Started on the second floor today. Glued in all the beams and joists first, with little holes through which the wires pass.

Then I cut out the floor as one big piece.

Measured and drew where the walls would be.

And cut part of those wall areas out so I could pass the wall studs through them later on and help strengthen the framework.

Next I cut out the walls for the bathroom, including an opening for the doorway. There will also be a window somewhere on the left, but I haven’t decided where yet.

Added a ceiling on top and you can almost imagine the bathroom done and ready to go….almost…

Good night.

So I got back to work this evening on the cabinets. Cut out, stained, and varnished the rest of the doors…

…attached them by their hinges and added knobs…

…glued the cabinets in place and loaded them with glasses and teacups…

..and there you go. I will need to collect plenty more things to put on the shelves and counters, but for now…the butler’s pantry is finished.  (Three rooms down, nineteen to go…)

———————————–

Then I turned my attention to the second floor.  Four years ago I had used some sort of design program to make a detailed plan of the house, with all the measurements worked out. Since the only version I had left was a printed one and the ink from that was sadly fading, I thought it would be safer to create an electronic copy again.

So I downloaded Sketchup and was about to enter in the dimensions I already had, when I noticed…well, I noticed that I’m not quite sure what I was thinking four years ago, but the dimensions of the three rooms I had just finished had very little to do with those on the plans…

Since I wasn’t about to chuck the rooms I had made and re-make them with the ‘correct’ dimensions, I figured my best bet would be to start from scratch again for the measurements, using what I had made as a basis and the previously-drawn plans as vague guidelines.

So far I have only sketched out the back section of the house on which I am working.  The completed first floor:

And the corresponding second floor which I am about to build:

The hallway will link these three rooms to the front of the house and the stairs.

I started gluing in the beams and joists that will go between the ceilings and the floor above.

I also drew the approximate dimensions of the three rooms onto the ceiling and added objects to see if the sizes worked before I cut out the floors.

The walls are drawn in green…I think the sizes should work fine. So next time I will finish the beams and joists and create the floors. (I bet the workmen who are building this house will be pleased when that toilet gets hooked up properly…no one likes a porta-potty.)

But for now, I will leave you with one last look at the completed pantry…

(Ack! I just noticed on this photo that the new shelves are pulling away from the wall on top as the glue is drying…I have added a clamp so it’ll dry correctly overnight…good thing I take so many photos!)

Good night.

I settled down to get through my checklist of things to do in the butler’s pantry.

Crack in the back right-hand corner filled and painted. Check.

Ceiling trimmed and glued on. Check.

Angles between walls and ceiling painted. Check.

Wooden strips cut out 3/8″ across to make cabinet doors. Check.

Four doors measured, cut, glued, stained and varnished….

Oh…right…didn’t quite get those done. Two of them have been measured, cut, and glued but that’s it for tonight.

I’ll leave you for now with a view of both rooms next to each other–the most utilitarian of servant workrooms on the left, and the pantry leading out of the staff quarters and into the dining-room on the right.  The difference in style is rather striking.

Good night.

Two blog posts today, since I ended up having a bit of time left over after getting my work done this evening.

I made two more doors for the cabinets, along with their paper clip hinges.

Stained them and varnished the entire cabinet. Then I put the doors in (in this photo, the top rail in which the hinges are fixed is not yet attached).

I glued on the top rail and door knobs (actually little metal pieces of electrical wiring that I bought once and never used) and glued the cabinet onto the wall for good.

It’s far from perfect but it’ll do for the butler’s pantry, where the servants work. Someday I’ll purchase some super-thin plastic sheets to put in the doors, but for now, I quite enjoy the practicality of being able to place the china and glassware on the shelves with the doors closed…

Next I glued the right-hand wall in place.

Took the view from above…

…before laying the ceiling on top (not glued in yet).

I still need to fill a crack where the right-hand wall meets the back wall, make two more sets of cabinet doors, glue in the last cabinet, and fix the ceiling on, but I’m so close to being done with this room…perhaps one more day of work…

For now, good night.