Yesterday I painted the countertop for the Rosedale. I created green “granite” by smearing green, beige, white, and black paint around with a toothbrush.

I really liked the end result… until I put it in the house. It just didn’t look like I’d envisioned it. The green was competing with the neutral colors in the room and didn’t look good with the wallpaper border. I started wishing I’d done something more neutral… beiges with a hint of autumn red, maybe.

I was all set to start over today, but figured it I was going to paint over it anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to futz with the green a little bit first. I watered down some purplish gray paint and spread it on. What a difference!

(What, can’t you see the difference?!)

Maybe the wash is exactly what it needed or maybe it’s a placebo effect, but either way, I’m liking it better now. After putting in all the furniture and staring at it for a while, I’ve decided to stick with the green. I still need to add gloss finish and a faucet, and might also tone down the sink a bit with the same purple/gray wash, but for now here’s how the kitchen looks with everything in place.

The stove hood is made from some leftover roof pieces I ended up not needing due to how I bashed the house, and a piece of resin trim. The trim was hard to cut and as a result the corners are a bit chipped, but I’m relatively pleased with it. I’ll probably add a small piece of trim to hide the seam where the wood and resin piece meet, and also something at the top so it looks like the hood goes up into the ceiling.

Also the whole thing could move up a bit – ideally I think the the wood part of the hood should end just where the fridge starts, or even line up with the bottom of the cabinet over the fridge. The upper cabinets are held on with putty for now (which is why some are not quite straight) and it’s been clumsy to get my hands in there and arrange everything. I hate the idea of permanently gluing in cabinets, but for this house it might be a necessity…

I added a piece of strip wood to the kit’s window trim to make a sill. (The sill is also held on with putty right now, you can see a little bit of it peeking out!) I’m trying to decide if I should add a tile backsplash just above the counter and stove, or if it will be too busy. I like the idea, but after a lot of looking online at actual tile patterns, I still haven’t found what I want. This might be a job for scrapbook paper. Oh darn, guess I’ll have to go shopping.

Here’s the whole room. I really love the “open concept” feel of it. Usually dollhouses don’t have rooms this big! And I do like the room divider (made from an extra piece of door trim) although it makes it difficult to get good, non-shadowy pictures of the kitchen…

Extreme close-up of the hood. I still need to add knobs (beads, probably) and a clock to the top of the stove. I love those lock washers as burners!

And one last shot of the overall space. I’m not crazy in love with this kitchen like the Fairfield’s but I think it’s turning out decent. Not bad for a small area with an awkward corner, at least.