We're in England for just under two weeks, and will be staying in Staithes, North Yorkshire, and Lavenham, Suffolk. We'll be spending our first night in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
The following dolls' house shops are currently on my definite list:
Dolls House Gallery in Chesterfield
House of Cards in Middlesbrough (quite close to Staithes)
Bijou Dolls Houses in Braintree (along with bribery trip to King William IV pub for David :)
Perfect Miniatures in Sudbury (15 minutes from Lavenham :) It also carries model railway stuff for David
Colchester Dolls Houses (not far from East Bergholt, and one of David's favourite pubs, the Dickie)
SHOPPING LIST
Shop Kit -- I'd like to buy a dolls house kit to use as a circa 1963 pub. I may wait until we get to Colchester Dolls Houses to buy it, because they seem to have a great selection of shops for under 100 GBP.
The Shop -- 84.95 GBP
Brooke Road Stores -- 70.50 GBP
Village Shop -- 90.00 GBP
Millview -- 70.00 GBP
Arkwright's Shop -- 89.00 GBP
Which do you like best?
Accessories and furniture for the pub -- it's going to be a pub owned and operated by an ex-RAF chap, so in addition to all the normal pub things, it's going to be decorated with WWII memorabilia and tiny model aircraft! This is a salute both to my father, who flew Spitfires in WWII, and my husband David, who was in the RAF in 1963 :)
McQueenie's Miniatures kits -- Bijou Dolls Houses has a great selection of these. I'd love to pick up one of McQueenie's Aumbry kits for the castle, as well as their mahogany bookcase, dressing table and chair (for the Edwardian Roombox), and cabriole leg stool, firescreen and library steps kits for the William and Mary House.
Blue and white china -- I'll be on the look out for any blue and white china that takes my fancy for the William and Mary house.
Light fixtures -- for the Castle, the William and Mary House and the Pub. I'm especially looking for chandeliers appropriate for a 1700 house.
Kitchen accessories -- especially pewter. Lots of pewter!
Rocking chair -- for the Edwardian Roombox
I'm so excited now!
If anyone has any suggestions for must-sees during our brief visit, or feedback regarding the dolls house stores I've picked or shop kits, please leave me a comment!
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Route beautiful! I find it very nice to have made such a precise list of things to see and do. Optimizes the resources (I always do too)!
ReplyDeleteSo, my favorite is the second kit: Stores Brook Road, but it seems even less suited to become a pub! For what might choose the third, Village Shop, with the side door and English windows to ensure a little privacy to customers :-)
Is very exciting list of things you need to buy: I love blue and white porcelain and pewter will be perfect for Catellus ...
Well, ideally I'll be with you on this journey that promises so full of "mini" adventures. Hopefully when you return you find some surprises in the mail :-)
Have a great trip to the Uk what a shame your not coming south you could have popped in for tea and seen my houses! Still youll have a fab time. Lavenham is beautiful, used to go there on holidays when I was little!
ReplyDeleteHave fun choosing a house. its funny , I love the US houses, so much more character than here! Be sure to show us all your goodies when you come back, safe journey Kate xx
I think having a list and an itinerary helps so much, too, Flora -- but then I am addicted to making lists!
ReplyDeleteThe Village Shop is certainly the most perfect for a pub, but as far as value for money goes, the Millview House is pretty unbeatable. It's exactly the same dimensions and layout as the Village Shop, the internal walls are totally moveable, and it's 20 pounds cheaper!
Kate -- That's so sweet of you! We try to get to England every year or so, and our itinerary varies, so I'm sure we could meet up some year! We've never been to Lavenham, but it seemed a perfect fit for my growing interest in Tudor structures. And it's close to one lot of David's relatives :)
Isn't that funny? I love the UK dolls houses and think they have so much more character than the North American ones! I guess that's because I've grown up with them, but I don't really care for the Queen Anne or other Victorian gingerbready houses that are so common here. I can see the charm, but they just seem so ordinary to me! But then my ideal home in real life would be an East Anglian cottage, or a Georgian stone house in Derbyshire, or a cruck-built Yorkshire building, so there you go!
Oh Nina, what a lovely trip it is going to be and all these mini shopping! Wow! You must promiss to show us what you'll buy when you come back ;) I love the Brooke Road Stores but for the pub Millview will be probably better:)Have safe flights there and back and a lot of fun making mini shopping!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful trip, Nina! England is one place I've been to twice - I just love it! Enjoy your mini shopping too - so many neat things to choose from.
ReplyDeleteCynthia
Seguro que haras preciosas compras y te lo pasaras genial!!!
ReplyDeleteYo estuve una vez en Inglaterra y recorri preciosas tiendas de miniaturas.
Disfruta!!!!!
BESITOS ASCENSION
What a wonderfully novel way of planning your itinary, I am sure you will have a lot of fun comparing what is available here compared to Canada and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteThe Colchester store is a good place to visit as they do have a lot in stock so no ordering problems. Bijou is small but the wonderful lady who runs it is a great enthusiast and tries to exhibit local miniaturists' work. She usually has a couple of hand made Tudor houses on display which are lovely.
Have a wonderful trip and I hope that we have some sunshine while you are here but it is still very chilly at night even in the south.
Safe journey.
Th top one, The Shop, looks the most 60s to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree about gingerbread houses - I prefer house that look like they've had a bit of living done in them.
Enjoy your trip - sounds fab!!
I envy your getting to go! What a wonderful trip and great shopping list. I like the last one pictured with all the windows.
ReplyDeleteJody
Ohhh Nina, I too plan almost allllll my trips around miniatures now :). In countries with mini museums and shops, that is. Shopping here on the blog with you is just as fun.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on buying the most economical, all things being equal. Now that I have tried kit bashing, I seriously think you can create any look you want if the architectural details like shape (pretty much just shape) is accurate. It is just very helpful to have a kit that already has the window frames etc ready for you.
I like how you want to create this pub as a tribute to fighter pilots. My best friend loves WWII planes. I will be so curious what you make of this and maybe one fine day, I will build him one for his birthday. :) Can you really get tiny model WW2 planes?? That is so cool!
Thanks so much for your comments, everyone!
ReplyDeleteJanice -- it's great to hear from someone who's actually been to some of the shops I've got on my list :) The Colchester store really sounds like a winner ...
Sans -- I've never tried kit bashing before, because I've never had a kit to bash :) But I really want to make this little pub look special.
I know one can get tiny plane kits, partly because I see 1:500 kits online and partly because I saw an article about Dennis Nowicki's 1970 hobby shop room box! You can read an article on it here http://www.studium.com/mini/hobbyshop.html (click on the photos for enlargements). Cool, eh?
Have a wonderful time DM, our weather has turned warm for you as well. I wish I was visiting those shops with you.
ReplyDeletethe pub, where I would enter for a beer is the No. 1 picture .. .. or the nr 4
ReplyDeletethen you've done? you bought? which one?
I'm curious!