so hard on.

I've made a new dresser as I wanted something a little narrower than the existing one, but taller.  I'm really pleased with this.

I think Gladys is too.  It fits in nicely by the sink which is now centered under the window.

She doesn't have many groceries for the shelves yet...

 

Swallows Rest Diary: Part Two - A Vintage Triang Dolls House No. 55 from 1963

This is one of the shelving units that came with the dolls house. 

I liked it but wanted to make a plate rack.  I considered altering this, but as it is an original piece I decided to make my own.

This is how it turned out.

It fits some plates in nicely.

I put it on the wall.

I also made another shelve unit and put it on the other wall.

Gladys likes it very much indeed.

She has already started to use the shelves.

I also made the back 'window' with the fabulous view up the garden. 

It is big, but it lets in lots of light. 

At the back you can see I also made a little shelf which holds a tea towel.

All the items I have made so far have been made predominantly using cereal boxes, tooth picks and lollipop sticks.  

 

Swallows Rest Diary: Part One - A Vintage Triang Dolls House No. 55 from 1963

After several failed starts, and selling off all but one of my dolls houses, I now have a new enthusiasm for all things tiny after finding this delightful Triang dolls house locally, back in April.  It was an absolute bargain and came with a load of furniture too, so I was very pleased and very excited.  

It is a Tri-ang No. 55 from 1963 and in very good condition. I just love it!

The inside has some flooring down but is otherwise a blank slate for me to work on.

I popped some of the furniture that came with the house into the bottom three floors and papered the kitchen.

The carpet sweeper I already had and I also had the little pots.

I used some scrapbook paper I had.  (I should have a huge box of scrapbook paper, but I can't seem to find it after the move, so I am not sure what happened to it which is a real shame)

The first thing I made was the little coffee table.

Plus I put some of my paintings on the wall.  

Muriel and an unnamed lady are discussing who should take over the house.

Looking forward to continuing to work on this charming little house.