Thursday 18 February 2010

Library bookshelves and a secret staircase














The library in the Wizards and Wands Bookstore building is Hywel's domain. He is handmaking everything, I am not allowed to buy anything for it...yet (apart from Aunt Agatha) .... just wait untill he wants to put lights in, he hasn't thought of that so far, too busy making bookshelves and secret stairways!!! lol. So above is a pic of his bookshelves under construction. They still need the shelves to be put in and we are having a little disagreement about whether to sand them smooth and wax them or leave them rough wood and rough varnish them. I want them sanded and gloriously highly waxed and polished, after all, this is Aunt Agatha's room!  The floor will be polished floorboards though, so I have to be careful that they don't turn out similar and merge the floor and walls into one.

Now for the best bit.... the end bookshelf will be hinged and by moving a special book, ok, the side of the bookshelf, but lets have a little fantasy imagination here ;0) you reveal a secret stairway up to the magical Wizard's snug and work room in the attic!

















The stairs are made from thin pieces of wood, glued together and then covered with Art Mache. I am going to either paint them a light grey stone colour or use Jacobean wood stain on them. I used the woodstain on the Wizards for the fireplace and they have turned out a great colour. 












Well, thats all I have to share today, I need to go and tidy the big house now, (perhaps the kids will help me if I bribe them or threaten to pull the plug on the playstation and Hannah Montana on the tv!!!) I am  then going to spend the afternoon photographing my new cushions and furniture to list in my little Etsy Store and keep one eye on the window... there is snow forecasted for this afternoon :0(  
Julia xx

10 comments:

  1. Love the little hidden stair case behind the book shelves, lovely idea. The Wizards look great with their wood stain. xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. That hidden staircase is fantastic
    I think it makes it very interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Impresionante. La escalera oculta perfecta¡¡¡¡ Pero los Magos-chimenea estan genial con ese color¡¡¡ xxx

    ReplyDelete
  4. How awesome, the hidden staircase! And I simply LOVE the wizards!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The fireplace is looking amazing and the bookcases are great, can Hywel come and make mine for Dumbeldores office, Ive bene promising to make them for months and never get round to it, where you two just get in there and get it done!!:-)
    Konw what you mean about the children, I have all 5 around me, either glued to laptops, X boxes or the TV!! Oh apart from Reilly busy making Lego, good for him using his imagination, hes more like me!! Kate xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the wizard fireplace! Very original and it looks very real! And the hidden staircase is, like Deni said, very interesting!
    hugs,
    Anneke

    ReplyDelete
  7. The hidden staircase is a fabulous idea and I love it! The wizards fireplace it just as great…fantastic! Hywel is a very talented man! :o) Did he make the wizards out of Art Mache? When I asked you what you used for the outside walls, I went and checked the bag I bought yonks ago...it's the same stuff. I am going to use real papperclay on my stairs etc., but I wanted know whether you could mould the Art Mache stuff too. I need to practice with both types, before I try it for 'real', not an expert with it like you two! lol.

    Michelle xxx

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thankyou to everyone for your great comments, it's really encouraging and keeps us moving forward :0)

    Hello to Kaleidoscopic Romance. I love your Etsy store and have been keeping an eye on your crystal balls for the wizards store!

    Hi Kate,
    Threats to turn off the electric worked... the children helped me to tidy the house and Dean even cooked us scrambled egg on toast for lunch... I'm sure he's after more pocket money!! Ah...Lego, gets everywhere, you tidy up and then you step on a little piece you didn't notice.... boy, does that hurt!!! I remember it well lol.
    Julia xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Michele,
    I totally left Hywel alone when he was making the wizards... there was lots of swearing, sighing and mess coming from the kitchen that night!! But I do know that he roughly fashioned the wizard with air drying clay and later put a layer of half dried, so workable Art Mache over the top. He uses small wax carving tools to add detail. The clay came through in places and when I painted on the woodstain last night, the clay took on a bronzed look, so that was a happy mistake!
    Art Mache is really easy to use, honestly, no expertise needed, we only discovered it a couple of months ago, we always used pollyfilla before!
    Julia xxx

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very clever things going on here! Love the wizards! The fireplace is amazing!

    ReplyDelete

Thankyou for popping by and for leaving us a welcomed comment :0)