In February 2006 I took a two day Guys from Texas class at a local dollhouse store. It was my first experience taking a class and I had a great time, particularly because the roombox was pretty much finished when I brought it home. This is largely due to all the prep work the “Guys,” Jon and Larry, put into the project before the class. They built the box, painted the exterior, and packaged up all the pieces we’d need. In the class, we did all the staining, wallpapered and painted the interior, painted the stones, and did about a zillion other little touches.

Some of this furniture is just for placement, but I am going to do the room as a bedroom. I’m thinking of building a Daisy House bed kit to go in this room with the same shading technique.

Jon and Larry taught us how to finish the fireplace hood, stonework, and tiles. My window isn’t finished yet.

We learned to apply a slightly darker shade of stain in certain areas of wooden pieces to make them look shadowed. I’m especially proud of the shading on my bench.

The walls and ceilings were papered using regular wallpaper paste. (Their brand of choice: Golden Harvest Premium Paste for Unpasted Paper.) Much neater and easier to deal with than my arch nemesis, Yes glue. I plan to invest in a bottle of the stuff.

The ledge that the pottery and books are sitting on is part of a false wall that can be removed. The Guys suggested adding sconces and hiding the wires behind the false wall.

The ceiling paper is metallic scrapbook paper. The wallpaper is printed off a computer.

In addition to the Daisy House bed kit, I also purchased a Bespaq Mission-style chair off eBay. I’m going to use it as a desk chair instead of the black wire one that’s in the pictures. I haven’t decided on all the decorating touches yet, but I will definitely be cross-stitching some pillows for the bench, as well as a design to go in the stand beside the fireplace, a bedspread, and maybe a rug.