Thursday, April 26, 2012

East Main street Victorian Dollhouse

This is the East Main Street Victorian Dollhouse. After the Palm Island house we have returned from island  living and are back on the mainland.
   This is that charming house on Main St. USA, that you drive by everyday. The one that you slow down to see. The house is always perfect, fresh looking, and the gardens are perpetually in full bloom. This is the head turner, the house that makes you smile, take a breath,as you pause to capture all the beauty, if only for a few moments as you pass by. I think we have all experienced a house like this, almost storybook like with it's gingerbread trim and shutters. We wonder how it always seems so perfect, as if by magic, with little of no effort involved. We imagine who must live there, or perhaps imagine ourselves in such a perfection and beauty. This is the image I wanted to create with this house. Just a beautiful dollhouse on Main St..





The house is painted a lovely sky blue color, and the trim is a crisp clean, soft yellow. This is a perfect pallet for all the garden flowers to be enjoyed to their fullest! Every subtle tone in the garden is enhanced against these background colors.



Let's have a peek inside before we explore the gardens.

The front door has a design of delicate flowing vine with pink flowers and two hummingbirds in a slight blue tone are exploring them.

Moving up to the second floor, the quite elegant blue color , and earth tones move through the house.




3rd floor
The octagon window in this room is also a stained glass effect, with a design in a slightly stronger blue to contrast . There are also gold tones that give the room a warm cast when the light comes in.

Butterflies are attracted to the huge variety of flowers in bloom, and birds are always welcome.

Notice the tiny lavender butterfly on the ivory rose?










The gazing ball! My grandparents had one of these in the middle of a large flower bed. I assume the mirror finish is to reflect and magnify the look of the blooms in it's reflection.




Friday, April 6, 2012

Key West Palm Island Estate Dollhouse

This is the Palm Island Estate Dollhouse. It started out as an Alison JR. kit. A lot of modifications were done to make it much more interesting, and realistic. The original kit is a bit box like, so by adding more windows and doors, the house just opens up, and has a flow. It becomes a beautiful airy tropical home full of light and decorating potential.
The front and side steps are done in a Spanish tile look, similar to those often seen on Key West homes like the "Southern Most", and Earnest Hemmingway"s. Accents of beautiful patterned Spanish tiles are found all over, especially in the private gardens.
The landscape design includes two focal , artisan made palm trees. There is a large variety of tropical fruit trees and plants, including papaya, banana, and mango. Along the fence are colorful crotons, lush green palms, and a mix of assorted plants and textures contrasting against the crisp white pickets. Most of the tropical flowering plants were hand made in Thailand out of clay, and the tiny detailing is stunning.
The walkway is a matching tile, a crisp white with the printed tile for stepping. The small touch of the fancy pattern compliments the complex textures in the plants. The trendy coral/orange color is enhanced by the rich colorful tones in the lush foliage. Just a touch of this color from the Martha Stewart paint line was painted just under the roof line under the tower. This small "pop" of color creates a nice visual balance, and pulls some of that fun colorful tropical feeling up on to the house. The rest of the house is painted a soft white.
The house front door has stained glass windows, as well as three other windows in the downstairs. Aqua blues and orange shades are the main colors that run through the house. Tropical bird theme wallpapers were selected for the main entry room and the large top floor room. 
Three large oval windows were aded to the tower, making it the perfect place to look out over the endless ocean, or watch a beautiful golden sunset.