The Orangery

In another dolls house development - I've built an orangery. When I bought the house, I bought the basement as an added extra, and when you stand the house on it, the french windows from the kitchen open out onto nothing! My idea had been to construct a conservatory or orangery next to the house with a flat roof which would be a roof garden, and I was going to build it from scratch because none of the kits I could find were the right size. But then I found a Dolls House Emporium Orangery which has been discontinued for a few years) on eBay. This was just about the right size, nd although didnt hve a flat roof, I was fairly certain I could adapt it to have one.  It was a plain MDF kit, so plenty of opportunity to decorate it the way I wanted to.This the first time I had it out of the box, just checking it fits, and you can see the hanging french windows.

The first thing I did was a "dry build" where you put it together held with masking tape, so you can work out how you're going to decorate it etc. I decided to paint it in sections, before assembling it. All of the windows came in multiple pieces and had to be assembled - very fiddly, and everything took several coats of paint.

I went for a pale green and white theme which I thought matched the house, and looked a bit French! I wanted to make the inside very sumptious and lush, so had already decided  on a marble floor, and wanted some sort of tiled effect or murals in the arches at the back. I downloaded and printed loads of pictures and experimented with them, until setting on Alfonse Mucha's the Seasons - could only use 3 so missed out winter! 

Eventually I had it all assembled and I was able to put it next to the house

My next trip was to Miniautra, the miniatres exhibition in Birmingham where I conentrated on buying plant and garden material - I got quite a haul!

I made myself a pond using the stone trough, some plants, some goldfish I made from Fimo, and solid water. You can see it in the finished roof garden

Actually it's not finished - I'm still experimenting with it. Nothing is fastened down so I keep moving things around to see what looks best. I've even got some veg and an apple tree by the back door. All of the pots and beds I bought empty and made myself

Inside the orangery I'm still experimenting with what to put in it. This is what it looks like at the moment

Lots of plants, a chandelier, a table set with champagne, vases and garlands. I'm looking forward to putting a Christmas tree in, and lots of fairy lights!  I'm quite pleased with it, but it will probably remain a work in progress for a while.