What's in A Name? .... #The HBS Denise Kit

 I was born in the U.S.A. 

My mother was born in Canada. 
Back then... Canada was still called a Dominion and tightly linked into the British Commonwealth.  Perhaps that explains why my mom was (and still is), Fascinated by the British Monarchy and chose to name me after Queen Elizabeth II while she was still a princess.  As a young girl, my mother wrote a poem to commemorate the Princess Elizabeth on the eve of her marriage to Prince Philip which she then mailed to Buckingham Palace, and when she received a "Thank You" letter from the princess via the royal secretary, she was over the moon!
Her poem and the Thank You letter, were published in the local newspaper along with my mother's photo. She was so proud of both events that she named me "Elizabeth" after 
her Royal Highness.
Thanks mom!
:D
I think that Names are important too.

I am not sure why this kit is named "Denise"but I knew that I was going to have to give it a new name
BEFORE 
I began working on it.
Finding a suitable name whether it is for a child, a business, a book, a blog, a perfume, a pet, an event, etc., can be quite a challenge.
The name I was looking for needed to have a reference to the sea, as the photo of the cottage on the box looked to me like half of the hull of a ship.  It was to be American so that I could finally use my Americana painted furniture which I have been saving.
The name also had to be one that I would not get tired of repeating, so nothing too long like  
#43 Green Dolphin Street!
I tried out several names as I  cleaned my house in preparation for our next Miniteers Meeting

Last Tuesday Janine, Linda, and Fatima a.k.a. "The Miniteers" came over for a light lunch  and we had a great time eating, gabbing and exchanging gifts.  The sun was shining and our spirits where high. Time sped by far too quickly and was so much of fun. Towards the end of our visit they asked me about my next project, and did I have an idea yet of what I wanted to do?
It had taken me 4 days to come up with a working title, and I thought I would try it out on the group to see what they thought.  
Here is the name I presented. 
LAND'S END
"I was thinking that it is a cottage on the eastern seaboard of the U.S.A."
  then Linda said that it is the name of a place in Cornwall England!
Land's End (Cornish: Penn an Wlas or Pedn an Wlas)^[1] is a headland and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England. It is the most westerly point of mainland Cornwall and England, is within the Penwith peninsula and is about eight miles (13 km) west-south-west of Penzance at the starting and finishing point of the A30 road.^[2]
Perfect!
a British connection

Mother will be pleased!
:D 

And so
THE VERY NEXT DAY 
I opened up the HBS KIT for the first time. 

"Houston, we have a problem"
 It appears that I will need power tools to make any major structural alterations to the kit. 
*sigh*
I don't do power tools-
I can barely work with a craft knife!
Okay,... 
 that mean that I must try and work
 INSIDE THE BOX 

 I loosely assembled the kit to see what 
"Land's End" will eventually look like
I used cardstock to map out the interior walls and found some french doors in my stash and started moving them around until I found a floorplan that could work.

 To get a sense of the space and how best to organize it, I dressed the space right from the start.  I decided to make the narrow end the end a window wall using the kit's sliding doors.
Janine's Real Life home, aptly named "Becalmed Cottage" has a wall of windows that looks straight out onto the water of Boundary Bay... What a Lucky Duck!

This will be my cottage by the water.

The living room and the dining room are open to each other. There will be a step up into the kitchenette.
*Yes, another tiny kitchen*

The view is into the kitchen, however the back wall with the window is where I hope to install the bathroom.   

The glass doors which looks out towards the water
calls for a wrap around deck filled with potted plants.
That will be fun! 

One of the kit windows will go in the kitchen where the owner will have a view and lots of light. 

Since the dining area will be right in front of the deck doors, I needed enough room around the furniture to still allow easy access to the deck and into the living room. I auditioned different table shapes, benches and/or chairs but settled on the round bistro table with bentwood chairs that I purchased 2 years ago from Victoria Miniland. 
Once I got started choosing furniture the fun began. 
  Furniture and accessories that have been in storage for over a decade, were set up to work out a traffic pattern as well as coax out personality and a direction for my cottage.

 guess what?
I HAVE LOTS OF STUFF!
 I didn't realize the entire volume of it until I actually got going. 
I have been collecting not only painted furniture but also lots of toys.
 I want to use as much of my Americana /Nautical collection as I can, as well as include a wee bit of British as a nod to the crown .
 I loaded up the space with everything that I thought would work but later as the rooms takes shape, I will edit out the excess.    

F.Y.I.  the blue hydrangeas in the fireplace, were a recent gift from Fatima
and there is Lidi's basket right beside it! whoohoo!
The sailing ship on the dining table was freed from a 'ship in a bottle' display that I found waiting for me at the thrift store. I think that the flag on the sail is Australian.  I will have to verify that later with either Linda or Janine.

This toile sofa which will be include, was a lovely surprise gift from Janine during the 2015 Seattle Show we attended last March.   It makes itself right at home here.
A lady named Robin made me the country rabbit back in the 1990's. 
Last month, I had received from Linda, an adorable yellow rain slicker and a matching Sou'wester hat. 
They too will be destined for the interior of
Land's End

In the bedroom, I hope to be able to FINALLY
use my Uncle Sam doll ( artist unknown) which I purchased over a decade ago.
The American Flag (which is soon to become a miniature pillow) was clipped from a Ralph Lauren T-shirt which I bought several months ago at the thrift store.
oh.... I have so many plans!  

the wardrobe came from my "At Home By the Sea" Glencroft  but It will serve here as the closet.

After playing with the furnishing for hours, I switched out the  modern sliding doors for the French doors.
They look more Traditional and I am rather partial to Traditional
However the final decision on that will have to wait.

 I think I have figured out enough to actually get started. 

Here's is an overview of my future plans for the
HBS Denise Kit
And Yes.... it's a Mess!

From this point, working backwards, I will take Everything out and permanently assemble the cottage.
Then I will have to prime it and install the interior walls as well as work out the lighting.  
I know that I have a whole lot of catching up to do, but I shall be bringing you progress reports all along the way

LAND'S END 
officially begins now
and
God Save the Queen!


elizabeth