Monday 23 February 2015

The Terrace, Diagon Alley - Mouldy old bathroom

I've been working on lots of little jobs which all take time of course! Mostly though I've been working on the tiny bathroom....and  it's hard to work in such a confined space! It isn't anywhere near finished and I'm going to go over and tone down the distressing on the tongue and groove which you will see before I change...photo's further down the post!   :o))  I actually prefer it in this photo!
 This is the larger bedroom after more dirt applied. 

Ageing and distressing inside a building is different from ageing the exterior. The elements battle against paintwork and wood on the outside, but on the inside it's household dust, mould and damp (depending on the condition of a building! lol). Dirt inside a building is usually a different colour from outside dirt! Interior paintwork gets chipped and dirty but it doesn't get 'weathered'. To the best of my knowledge wood that's treated with barely nothing on the outside will over time go a silvery grey (Oak), whereas interior wood will take on a deeper tone of its original natural colour ...unless of course it was painted or! 

Distressing paintwork that's on the inside of a building is a challenge as I am finding!  

Remember the terrace is still upside down and so my photo's have been flipped!  
I wanted some very plain finger door plates ....they started off as plain brass, but I wanted white porcelain!  
 I also wanted door knobs to match! After one coat of white enamel paint....and in good weather I would have sprayed these outside!! Instead I painted them, not easy if you want to avoid brush strokes (though gentle sanding inbetween coats helps), they will need a second coat yet. 
 The terrace's bathroom. I've glued in the painted rafters to match the ceiling. 
 After some gentle distressing.....round one!  
 Now for some dirt...
 A little more distressing and dirt applied...
 Now some dirt added to the ceiling...
 More ageing and distressing, both wallpaper and ceiling...
 Hmmm....the finished look will be applied when the terrace is flipped the right way up.
I'm not happy with the ageing and distressing of the tongue and groove, less is more and this is waaaaay too much inasmuch it looks contrived and the worse horror of all, it looks 'weathered'!!! So I will reapply some more olive green to tone it down and go from there. 
The tongue and groove with its horrid army uniform look! Now you see why it has to change, though to be fair it is a tad calmer in real life !!!!

Anyhow.... do I go for this skirting board, deep Georgian?
 Victorian skirting board? Version 1?
 
Or Victorian skirting board, version 2? 
I think maybe because it's the attic, the smaller Victorian one?
The front liftable roof part will be attached soon. Only I want to add rafters to this as well, but I can't lay them out as I wanted or as they should be...
There should be a main supporting beam/rafter, but due to roof butting up to the dividing walls I can't have a beam that goes all the way along because it will stop it closing down properly.     
 The dividing walls are an issue!
So I have to opt for just downward rafters!
So an upside down terrace....there was only one way to fit the hinges (I also looked to see how someone else fitted this roof on).  I would have preferred the barrel part of the hinge to be inside the roof...but the hinge is too wide to be snug and secure.
Fitted like this, leaves a void big enough to let me fit my finger through the gap. I would have opted for piano hinges, but was worried about their strength with MDF. The front of the roof does align with the sides of the building with no gap..so maybe it should be like this, if that's the case I have a void that I don't like. I want a lead roof (on the flat part) with a tiled front part, so no ridge tills going across to cover the gap, hmmmm off to ponder. :o( 

I hope you don’t mind my ramblings and madness! :o))

Michelle xxxx

6 comments:

  1. Hello Michelle,
    I am truly in admiration of your weathering and ageing effects. everything looks so rich in detail. I love it. If your walls could talk...
    Big hug,
    Giac

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  2. Estás haciendo grandes avances!!! Lo que más me gusta es el trabajo de envejecimiento,es perfecto!!!
    Besos.

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  3. It's great to watch you age the house, considering most people try to keep them as pristine as possible. The damp really looks damp, the paper actually looks old. Fabulous =0)

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  4. Hi Michelle, your ageing is just jaw-dropping. You would honestly think you were looking at an old run-down house.... but that's a good thing! You're coming along well. Keep the pictures coming!!
    All the best
    Vivian

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  5. Your ageing is amazing. It looks fantastic! -Ara

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  6. Ha, great minds think alike Michelle. I have been battling with roof hinges today and have just ordered some piano hinges for Honeydukes. Will let you know how I get on .
    Fabulous work as usual.

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