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Through the Wardrobe

~ Creating Narnia in Our Attic

Through the Wardrobe

Tag Archives: Cair Paravel Library

Where It All Started

01 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by mimiswardrobe in Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Aslan's Tent, Attic, Cair Paravel Library, Spare Oom, The Lodge, Wardrobe

This blog started with us creating Narnia in our attic.  It’s been a couple years since then, and Narnia is well-loved and well-lived-in by our three grandchildren.  Now that it’s not brand new, it seemed like a good time to revisit it and see how it’s worn, so to speak.

Heading up the stairs–Aslan’s Tent is on the right, the rest of Narnia on the left.

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The door to Aslan’s Tent.

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I like to say that Aslan’s Tent is done in Rococco-Morocco style.

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I had the builder add a small window at the top of the stairs to give a sneak-peek at Narnia, and I think the Gothic touch fits Cair Paravel.

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Unlike the books, our Wardrobe is located in Cair Paravel because, after all, this is a floor plan in a house–not an actual world!

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Although the books never mention it, I’m sure there was a Library in Cair Paravel, because every castle must have a library.

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Around the corner of the left-hand edge of the above photo is the door to The Lodge.

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Inside, The Lodge should meet the approval of any dam-building rodent!

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Across Cair Paravel is Spare Oom, which is more in its craft mode now (meaning a mess) than its guest room mode.  But it does clean up nice.

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Word Press seems to have choked on all these photos, so I’ll wait for the next post to go on through the Wardrobe into Narnia proper.

 

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The Wardrobe Gets Around

29 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by mimiswardrobe in Books, Design, DIY, Family, Home, Movies

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Aslan's Tent, Cair Paravel Library, Dawn Treader, Decor, Design, Narnia, Spare Oom, The Lodge, Wardrobe

My niece, who works in the computer field, just had a post on our Narnia project published on the Homeketeers blog.  Be sure to check it out!  (It’s published under her nom de plume.)  For anyone who’s new to the story of how we turned our attic into Narnia, my niece’s account is clear and concise–and a good way to find out about it without reading through about 75 posts!

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Stardust from Narnia

04 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by mimiswardrobe in Books, Home

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Tags

Cair Paravel Library, Grandkids, Inspiration, Narnia

734480_603731919641478_334213336_nI found this on Facebook today and thought it was a lovely image.

I hope Narnia and all the books in Cair Paravel will sprinkle lots of stardust over our grandchildren’s lives!  I hope Aslan and Tumnus, Lucy and Peter, Billy and Blaze, Pod and Arrietty, Laura and Mary Ingalls–and a whole host of other characters–will be their childhood companions through countless imaginary adventures.  I want them to look back on magical memories of pony rides on Julie, helping Didi feed the animals in the barnyard and making crafts with Mimi.

My family moved around so much that I rarely got to spend time with my grandmothers, and I only knew one grandfather, who spent his time in front of the TV. I loved my grandmothers, but I have so few memories of things we did together.  My own children missed out on what having grandparents can be.  My husband’s parents died before any of them were born, and my parents were so strict that spending time with them was more something to dread.

A few years ago I looked at our children’s book collection and said that some day I wanted to be the Book Grandma.  When we moved here, I said I wanted to be the Farm Grandma.  Then we built Narnia, and I would say I want to be the Narnia Grandma–but this quote says it so much better.  I want to be the Stardust Grandma!  I think that pretty much covers everything grandparents can be to their grandchildren!

 

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Decorating Hang-Ups

07 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by mimiswardrobe in Books, Design, DIY, Home

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Aslan's Tent, Cair Paravel Library, Decor, Design, DIY, Grandkids, Kara, The Lodge

Sorry about the title, that’s my punning nature rearing its ugly head!  🙂
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It’s been a little over a month since Narnia was ready to host guests, but the stairwell was still  bare, bare, bare.  First I was sick for 2 months, then I went to Dallas for 2 weeks.

But I came home from Dallas eager to get going on all the things that hadn’t gotten done yet. One of those was to re-hang my family portrait gallery.

As you can see, my husband and I have a lot of ancestors!  His are on the left, mine on the right.

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He has a couple on the landing, too, next to the antique mirror from the old Tivoli theater that Jim & Monique gave us one year.  I’ve always loved it there, but now I love it even more because it hints at special things upstairs.

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We have four kids, too, so they take up a whole wall.  Their adult portraits used to hang right where the Gothic window is now, so they had to find a new home.

I like this wall–baby pictures with the kids’ mosaic self-portraits made in homeschool and finally their wedding  (or single hood) photos. It will be fun for the grandkids to see their parents as they head into Narnia.

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The placement of the wall is particularly appropriate, right next to Aslan’s Tent (the parents’ bedroom).  While looking for light-blocking curtains at WalMart the other day, I found these and thought they might go in Spare Oom.

When I opened the package, the festoons of crinkly fabric and fringe cried, “Aslan’s Tent” as clear as day!  I think they are perfect across the doorway as a hint to the extravagance inside.

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I finished the walls of Aslan’s Tent some time ago, but just got around to taking pictures.  After all the methods I researched for hanging fabric,  the one I finally used was ridiculously simple:  I put knots in rough hay twine and used upholstery tacks to “nail” the twine to the wall, then draped the fabric over the twine.  The “hairiness” of the twine helps hold the fabric in place, and the twine doesn’t stretch at all so there’s little sagging.  And my method is TONS cheaper than airplane cable!

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I covered the metal door to the attic in a piece of red brocade Moroccan fabric and a yard of gold lace.  Thanks to a metal cafe rod and cafe rod clips, these are no-sew curtains, the best kind!

We finally got the armoire moved up, so guests have plenty of room to move in.

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On the opposite side of the room, the same colors in an opposite arrangement drape the glass doors to the balcony with more no-sew curtains.  A batik reminiscent of “A Horse and His Boy” hangs beside the chairs.  I bought this for Herb in Africa in 1985, and it’s been waiting for the perfect spot ever since it left his office there!

DSC_6811 The Moroccan curtains are there for a purpose–to hide the ugly brown room-darkening curtains.  As you can see, they do a pretty good job.  This is a great place for parents to sleep late while Didi and Mimi feed the kids breakfast downstairs.

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I took my hang-ups over into the Cair Paravel Library, too.  A large ornate mirror throws back light that comes through the stained glass door.  Next to it are two brass-rubbings I did in London many years ago, never thinking that Queen Anne Boleyn and St. George killing the dragon would bring a Narnian flavor to my decor.  I’m probably the only one that knows they aren’t a King and Queen of Narnia!

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About 15 years ago, I bought this painting from a street artist in Aix-en-Provence.  We watched him do it entirely with spray paint.  (Check out Urban Wallart for more things you can do with spray paint.)  We gave it to my brother-in-law, a science fiction fan, because it was a science fiction subject.  Some years later when he didn’t want it anymore, my sister sent it back to me, and I’m so glad she did!  Kara and I think it looks just like the castle of Cair Paravel by the sea–and I think the sea looks like it’s about to spill over the frame into the room.

I found the big gold frame for $7 at Unclaimed Baggage, and it was a perfect fit.  I love serendipitous surprises like that!

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The Lodge got some attention, too.  While I was in Dallas I was near a Hobby Lobby (as opposed to being an hour away here), and I found some leather bracelet kits which work perfectly to hang my special walking stick towel bar.  What does it look like to you?

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I think it looks exactly like a dragon with long squinty eyes, horns for ears, a little beard and a blunt nose.  (If you can’t see it, he’s looking to the right.)

DSC_6768 This is a very nice dragon, and he’s perfectly willing to hold the bathmat.  I won’t have any mean dragons in our Narnia!  It’s a hang-up of mine!

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The Cair Paravel Library is Open for Business!

18 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by mimiswardrobe in Books, Design, Home

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Cair Paravel Library, Decor, Design, Grandkids, Wardrobe

It’s taken awhile, but the Library is finally open for business!
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This is the first glimpse of Cair Paravel as you come up the stairs and look through the Gothic window.

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Just inside the window is this bookcase that I found in an out-of-the-way used furniture store that I popped into on a whim.  With the corner trim and arched top, it adds an elegant touch to Cair Paravel.  (I took this shot from across the room, inside the Wardrobe.)

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Here’s the Reading Nook  with its new Billy bookshelves (Ikea was out of extension shelves so we still need one for that low shelf in the middle).  There’s a cushion on the floor for grandkids who want to read to themselves and a comfy, throne-like arm chair, well-lighted and ready for Mimi or Didi to hold a grandchild on their lap for story time.
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Here’s another view showing most of the Wardrobe.  The little step stool is a handy Ikea find to help the little ones climb through the Wardrobe.  There’s a blue one inside for climbing into Narnia.

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The OCD side of me loves alphabetizing books!  And making lists!  I have an almost complete list of all the kids’ books from when we lived in our Victorian house and I had my computer in the Library.  I need to update it since I got rid of a few and have added a few.  If you’re reading the titles, don’t worry, that empty space next to Little Men is for Little Women, temporarily taken down.

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In case you were wondering how many books we have up here, I can tell you:  There are 807!  And that’s not counting my special favorites on the living room bookshelves right by my reading chair.  If you count those, we have 870.

Of course, the question that arises is this:  What is a “kid” book and what is an “grown-up” book?  That line gets pretty blurry.  There are a lot of books up here in Cair Paravel that dads and moms will want to read (like Lorna Doone, Ramona, Man-Eaters of Kumaon, The Three Musketeers, and the Bounty Trilogy.  And I’m sure they’ll find plenty of their old childhood favorites to re-read and to read aloud to their children when they visit.

Let’s just say that no one will ever say in this house, “I’m bored!  I can’t find anything good to read!”

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The Tale of the Vagabond Books

09 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by mimiswardrobe in Books, DIY, Home

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Cair Paravel Library, DIY

DSC_8006We have LOTS of books.  We have floor-to-ceiling shelves in our living room and a 30 foot-long wall of floor-to-ceiling shelves in our study.  They are full of books–and I ordered more shelves for Herb for Christmas!  We love our books and take good care of them.  We even read some of them!

When our children were small, I collected 600 books (give or take a few) so that while we lived in the French-speaking world, the kids could enjoy reading in their mother language.  These books traveled from New York to the Central African Republic, from there to France, and back across the ocean to Tennessee.

Ignore the tantalizing buffet and the beautiful birthday girl--just look at (half of) the shelves where our children's books lived in our Victorian house.

Ignore the tantalizing buffet and the beautiful birthday girl–just look at (half of) the shelves where the children’s books lived in the library of our Victorian house.

In our Tennessee Victorian house we built shelves in the library, and there the children’s books lived and were loved alongside my own books.  Kara was still young enough to enjoy some of them, and I re-read my old favorites, too.  Then four years ago we moved here, and the children’s books became homeless.  They lived in boxes stacked in the hay barn because we had no place for them.

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That is how the Library at Cair Paravel became a feature of our Narnian design.  Of course, C. S. Lewis never wrote about a Library at Cair Paravel, but I’m sure there must have been one.  So I let my imagination loose and thought up a regal setting for the books–a place that will make them feel like their four years of homelessness were worth enduring; a place that will bring joy to our grandchildren as they enjoy the same books their parents read; a place that will encourage us adults to pull old favorites off the shelves and enjoy them again.

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Once Cair Paravel was ready, Herb hauled over 2 dozen boxes of books into the study, and I began unpacking.  I got an unpleasant (if not completely unexpected) surprise:  The books smelled awful!  They were musty, and in some cases even mildewy!  Thus began Operation De-mustification.

De-mustification required certain equipment:

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Half a dozen bottles of 91% isopropyl alcohol  (The pharmacist was worried the DEA would flag our purchase!  It seems as if alcohol has replaced Iodine for cooking meth.)

A spray bottle (I put the pump mechanism into the bottles of alcohol rather than trying to pour alcohol into the spray bottle.)

Allergy masks and disposable gloves (optional–the masks tend to interfere with smelling the books.)

Clorox wipes

Paper towels

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As I pulled each stack of books from a box, I used a fresh Clorox wipe to remove old dust from the top of the pages.

Next, each book got the “Smell Test” like Odysseus the Wanderer in the photo above.  Books that passed the “Smell Test” got the “Lite” treatment, as follows.

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I sprayed alcohol over the front of the book and wiped it with a paper towel.  If the paper towel came away dirty, the book got further attention.  Usually one spray and swipe was sufficient to be sure the book was clean.

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I flipped the book over and repeated the same treatment on the back.

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Paperbacks were propped open face down while hardbacks were fanned open to stand up.  Since the 91% alcohol evaporates quickly, by the time I had treated two dozen or so books, I could go back to the first ones and stack them out of the way.

Any book that didn’t pass the “Smell Test” got the “Heavy Duty” treatment.  And it goes without saying, that any book with visible mold or gray speckling got the same treatment!

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Here’s one I didn’t have to smell!  I quickly learned that these ex-library books with the heavy duty cloth covers were the worst for getting mildewed.

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I think it has something to do with the glue that was used on their bindings.

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The first step in the Heavy Duty treatment was to spray each cover heavily with alcohol and wipe vigorously.  Although mold was visibly removed by wiping, I repeated the treatment with a clean paper towel to make sure no visible mold was left.  One important tip to remember is that many times the sted design on the front covers of these ex-library books will run if sprayed with alcohol and wiped.  If there’s visible mold to be removed, careful blotting will do the job without ruining the cover image.  Otherwise, the cover can be left to air-dry.

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The next step was to spray both inside covers.

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After that, I fanned the pages with one hand while spraying them with the other.

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Finally, I placed the book in a sunny windowsill to absorb some ultraviolet radiation on both the covers and the inside of the pages.  When the book had adequately aired and no longer had any bad odor, it was rehabilitated and could join its friends.  I ended up throwing away a couple of dust jackets, but I only found one book that was beyond de-mustification!

When I first started unpacking books, there was such a strong musty odor in our study that it wafted down the hall.  By the time I finished treating all the books, the odor was gone.  And best of all, when I had finished shelving all the books upstairs in Narnia, there was no odor at all!  I’d say Project De-mustification was a success!

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Narnia: Ready for a Royal Visit

29 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by mimiswardrobe in Books, Design, DIY, Faith, Home

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Aslan, Aslan's Tent, Cair Paravel Library, Dawn Treader, Decor, Design, Grandkids, Jesus, Kara, Narnia, Spare Oom, The Lodge, Wardrobe

Here’s a glimpse upstairs after I finished getting Narnia ready for the first Royal Visit by the Grandkids.

(A word of explanation is in order about “Narnia.”  We call the whole upstairs “Narnia” because all the different rooms were actually in the real Narnia, and they are part of our whole Narnia theme.  We also call the Grandkids’ Dorm itself “Narnia” because you go through the Wardrobe to get there.  Hopefully the meaning of my use of “Narnia” will be clear from the context.)

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Aslan’s Tent is the parents’ bedroom.  As you climb the red-carpeted stairs, Aslan’s Tent is on the right, across the hall from Cair Paravel.  It’s the only room that already existed upstairs.

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There’s room for a sitting area in the corner of Aslan’s Tent near the French doors to the balcony.  (The large mirror is only here temporarily.)  I have plans to make Aslan’s Tent more Rococo-Morocco, but all in good time.

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Step across the hall into Cair Paravel, soon to become the Library.  The doorway at left leads to The Lodge; the one on the right, to the landing between Cair Paravel and Aslan’s Tent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The other side of Cair Paravel will soon hold bookcases, and the reading area will move over next to the Wardrobe.

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The stained glass door that leads into Spare Oom contributes to the castle ambience of Cair Paravel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Let’s peek into The Lodge as we call the bathroom (in honor of the furry friends who led the Pevensies to Aslan).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I was delighted to find this Amish-made towel tree in a local furniture shop.  I was also excited to find the Bed, Bath & Beyond shower curtain that ties in the colors of the river rock floor, the Brazilian cherry vanity, and the log walls.  Who knew furnishing a bathroom could be so much fun?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Every bathroom in our house has to be set up for reading, so an antique hook and a Victorian-era hanger were pressed into service as a magazine rack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kara found this reproduction sampler (made in China) at a local antique store, and we laughed so hard I had to buy it.  That’s one of the best $10 I’ve ever spent!  Kara thought hanging it across from the shower would be the perfect touch.  In case you can’t figure out why, here’s what the motto says:  “When this you see remember me, and bare me in your mind.  Let all the world say what they will, speak of me as you find.”  (The answer appears at the end of this post.)

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I had fun making this toilet paper holder from:  a lion’s head pull I spray-painted bronze; a key chain ring; a piece of leather rein; a curtain rod hook; and a piece of an old broomstick that Herb cut down for me.  The rein is permanently screwed to the dowel on the right while the curtain rod hook fits through an existing hole in the rein for changing rolls of TP.

 

 

 

 

 

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Let’s take a quick peek into Spare Oom as we call my craft room.  It’s a great place to read by a window with a view or to stick an extra guest, as long as they don’t mind a crafty mess!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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And finally–on to Narnia proper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Aslan waits beside the miniature Christmas tree Kara decorated as a gift for her niece and nephew.

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If you look behind you after you enter Narnia, this is what you see.  Some of the decorative features are (from left) a cross-stitch of Jesus and the children rescued from a junk shop along with the lion mirror (Aslan, of course!); an antique hunt cabinet with a dragon that we purchased from Kara; and next to the lion corbel, the quote that sums up our whole project, taken from C. S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader:

“I am [in your world],” said Aslan. “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. That was the very reason you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”

(A future post will cover this vinyl wall words project.)

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The berths on the boys’ side have fur throws for blankets and red velour spreads which can double as dress-up capes.

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The dress-up capes on the girls’ side are purple.

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At the foot of each bed is a crown hook for hanging pajamas or robes.  (A future DIY post will feature the hooks.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DSC_5991As we turn out the lights, all is ready for the arrival of Charis and Kol, Daughter of Eve and Son of Adam, Queen and King of Narnia.

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Ben’s Busy Day

29 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by mimiswardrobe in Design, Home

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Tags

Cair Paravel Library, Construction, Decor, Narnia, Spare Oom, The Lodge, Wardrobe

Ben’s busy day happened on Dec. 20, but I’m just now catching up after Christmas.  It was a long, busy day, and I’m grateful for everything he did because he got Narnia ready for company.

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He installed the brackets I had painted, turning the ordinary window in the wall into a Gothic-style arch.  It’s a suitably elegant peek into the curious world at the top of the stairs.

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He mounted the lion drawer pulls on the closet door of Spare Oom.

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He mounted the antique French door knocker on the door of The Lodge so people can check to see if the bathroom is occupied.

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He mounted my oil-rubbed bronze-painted lion head knocker inside The Lodge to serve as a place to hang a towel or a change of clothes.

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He drilled holes into the second lion knocker and mounted it on the wall by the sink to hold hand towels.

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He hung the driftwood mirror over the stone sink.

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His final task in The Lodge was to enhance the river rock floor.  This seals and protects the stone as well as bringing out its natural color.

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The day before, Ben had assembled the Wardrobe in Cair Paravel across the door of Narnia.

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On this long, busy day, he finished installing the Wardrobe.  He attached it to the wall with straight metal braces; bent angle brackets to reinforce the side panels to the frame; carefully removed the drawer fronts from their dovetailing and braced the now “faux” drawer fronts in place; and finally, removed the batten trim from the Wardrobe so he could hinge the door in place.  (I have to darken the stain where the batten was removed.)

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In the top photo of the Wardrobe, you can see the center braces that the drawers slid along.  Since this interfered with us stepping through the Wardrobe, Ben removed and preserved the center brace, replacing it with a brace behind each side panel (see above).

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Here’s a closer look showing how we can now step through the wardrobe while standing upright, something we could not have done had we kept the drawers and floor in place.  All that remains is to find step stools to help the kids climb over until they grow some more!

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I wanted to honor Ben with a photo at the end of the day because he did such a craftsmanlike job with the Wardrobe, respecting and preserving its status as an antique while making sure it would be sturdy and safe as The Wardrobe into Narnia.  Thank you, Ben, for a job so well done!

 

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DIY Decor Project: Prime & Paint HVAC Vent Covers

23 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by mimiswardrobe in DIY, Home

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Tags

Cair Paravel Library, Colors & Paint, Decor, DIY, Narnia, The Lodge

With a dark turquoise ceiling in Narnia, a sky blue ceiling in The Lodge and gold-glazed wall in Cair Paravel, I thought the standard white HVAC vents would look shockingly out of place.  After lots of research on the internet (some of which said you can paint HVAC vents with latex paint and some of which said you can’t), I decided to try.  Here’s what I did:
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(1)  I lined the vent covers with foil.  I used heavy-duty foil torn off just at the width of the vent covers.  I folded one end into a point and “ironed” it flat with my fingers.  Then, with the help of a tweezers, I fed the foil point in between the stationary slats on the front and the moveable slats inside the vent cover.  I slid them into the fully open position that I planned to use once they were installed.

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(2)  Once the foil was fed completely through the slats (note that this involved some delicate pushing and pulling through some tight spaces), I folded the excess foil around the back of the vent cover.

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(3)  This is what each vent cover looked like from the front.  I felt it would be too complicated to try to paint the inner slats, and this way the most obvious part would get painted.

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(4)  I lightly sanded the vent covers with 220-grit sandpaper to rough up the slick painted surface.

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(5)  I used a clean paint brush to gently sweep away any particles left from sanding.

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(6)  I chose Rustoleum Professional Primer because its sprayer works at any angle and because it specifies that it is for previously painted surfaces.  Some tutorials I read suggested “etching primer,” but when I bought it and read the instructions, it seemed to be exclusively for bare, unpainted metal.

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(7)  I laid each vent cover out flat and sprayed lightly, being sure to get at every angle of the slats.

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(8)  I took a piece of cardboard and poked all of the screws through it, leaving only the heads exposed.  Since they were all different, I labeled them to be sure I knew what color to paint them and so I could get them into their correct vent covers.  I primed the screws on the cardboard so that the threads would be kept clear of primer.

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(9)  Each vent cover got two coats of primer (like the one above) to be sure all the white paint was completely covered.

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(10)  I found the best method for painting on the latex paint was to use this 3/4″ artists brush which is fairly flexible.  Too stiff of a brush would leave definite brush marks in the paint.  First I painted the slats, and wherever paint went over onto the edges, I brushed it out in the direction I intended to paint the edge.  Once the slats were painted, I painted around the edges, not forgetting the tiny edge that would be noticeable once the vent cover was mounted.

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(11)  Each vent cover and screw got two coats of latex paint except the yellow one which got one coat of paint and two coats of golden glaze (not shown).

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(12)  Once the paint was fully dry, I sprayed each vent cover and all the screws with two coats of Crafts, Etc. “Triple Thick Clear Glaze” and let Ben install them.

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The vent covers look great mounted–mainly because they’re not noticeable!  It remains to be seen whether my technique will hold up to the passage of heated and cooled air, but since we have a heat pump, the air is never really that hot as it comes out of the vents so I’m hopeful!

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DIY Decor Projects: Transform a Door Knocker

10 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by mimiswardrobe in Design, DIY

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Cair Paravel Library, Decor, DIY, The Lodge

These next few posts will deal with various DIY projects I’m doing to add the perfect touches to our Narnia decor.

First is to spruce up an antique French “hand” door knocker.
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While on an exterior door of our former house, the brass accents got dull and got a few swipes of white paint from a careless paintbrush.

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I used fine steel wool to gently remove the paint and to bring out the highlights while leaving the dark, antique patina untouched in the recessed areas.  Now The Hand is ready to hang on the Cair Paravel side of the bathroom door–a fancy way to teach kids to knock before entering!

These two lion head door knockers will go in The Lodge as a towel hanger on the door and another beside the sink.  (I bought the rusty ones because they were half the price of the weathered bronze ones which still wouldn’t have been the right color.)  I love these lions, but not what their rusty finish would do to my towels!  All the other hardware in The Lodge is oil-rubbed bronze, so . . .

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First I went over the lions with fine steel wool to remove any loose rusty finish.  Then I bought a can of Rustoleum Oil-Rubbed Bronze spray paint.

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I stuck the bolts in the holes of an upside-down clementine box to spray them.  Neat, huh?

DSC_5446I flipped the rings up onto the lions’ faces and sprayed a light coat from all sides, then let it dry.

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Here’s the job halfway done.  When the paint was dry, I flipped the rings down and sprayed lightly from all angles, making sure not to miss the sides near the paper.

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Here are the finished bolts and one lion.  There are tiny sparkly, coppery particles in this paint so that it catches the light and truly looks like oil-rubbed bronze.

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Here’s a final look at the lions in different light.  This photo doesn’t do justice to their warm bronze patina.  I think they look amazing!

The final adaptation will be to mount one on the wall beside the sink.  Stuart says he can drill holes through one lion so it can be screwed into the wall.  The one to be mounted on the door won’t need any adaptation as the hardware that comes with them includes bolts with those antique-looking nuts to screw in on the opposite side of the door.

One project down!

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