So I think at this point, we're pretty much up to date with my progress on the building side of the house. I've done a lot more than you've seen on here, and there's a lot left to do, but it's just more of the same and probably not that interesting to read about.
Something that is fun though: Fire.
The house is going to have at least 4 fireplaces, probably more, and the ones available to buy are either very expensive or really plain looking. This isn't really going to be a tutorial because I was figuring it out as I went, and a lot of it comes down to what you have available, but hopefully you can get the general idea and apply to making your own fireplaces.
I started by cutting some general shapes out of 3mm foamboard.
The front and back pieces are about 4" wide and 4.5" tall, this is the size that looked right for the living room. I've already started the brick effect on the back wall as well. All I did was measure out the horizontal lines (maybe 1/4" I think) and then run over them a few times with a blunt pencil. Using some pressure I was able to punch through the surface of the foamboard and indent the foam underneath, giving me this brick effect. I've experimented with a few different techniques since then but they're all about the same.
I gave the bricks a coat of black acrylic paint, and once that was dry random splotched some orange and burnt umber on the faces of the bricks. I followed up with more black where smoke would have left the biggest mark. I'm pretty happy with this effect, it isn't the most realistic method in the world, but for something that's going to be mostly hidden I'm ok with it.
I didn't take any other photos between this one and the last because I was in the zone, but there isn't really any wrong way to do this. I glued the front, back and side pieces together with wood glue, and then just went to town decorating it. I added another sheet of foamboard and thin card to the top and built up detail using more of the same. I also used some cheap necklaces to add more texture. The piece in the middle is a charm from a bracelet with the ring cut off.
I added a few extra pieces before giving the whole thing a fairly thick coat of black acrylic. I like using a heavy acrylic for things like this because I feel like it rounds out a lot of the edges of the card, and gives the whole thing more of a distressed and imperfect feel. Nothing about this house is neat and pristine so my lack of precision is a real benefit for once!
I finished it off by drybrushing it with some metallic silver acrylic, and adding tile to the open space. The tile is just an image I found online, printed on regular printer paper and aged with Tim Holtz Distress Inks - these are my absolute favourite thing by the way!
It looks super bright in this photo, but the metal effect is actually quite subtle once it's the room.
I still need to make a hearth, fire basket and sort out the lights so they aren't so obvious, but I really like how it's starting to look!
I made this fireplace for the bedroom in basically the same way, only smaller.
All in all, it's a pretty easy project to do, and I like the results and customisation options a lot more than just buying something pre-assembled.
I do however need a better camera, really starting to notice that!
Thanks for reading.