The Blue House: Living Room

I used to collect doll house miniatures. This is a picture from "The Blue House." (If the rollovers in the photo don't work, click here.)

The living room was always one of my least favorite rooms, (The dining room usually came in second.) partially because I was never crazy about this living room furniture. It was too boxy for my taste and I wasn't a huge fan of the flower print. I got it as a gift when I was very young, and since I had it, I never bought another set and made use of it for many years. Adding the pillows helped a bit. They were handmade and bought at a Guild Show. It looks like I also had a newspaper, magazine, or possibly a coloring book on the couch on the left. I was always trying to add items to the furniture to make it seem a little less "stiff." (It's all about accessorizing folks! ;) )

While we're talking about things I wasn't crazy about in this room, I'm pretty sure I made those curtains. I think it was my first "curtain making attempt" ever (and it shows!)

In the very left of this picture you can just barely make out the staircase leading to the second floor. To the right of the front door is a small shelf with a basket, and above it is a pendant that had some kind of artwork etched into half a nut (a gift) and some kind of picture above that.

Along the back wall is a rocking chair that I believe was one of the first miniatures I owned. It was very nicely made and I think I got it at the same time I got the brass bed and full length mirror in The Parent's Room. Next to it is a round table that came with a wooden candle (not pictured.) I bought that during a High School trip to the House of Seven Gables in Salem MA. I don't remember where the blue and white bowl on top of it came from. I think it was from a table selling miniatures at a craft/street fair. Behind it is a fake floor plant my mother bought me years ago. I had a hard time finding room for it but my mother loved it and said I HAD to have it!

I had two upright pianos. I think this one was also a music box. I wish you could see the castle sculpture better. It was very cool. I got it at a street fair. Most of the rest of the items along the back wall are labeled if you roll your mouse over them.

The gramophone was one of many metal Asian miniatures that were on the market at that time. Most weren't anywhere near scale, but this one was close, so I used it. The picture above it is of a cat. I cut it out of a catalogue.

The fireplace along the right wall was definitely one of my first items. Very common back then. Practically impossible to find now. It was a very simple fireplace which I liked more and more as I got older. Most other fireplaces I saw were too large or ornate for my tastes. The candles on top of the fireplace are real. There's a fake potted plant on top of the fireplace, and I think there's a sea shell to the right of it. I loved the miniature painting over the fireplace. It was real.

The area rug in the center is one I agonized over for a while! I was in search of the "perfect rug" (at a price I could afford) and it took me a while to get that one. Nowadays they're much easier to find and a lot less expensive. On the coffee table is a Scrabble board with some tiles in the center. The Scrabble box is to the left.

To the left of the center couch, on the floor and barely visible, is a brown dog. He was plastic with brown fuzz. It was the very first pet I had for my house. I got a dog bowl to go with him with the name "Spot" written on the side in red (it's in the kitchen). The dog was solid brown, so when I got him home I colored a dark brown spot in his back, made him a blue collar out of fabric, and then I was happy. :)