Adding Color

As I progressed through my pre-production design process and completed my initial sketches, it did not take long before I began to make some very important decisions about color.  My color choices are typically inspired by the furniture pieces that I find for each room.  I really love finely crafted furniture, especially in miniature, and delight in finding unique pieces.  Sofas tend to be among my favorite furniture pieces, and for me the sofa tends to be the key piece of furniture in any room featuring a sitting area, in the same way that a bed is for a bedroom and a table set is for a dining room.  As soon as I began designing, I began collecting furnishings and decorative items for all of the rooms (since miniatures can be a very expensive hobby, I decided it would be easier to purchase things as I go rather than trying to do it all at the end).  I first raided my own collection, looking for spare pieces and items I could pillage from old projects.  Once I exhausted my own resources, I turned to the internet.  My favorites list was soon filled with miniatures supplier websites, as I searched for interesting, beautiful, and fantastical pieces be-fitting of a castle.  Here are three of the sofas I found that have inspired the color schemes for the rooms in which they will live:

Library Sofa, designed by Bespaq, purchased from www.dollhousecollectables.com

Sofa for Thumbelina's Parlor, designed by Bespaq.  Purchased from www.nancysdollhouses.com

Ballroom Sofa, purcased from "The Time Machine" hobby supply store.  Designer unknown.

The first two sofas were both found online as I was searching for interesting pieces.  Bespaq is definitely one of my favorite brands for handcrafted furniture.  I have found their level of detail, especially when it comes to intricate carvings and decorative details, to be unmatched. 

I pulled the third sofa out of my own collection.  I had purchased shortly before I began designing my castle, intending to use it as a parlor sofa for a Victorian Mansion.  However, I loved the shape and the sheen of its upholstery so much that I decided it was better suited for the ballroom in my castle.  When I purchased the sofa it had a mahogany finish, but I painted the wood gold to give it a gilt appearance.  I also added a few more "carved" details to make the golden frame look more intricate, using an idea I had seen in one of my magazines.  I took an oak leaf-shaped hole punch and punched a bunch of shapes from a manilla file folder.  I painted them gold to match the sofa's frame, arranged them to form a pleasing design and attached them to the frame of the sofa.  Once the decorative carvings had been added, I glued the gold cording that you see around the cushions to add an extra point of visual interest.  Since my ballroom is Cinderella-themed, I love the idea of it dripping with crystals when it's finished, so I added a few crystals to finish off the sofa.

Working off of the colors from these three pieces, I chose the colors for the Ballroom, Library, and Thumbelina's Parlor.  Once I had a general idea, I went searching for wall coverings that would bring the colors to life with a little added magic.