Scale: I have this wonderful height Chart that I found in an OLD magazine. It tells you in a scale type of format how high things are in your mini house = 1 inch scale.

7 ft = ceiling
6'8" = Standard Door Height
6 ft = Highest Shelf
5 ft = Mirror
4 ft = Wall Switch
45" = Push Bars
40 - 43 " = Counter for standing man
38 " = Door Knobs
3 ft = Work bench, sink rim, counter
34" Hand rail - stairs
27-29" = Table Height, Stool Height
26" = Minimum knee clearance, man
2 ft. = Min knee clearance, woman
16-18" = seat height
1 ft = foot stool
7" = stair riser
4" = toe space beneath counters.

I'm sure you can add to this. I find this little chart very helpful. ½ inchers, can just halve those and be secure.

Judie - Daytona Beach, FL

Checking Scale: To make sure goodies found by accident are in scale: Get a child, a baby and an adult of each of your favorite scales. They can be cheapies or borrowed, just so they're in scale. Get the plainest clothes possible or undress them if you can. Put them face down on a copier, all of one scale on a page. Make copies for each car and your purse, so that you will always have them with you. They take up very little room and can be brought out with a thin 6" ruler when you want to see if something "fits" in the scale.

Rebecca in Texas

Hollow Wooden Flute Material: Try real bamboo. Works for 1/1 size and can't see why not for 1/12.

Dorothee

Use of toothpicks; both square and round. As balustrade; trim on furniture; round tooth picks for bamboo trays; chop sticks; wind chimes; flute; broom handles; turned on a lathe for chair/table legs; candles (tapers); just for starters. Don't look at them as toothpicks!

Bob in Hollywood, FL

Another source for very thin leather is the kind they use on Italian leather upholstered furniture. (I think the cheap kind - it is pretty thin). I found some very light upholstery fabric with a plasticised coating that looked just like real leather. It was not like naugahyde and it really looked good. I plan to use some for a leather chair, and possibly even a wall coating. You might check out something like that unless you need to use real leather. If you want to see it e-mail me with your address and I will send you a sample.

Thin Leather: Al Chandronnait who makes all those wonderful baskets sells very thin leather. Pieces are 3 inches by 6 inches and are 4.00 each in 11 different colors. He can be reached at: 19 Winnhaven Dr., Hudson, NH 03051 Phone/FAX (603) 882-6293

Ruth

Lighting and Finishing the Chrysnbon stoves: I have wired these stoves and no you can't change the bulb unless you prepare for it first such as making a larger hole for it to slide in or out. But what the heck it'll last quite a while. I have put them together and sold them at shows... I use a pewter rub n buff and with my finger add it all over the stove lightly and WOW what a difference it makes... I have also used the rust stuff and made some rusty and they go out the door real fast.

Billie Joy Eller

Scratched Plexiglas: If you can't get jewelers rouge try tooth paste as a course rouge and follow that with Turtle brand car polish (the paste) because it is a compounding agent and a fine rouge. Great for getting water stains, etc., out of fine furniture finishes.

Bob

Stove burners: If you have a scanner you could scan in the Sears picture and resize it to fit your stove. However, that would still leave you with a VERY flat top. If it is a gas stove you want, first draw a black 'o' where the burner will go. Then take a length of the tiniest square rod you can find and paint it black, cut short lengths and glue them in a star-burst pattern over each burner._\l/_ On my stove, the diagonal spokes are /l\ shorter than the vertical and horizontal ones. For knobs, you could use large beads topped with smaller ones.

Dani

Have you seen the wonderful no "stain markers" made by MinWax? They are great when you just have a little piece of wood to stain, like a picture frame or a baseboard and really don't want to have all the mess of cleaning up a brush. They come in assorted colors. I just love them. I bought mine at Home Depot.

Paula Foerder

50'S FRIDGE/Stove: Haven't read a post yet about the fridge with the Y shaped handle. You could open it from either side, depending on which way you pushed the handle. My parents still have one in their backyard bungalow they rent out, AND IT STILL WORKS! We used to have to clean the house for the next renter coming in and Mother said she would take all 4 of us girls back there to help. My job as the youngest was to push the handle to open it when someone needed a snack or drink. Mom said I used to tease my older sisters by opening it the opposite of the way they asked, I thought I was in full control back then!

Believe it or not I still use my Caloric stove that was in this house when I bought it. Not sure when it was made, but this house was built in early 50's and don't think the previous owners ever bought any replacements. It is gas, very wide and has a covered griddle in the middle. Also has two oven below, one regular size and the other vertical. Everything is still in working order but the vertical oven, which is now used for the storage of pans.

And YES, I still have the boomerang yellow counter tops, but was very fortunate to have wooden maple cabinets.

LISA L, MARTINSVILLE INDIANA

Good Beginning Book: Someone was requesting nominations of good books for people just starting out. My candidate would be an early entry into the field, Helen Ruthberg's 1977 The Book of Miniatures - Furniture and Accessories. It's out of print, but - just for an example - I checked with Powells.com and they have three used copies, starting at seven dollars. This is a 240-page trade paperback, absolutely packed with tips, improvisations, and patterns, with photos and drawings on almost every page. Some of the examples may look a little clunky and naive, especially if you've been browsing all the incredible work on people's web pages, but you can alter what you don't like. She writes:"What I'm trying to do is acquaint you with a bit of this and that from as many aspects of dollhouse furnishing and accessories as this book will allow me to cover" It's book that can really spark the imagination. You might be able to inspect a copy at your local library; might also find it in a local used-bookstore.

Mary

Making furniture: There is a booklet called the Cabinetmaker's Guide for Dollhouse Furniture, Vol. 7 (Upholstered Furniture). It is $8.00 plus $2.00 mailing handling. It can be ordered from Dorsett Publications, 603 Depot St. NE, Christiansburg, VA 24073. They accept checks or money orders.

Elizabeth Cooper

Aga stoves and Boilers: I used to have a beautiful old aga in one of the farmhouses we lived in. There were effectively 3 doors below the hob. The central door was the actual fire grate, below which was a drawer for catching all the ash. To the left and right were two ovens. The ovens weren't particularly wide though I could comfortably fit a small roasting dish or my very large bread pans. The hob had effectively 5 plates . The central plate was a cover through which to check the fire in the grate below, without having to open the door.

Operated by wood or anthracite, tho' obviously the anthracite lasted longer. During summer we tended to light the stove only when cooking as it heated the entire house. In winter it was left burning the whole time. I kept an enormous basket of pine cones next to the oven and every so often we would chuck a few into the grate. The cones are slower burning than wood, cost less than the anthracite, which was reserved solely for cooking, and released the most heavenly smell.

Ours was not connected to the boiler, though the one on my aunt's farm was. She had a beautiful copper boiler which stood to the left of the stove, it's lower end on a level with the top of the stove.

Oh, by the way, mine was typically black, but my aunt's was a cream enamel finish.

Karin in South Africa

30’s Furniture: I've got a book called "Furniture of the Depression Era" subtitled Furniture and Accessories of the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's. Written by Robert W. and Harriett Swedberg. Published by Collector Books, P.O. Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002-3009. No ISBN # that I can find. It's got individual photos of furniture, including bedroom, sofas, kitchen and dining room, occasional tables, etc. It does not show many pieces in actual settings, but it does give dimensions for most, so miniaturizing wouldn't be too hard. There is some detail given as to manufacturers, and popular styles of the time.

Bonni Backe in Jersey City, NJ

Cooking in a log cabin: If you are doing a 'really, truly' log cabin, you would do your cooking at/in fireplace. If you go to the Hobby Builders Supply site and do a search for item #0244 or 02441 (brick or stone Colonial fireplaces) you will see how people who lived in log cabins cooked. I teach American history and could rattle on endlessly about reflecting ovens, etc., but those fireplaces will give you an idea.

Pots would have hung from the arm that swings back and forth, or set upon a long legged trivet (sometimes called a spider) with coals piled under and around them. (The pots had flared tops to keep ashes from falling into the food.) The 'holes' on the side are ovens, and would have a cast iron door on them. A fire would have been built inside the oven and then scraped out, and food cooked by means of 'stored heat'.

If you are going to use a wood burning stove, you wouldn't need a fireplace, as the stove would have kept the place *more* than warm enough! The flue from the stove would either go directly thru the wall or up the chimney and the fireplace closed off. Which way would obviously depend upon when the cabin was built. Franklin stoves (fireplace inserts) and 'heating machines' (I suppose you'd call them cast iron furnaces set in the middle of the room) were in use in America as early as the late 1600's, but the idea of cooking on a stove rather than over an open fire apparently didn't begin until 1830-35.

Dani

Stoves: http://www.antiquestoves.com/history.htm

I found this url for "Stoves" and thought that you might be interested in the pictures of stoves from the 18th and l9th centuries in America.

Marcia

Period Styles - A source of period style information is http://www.tulane.edu/lester/text/lester.html. It covers all time periods from ancient Greece to modern day. Not much to do with clothing but it is good for architecture styles, decorating, furniture, etc.

WWII era living - With WWII running from 1939 to 1945, the era in which you'll be decorating is a short one. Many of the items in the homes at the times were from previous decades, with families not having the discretionary income to replace items in the home as they aged. The United States produced a limited amount of furniture during 1941 through 1945, due to devoting their energies to war time productions.

A radio would definitely be found in most homes of the era, to keep abreast of war time news. Radios of the mid 30's to early 40's sported legs and ornate woodwork covering the grill cloth on the single front speaker. The unit doubled as a piece of furniture, and was usually produced in a veneered wood cabinet. These radios were kept as furniture by frugal housewives long after they ceased to be functional as radios. Small pull-up benches were in vogue to sit along side the radio. These were sometimes also called fireside benches.

A telephone table with a nearby chair would set the mood, as would a wooden sewing stand or container to hold Grandma's knitting. This would be next to her chair in the living room. She would also work on hand sewing like mending while she listened to the radio in the evening.

Smoking stands were a popular accessory and would be ideal to display your ashtray and cigarettes. These came in many different styles, and all included a closed door cabinet in which to store smoking items. This enclosed area was often lined with copper and functioned as a humidor to keep tobacco fresh. These stands had their origins in the 20's, but continued on in popularity through the 40's.

With the legalization of liquor in 1933 in the form of the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, cocktail tables and cabinets hit the market. For the general public who did not imbibe, the low tables were advertised as "coffee" tables. These new low tables were often decorated with exotic veneers, or were glass topped with a removable serving tray. Nested tables also gained popularity at this time, allowing the homemaker to entertain guests in limited space.

If you had a desk of some sort in the living room, your ration coupons could be there along with your air mail stationery. Kneehole desks and table desks were popular during the 30's and 40's, but an earlier style would be right at home as a family heirloom piece.

Decorative pottery was a popular collectible of the time, as were aluminum accessories, both of which were preferred wedding gifts of the time. Another popular accessory was sculptural glass pieces.

World War II was a period of great inspiration for poster designers, with slogans such as "Loose Lips Sink Ships" living on still. Graphics such as these would be appropriate in your scene. Buffet mirrors, or wall mirrors with ornate frames are also appropriate wall decoration for the time period. And don't forget framed photos of loved ones, both ancestors and the folks in the military.

Tere Perry in Texas

Victorian furniture: I have quite a bit of mid to late Victorian full size furniture in walnut, and one piece of oak. All are the same dark finish. The only difference is the shade of dark varies as the wood varies, and of course the grain is quite different. I also have a French sideboard that is a couple of centuries earlier, totally of oak, and it is very dark. I don't know whether European oak is much darker than what we have used in the US for "mission" style furniture, or whether they just finished it darker.

Barb Jones

Victorian furniture: I'm working on a bedroom set by House of Miniatures right now, and I'm staining the set a medium oak. I'm so tired of all the dark, dark woods myself. Staining the lighter colors really lightens up the room, and by using the lighter fabrics it really makes the oak stains richer

Cindy from Mi

Style Periods: Edwardian was 1901 to 1910. In the US, this is often lumped in with Victorian, which was still very popular. Art Nouveau was arriving from France, Craftsman/Arts and Crafts was coming into its own. Wright was introducing the "Prairie Style." It was followed by the war years, and the Art Deco and Stockbroker Tudor.

Victorian Oak furniture: Most of the oak furniture of the Victorian time was stained dark. Around the turn of the century, "Golden Oak" was coming into style and lasted up to the second war.

Tom Berkner