This Might Get Me Banned From the Internet In My House

You know how you have an idea in mind, and then you amend that idea and end up opening a whole can of worms?

That's how the start of the conservatory began!

This particular heap of stuff speaks volumes
to me even though it's hard to know where
to even begin explaining it. And, so is the
story of the pre-build of this piece!

Here's the deal. So, the conservatory is an add-on to this kit, and, when I saw it online, I knew it was a must-have because I really wanted to maximize decorating space. I have to be honest that I had a few issues with it that I chose to overlook, though. For your reference, here's a pic of it from the Manhattan Dollhouse store from where I purchased my kit:

Two things:

1. There is no access to the rooftop patio. There's not a doorway nor are there stairs on the outside. I remember "flying" my dolls to the upper stories as a kid, so I definitely noticed it, but it wasn't a deal breaker.

2. The floor of the conservatory's rooftop patio doesn't line up with the floor of the second story of the house. So, even if there were access from the house, it wouldn't work well either direction ("Oof!!" as someone nails their shins going outside, or, "SPLAT" as someone comes inside.) And, I'm one who doesn't do great with things out of alignment, but I overlooked this because I really wanted the extra room. I've seen someone build this with a fake door from the outside and no access to the inside. Design-wise, it looks great, but it's not what I wanted.

This continued to bug me until I was dinking around online looking at Google images of this particular house. That's when I happened to notice a picture I'd never before seen. And, I have not found it again. It is one where the out-of-alignment issues are fixed because the brilliant house builder eliminated the foundation of the conservatory. That lowers it just enough to be almost perfectly in line with the second story floor!

So, I had to tell Aaron immediately, and he was reasonably excited on my behalf. After all, not putting the piece on foundation is really no big deal. Little did he know that I also decided that real access to the rooftop patio was a must. Indeed, I decided a door needed to be cut into the wall.

Can open! Worms everywhere!!

I thought he was going to turn green. It is a suggestion that made him just a little sick to his stomach, but I went with the, "I believe in you" vibe and acted like it was totally possible and that I didn't notice the look of terror in his eyes. Because, I just knew it could be done!

With a few days to let him chew and/or stew depending on his mood (I walked away from that stupid cricket roof, and I had to hit the pause button to get in the right mood for the porch railings to be placed; I get it), the entire build began last night and into today.

Dry-fitting the pieces helped us figure out where some trimming needed to happen. And, of course, some unplanned refitting of pieces was necessary to accommodate the removal of the foundation! So, the big table saw got in on the action:

While Aaron took the lead on the big jobs, I had some details to get ready including creating the big, wall of windows and painting many more pieces:

A big pile of "Needs white paint" was
created.

This is a practice run of making sure the
windows line up before gluing them.

Lots of gluing and painting went on last
night getting ready for the big build!

This is when I was glad the roller was
already in its plastic bag before dropping it
on the floor.

I was even smart enough figure out what I wanted the floor to look like so I could work with it before assembly. I LOVE the outcome from mixing acrylic "Espresso Brown" colored paint and a glazing medium:

I applied it with a 1" foam brush which
worked great for just the right effect!

The next step before actually building the piece was to get the door cut in the second story. So, we ran to Hobby Lobby to get the door I'd already picked out, and we did a dry-fit to make the appropriate guide mark ...

Aaron put on his headphones to get into the zone, and he went to work:

He perforated the line with the drill.

There's a metal straight edge clamped to
the floor so the drill doesn't nick the floor.

Post-perforation!

A little Dremel action smooths the edges
enough ...

... and, in goes the door!

I wanted the door on-hand so Aaron could put it in and immediately see that a little wonkiness of the line would not be any big deal at all.

This was a huge success particularly for Aaron who was seriously nervous. He just sat and looked at it for a while after it was finished. Don't you love when you can gaze at your own success??

Once that was finished, the walls of the conservatory went up!

Aaron made supports to put under the roof to keep it level while
drying. They're in the front and back right corners. (See picture
below.) I'm going to keep them to put in as decorative pillars
now and then. Won't they be fabulous with Christmas greenery?!

(Bird's eye view of the pillars.)

THAT was a big win! I believe Aaron called it "the sauce on top"! And, this success allows me to still be on the internet so as to gaze and dream and mentally create more things to do to our fun house!

Next? The details of the conservatory come together! Windows, doors, rooftop railings and constructing a step down into the space -- now needed with no foundation to level the first floors! -- are all on the list! Reporting soon ...