My KITCHEN IS SINK-ING!!!

Villa Leone's kitchen has a Old Stone Sink.
AND
not only that 
but as of today,
I can proudly proclaim that  
One Half 
of the Villa's kitchen
 is completely done!

I have to say that out loud because I can't believe it myself!

This has been an interesting journey to say the least. 
It has entailed building a second small hall enclosure   on the main floor of this 
Greenleaf Willowcrest kit, 
prior to 
constructing a proper kitchen;
which meant building from the back, 
which is the front face of the house
 as I built forwards
 towards the open end.

such a lot of thinking and pre-planning
WHEW!

Yet even though it has been extra challenging, 
I quite enjoy that sense of realism 
which comes with viewing 
rooms behind rooms 
and down passageways. 

But
 Since my 'willy-wonka' construction techniques 
are not always square;
*sigh*
I am gaining LOTS of experience on how to 
discreetly "fudge" on my  
"mis-measured measurements"
 *another sigh*
so that all will still look 
right 

  and I'm not done yet. 

In any case
 I thought I would fill you in on the 
completed Right Side 
 of Villa Leone's kitchen 
which I have to admit 
♥I'm Very HAPPY with ♥ 
♥

***

First let me say that
after a very heated discussion
between me and myself and I,
I decided to change the kitchen wallpaper so that it was completely different 
from that in the 
Service Hall.

  I had previously determined to use a bolder print of a French Aubusson carpet 
as a backsplash behind the stove, 
yet after I'd changed the basic wallpaper
 that particular rug print 
no longer worked. 

After much searching through all of my paper files,
I managed to find an substitute picture of a rug pattern with muted colors in greens, sepia, and golden tones,
  which I made multiple color copies of, 
then cut and glued the paper to fit
around the lower 2/3's of all 3 kitchen walls. 
The rug print was then sealed and aged
 and then sealed again.
The end result is that the kitchen walls 
appear very faded and   
"OLD WORLD"

I knew I wanted even more of that same
 "Old/Ancient" look 
for the proposed stone sink 
which would be made to measure 
to fit under the arched kitchen window. 

I followed and slightly modified
Lea Frisoni's 
kitchen sink instructions from her
FABULOUSLY POPULAR
"BIG BOOK OF A MINIATURE HOUSE"
I built the basic form from scraps of used balsa wood, 
and skinny sticks.  
Mine is a BIG sink 
so it needed some rather hefty supports.
I found 2 wooden corbel gathering dust in my stash 
and glued them to the base of the sink box.

 I sealed the wood with an
All Purpose water-based sealer.
When that was dry, I coated the wood with a thin layer of wall-patch 
as suggested in Lea's book.  

This is what the sink looked like when the wall-patch had dried.
I gave it a light sanding, 
followed by
and overall spray of Matte Acrylic sealer.

Although, I could have left the sink as is, 
I decided that it was
too Bright against the muted walls of the kitchen. 

 After digging through my paints supplies,
I found a jar of a gritty textured paint which I watered down and brushed over the entire sink unit- 
top, sides and bottom.

After the paint had dried,  
I gave it a light sanding and 
 another light spray of the Matte Sealer, 
then painted it again-
this time with a mix of
POWDERED CHALKS AND WATER

It took a few tries before I was satisfied with the color of the stone.
I gave it another light spray to seal the chalks.
Then to accentuate the texture with some additional highlights,
I lightly dry-brushed sections of it 
with white acrylic chalkboard paint.



The photo below gives you the opportunity to clearly see the  kitchen wallpapers,
as well as 
the FINISHED SINK

at this stage
everything
except the paper
 was being held onto the walls with generous blobs of
BluTac
call it-
commitment phobia!

By now,
I was beginning to get a better feel for the personality of the room 
even though 
all I could see was a
VERY BIG
SINK

which I needed to get finished.

Because the underside was fully exposed, 
I felt it needed a drain-pipe.
 I made one from a
bendy straw, metal washers, eyelets and a snap fastener.
Once the pipe was painted black, it was glued under the sink and aged. 

For the sink faucet, 
I needed something which would extend forward 
out from the kitchen wall 
and over the sink.
 Initially I was planning to make a set
 but then I FOUND the plumbing unit I'd purchased last year 
at the Seattle Show.
*Hooray!!!*
 They were originally meant to stand upright on top of the counter, 
soooooo 
I snipped off the original faucet from between the taps, 
turned the plumbing on its side and used a metal file to flattened and smooth the base for a new spout connection between the taps. 

 I fashioned the new water spout from lead free soldering wire, then I glued on a tiny metal bead spacer to its base, 
 added a tiny slice of plastic Q-tip which was slipped over the end and glued it to the head of the spout.

I painted the entire unit with 
an "old brass"colored nail polish 
to match the rest of the plumbing fixture, 
followed by a clear gloss glaze with a touch of 
turquoise blue applied sparingly 
for corrosion.
 The taps were painted with white nail polish and more clear gloss glaze
 which I lightly aged with brown shoe polish.

With the sink made, it was time to make it look usable.
I was concerned that the wide drain 
would swallow whole 
whatever got too close to it - even a tomato!
So to be on the safe side
I made a plug.
It is a section of a wood turning with a small jump-ring and a tiny gold chain glued to the top of the plug and then to the underside of the faucet.
I was satisfied with the plug and felt all was moving along smoothly 
UNTIL
I tried the sink on on the wall
  between an old chest of drawers and the 
Weston Butcher block-

UNFORTUNATELY
since you could no longer see the supports underneath,

 MY HEAVY STONE SINK 
APPEARED TO BE FLOATING
ON AIR!

*sigh*

Soooooooo,
to visually anchor the sink to the floor, 
I made a skirt for it. 
I Mod Podged a leftover scrap of the photocopied print used for the walls, 
onto some very fine cotton fabric.

After soaking and removing the paper backing, 
I sprayed the fabric transfer with more of that
 MATTE ACRYLIC SPRAY, 
and when that was dry,
 I sewed a rod pocket along the top, 
gathered the stiffened fabric to create folds, 
inserted a metal rod and then glued the rod to the stone supports under the sink.
Too bad that it hides the plumbing and the corbels
BUT
hey-
you win some and you lose sight of some!

Below you can see how the sink looks 
wearing it's new skirt.
 

Now I shall tell you about the kitchen lighting.

I found a old light fixture which I had made 
some years ago
using an old gum ball container, buttons, beads, paper, and assorted jewelry findings.
I painted over its black paint with a patina green chalk board paint, and brushed a thick layer of 
white school glue over the 
"glass" insert to bulk it up

I was glad to have re-discovered this lamp laying about in my stash because it has exactly the right personality for the kitchen and frankly,
this is the ONLY room in the entire Villa, where there is  good ceiling height with plenty of air space around it
 to support this fixture's visual weight.  

Currently, the lamp is still stuck to the kitchen ceiling with 

Blu Tac.

I won't glue it permanently to the ceiling until I've decided 
on how to finish the LEFT SIDE of the kitchen, 
which ultimately will determine
the final position of the ceiling fixture.

In the meantime, 

I tried to make some tomatoes for the sink

using my old nemesis-

FIMO! 

I combined 2 youtube tutorials to make them
using 

SUGAR CHARMS SHOP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhhqD0_G9u4
for mixing the colors and getting the shapes
and 

JOANNE'S MINIS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOcpohwx37c
for the method of making the green tops and finishing them.
My fimo tomatoes turned out okay; 
  I'm still making them since I'm not entirely happy; 
striving for more realistic results.

nevertheless, 
when they're grouped in a bowl 
they look pretty good;

however 
 they look Even BETTER from AFAR! :D

Janine's market basket is full of fresh vegetables
 which are also awaiting their turn in the sink

The green beans were rolled out from the left over green clay which I'd used for the tomato tops; 

they were much more fun and easier to make than the tomatoes!

And last
 but not least, 
for around the sink window,
I made 5 rustic shelves from assorted craft sticks.
I inserted brass pins along the undersides of the shelves from which to hang a variety of foods 
and kitchen equipment.

I deliberately hung the shelves high so that the items on them wouldn't look cramped and/or congested. 

Once the shelves where firmly glued to the wall, then I began sorting through 
my stockpile of STUFF 
to dress them up. 

I had been thinking about doing this for 
A LONG TIME
so I already had a loose plan in my mind of how I thought the shelves should be filled. 

 I'll definitely need a folding step ladder 
to reach the pots on the top

but I might already have one
SOMEWHERE 
hiding in my stash

 
The garlic and onion braids were made by 
my friend Fatima 
and
the copper saucepan 
hanging between the onions and the garlic 
was a gift from 
Linda Park
The individual garlic bulbs displayed in the pottery bowl,
were made by me.

The set of blue and white kitchen canisters 
with Italian labels are from
Carrie Lavender of
A LAVENDER DILLY
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/ALavenderDilly

SCORE!
I'd found a length of cotton fabric at the thrift store with a tiny stripes of red and green stitched along the edge. 
How PERFECT is that?

Sorry for the fuzzy photo, but I wanted to show you the view from the kitchen into 
the completed 
and heated
Service Hall.

The HUGE radiator had been buried in my stash
probably purchased from the Seattle Show,
 and although I was previously unhappy with its bulk,
I've gotten used to its super-sized proportions and now I like it.

Portia the cat likes it too!  She finds it warmer 
and more comfortable to be
sprawled across the window ledge 
than when she was on the hall table, 
so she has claimed this 
room with a view 
as her own. 

*The doll standing at the sink in the photos below
 is for scale purposes only*
the poor dear is in desperate need of some new clothes rather than these "borrowed" ones
 which were forcibly taken from another dolly! 
tisk tisk.

It appears that she is totally preoccupied at the sink.
I wonder what she is up to?

I think she going to rinse those Fimo tomatoes!

YUP!

 she'd best be careful that they don't go tumbling down the drain!

THE STUFF ON THE SHELVES

Bread and cheeses were both made by me

 The carving knife was made by 
PAT RICHMOND of 
TWIN HEART MINIATURES
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Twinheartmini
Pat is a regular vendor 
at the annual March Seattle Show

The bread is from my special mix of Air Dry Clays

Well friends-
It looks like we have once again 
reached the end of another delightful visit.
I really enjoyed showing you 
the sink-ing of Villa Leone's kitchen  
and I hope you'll return again
for when I get the left side of this kitchen done. 

So 
until we meet again....
Addio! 

And have a Very Merry Christmas

♥
Wait just a minute!
there's a
BONUS FEATURE
Villa Leone's new Italian Stove!

JUST ARRIVED TODAY FROM
MOLLY SUE MINIATURES

http://www.mollysueminiatures.com/

hohoho

and a Merry Christmas to ME! 

♥

elizabeth