Merry Christmas

I wish you all a Merry Christmas 

and a Happy New Year

Work in progress

I would like to invite you to my new project; Pensionat Storspoven. It is a little family hotel named after a bird, a curlew.

As a base for my hotel a have a dollhouse called "Norrland" which was manufactured by Lundby in 1990. I am going to decorate it with furniture manufactured by Lundby from about 1988 to 1992 with some exceptions. Some hotel related furniture I would probably have to made myself. Today we start with a little house tour to see how far the work has went. 

A sitting area were the guests can relax, listen to music, enjoying a fireplace and so on. Yes, there are no fireplace now but hopefully soon there will be one. 

One of the room, very unfinished as you can see. 

The kitchen 

The dining room. 

On the backside of the house there are three more rooms which I am planing of doing to a bedroom, a gym and a bathroom. As you can see the hotel is lacking many items but as I said, it is a work in progress. I am also planing on writing a nice plate with the hotels name on. Coming back later on when I have any news.  

A new bathroom

Recently I bought these wonderful bathroom items. I don´t know the brand neither the age. The seller got it as a Christmas present in 1968 so they are at least 46 years old.

The blue and grey parts are a kind of plastic material while the black parts are of rather heavy metal material. I think the design are very nice and I guess they might be English.  Someone out there who knows? The mirror and the plant are made by Lundby.

"Mora" clocks

There are clocks and there are clocks. Today I am going to write about grandfather clocks or "Mora klocka" which it is called in swedish.

The "Mora" clock in full size (1:1) was a rather large clock which was placed on the floor. The clockworks were of pendulum clock type and often manufactured in the town of Mora in the province of Dalecarlia in Sweden. Sometimes the body of the clock was painted with flowers or the special pattern called "kurbits" from Dalecarlia. The first known Mora clock is from the fifteenth century and later on in the eighteenth century an important production of these clocks developed in Dalecarlia. This kind of clock became very popular to have at home in the latter part of the eighteenth century and it gave the owner a certain cachet. From the start the clock's shape was straight, but in the beginning of the nineteenth century the clocks were influenced by the Rococo period and got a more curving shape. [source: Wikipedia]

The above "Mora" clocks are from my miniature world and have different ages and shapes. 

I start with the clock which I think is the oldest of the above pictured. I don't know its origin and it misses one of its pointers made out of a metal pin. It has the typical rococo shape and painted with some flowers.

This white clock has a blue clock face which is  pasted on the clock. The rococo-painting is rather simple and is similar to the rococo paintings which are found on early manufactured Lundby furniture. So maybe this clock was manufactured by them. My guess on age is the 1940s to 1950s. 

These two "Mora" clocks have the same shape on the body of the clock as the former one, but with different paintings which are probably not done by hand. The clock faces are green and red and are not showing the same time. These clocks can also have been manufactured by Lundby. 

This "Mora" clock is more tricky to decide the origin of. It has similar hand-painted rococo patterns as the first white clock above, but the shape is similar to the ones which came later one (see the next one presented). A little bit of a mystery. 

Here are the more younger clock compared to the above ones. This was manufactured by Lundby from the 1960s and onward. The clock face is now yellow. The clocks could sometimes show different times. 

These two "Mora" clocks are completely similar except the time on the clock faces. But if the clock faces were twisted before gluing them to the clocks they would show the same time.  

These two "Mora" clocks are also manufactured by Lundby but are of later dates. 

Lotta's house decorated

Last summer I wrote a post about a homemade house which I got from a friend of mine, Lotta. Then it was empty. But today I will show you what I have done with it so far.

I still don't know how old the house is. Except from the little room to the right on upper floor, I think the house is from the 1950s or earlier. I have chosen to decorate it with a mix of furniture which are rather old, but I don't know how old for most of them. Some of them are homemade and some probably made in factory. They have all one thing in common, I like them. 

We start the house tour in the bedroom on upper floor. The bed is so nice. I think it is homemade. In the back we can also see a cradle with a baby. In the right corner there is a table which I am going to complement with a mirror if I can find any who fits. 

The second room on upper floor is actually two rooms. The little one in the corner to the right I think is built in the 1970s. I have chosen to have that room as a guestroom. In the bigger part of the room there are armchairs, a desk and a bookshelf from the 1950s, factory made. The sofa to the right is a sofa bed. As you can notice the scale is not the same on all furniture but  I think it is charming. 

Downstairs to the left there is a kitchen. I got the cupboard and the sink-stove combination by mail just some days ago and I think it went out very well in this kitchen with those items. I have also recently put up the curtains which is older ones. The red pram missed a lot  when I got it, for instance have I put on wheels.  

I funny thing happened when I put up the clock on the wall. It is made of tinplate and it started to go. The pendulum on the clock went all by itself from one side to the other for quite some time. When I had it laying in a box with other stuff it has been quiet and still.   

The last room for today is the living room. The sofa set in the middle is homemade but I love them. The house has also recently got a fireplace, probably homemade and some cupboards and a radio. The clock on the cupboard to the right is home made and very good made. 

EDI dolls

Doll houses could be rather dull if not anyone lived in them so therefore I am today going to show you some of my oldest dolls. They are residing in my doll house from the 40s.

Most of them are German EDI dolls. EDI stands for Erich Dittman who manufactured dolls 1948 to 1960. The dolls were made of celluloid or tortulon (a kind of plastic) and dressed into many nationalities. Also characters from fairy tales were made.

On one of my dolls I have found an EDI marking in the neck of the doll. Some of the dolls have their clothes glued to their body so it is impossible to check for any markings. 

This Scandinavian couple or perhaps Swedish, was sold in Sweden at least in the mid 50s. I have some more dolls similar to this couple but only one complete couple, as far as i know. The other ones missing some parts of their clothing  

Here are guests from Germany I think. They arrived just a couple of days ago and are my latest purchase to my doll house world. 

This old doll who sits in the corner I am not sure of what brand it is. It is marked Germany so it could be an EDI. Anyone who knows anything of this doll?

A homemade dollhouse

The third doll house which I picked up this summer is a home made house with lots of charm. It is a gift from my friend Lotta in Malmö who got it as a child. I don't know so much about its history more than that Lotta got it in the 70s.

The scale of the house is bigger than the Lundby houses. It is in rather good shape with not so many damages on the wall papers expect the water damage in the biggest room on ground floor. Its tricky to date it but I have found some electric wiring work which I think is from the 70s and not from the beginning, because I think the house itself is older. I also think that the little blue room on top floor is a later construction, maybe also from the 70s. The rest of the wall papers I think is older than the 70s. They could be  from the 60s or even the 50s. I like the house very much anyway and I am going to furnish it with things from mainly the 50s and which are in a larger scale than that of Lundby. 

The left room on upper floor has a cute and a little childish wall paper. In the right corner you can see a electric wire from the 70s.  All floors in the house, expect the little blue room have had wall-to-wall carpet. Probably also from the 70s. But I am going to keep the wooden floors. 

On the right side on the upper floor there are two rooms, where I think the little blue one is a later construction. The little blue room has also its floor painted red. I think it has been used as a bathroom. The rest of the walls has the same cute wall papers as the left room, previously described. 

The left room on ground floor has also cute wall papers and between the two rooms on this floor is is a door. By the way the only door in the house. The door seems to have been cut in the bottom end and that is probably done when the house got the wall-to-wall carpets. Otherwise the door could not open. This room has also a window with window glass (plastic material). 

The fifth and last room in the house is the biggest one and has unfortunately a water damage on the back wall. Otherwise it has a rather cute wall paper with little flowers. The curtain is made of typical fabric from the 70s and need to be fixed. This room has also a window. 

A Lundy lookalike.

Hi again! Here comes some pictures of another house I picked up this summer. It is homemade and the one who made it has obviously the Gothenburg model of the Lundby houses in mind. The similarities are many. For the first the layout of the rooms.

One major difference from genuine Lundby houses is the scale. This house is bigger. It is also in rather good shape even if some of the wallpapers have some damages. It is tricky to date it, but according to the fact that it is a copy of a Gothenburg house from Lundby, it is probably not older than from the 60s. The wallpapers also make me guess of the 60s or perhaps early 70s. I love these Lundby lookalikes. They are adorable.

This left room on second floor is going to be a bedroom. Look at the funny wallpaper with Christmas decorations on it. I think it can be a gift-wrapping paper. I think it is the best/funniest wallpaper in the house because it is not like a ordinary wall paper at all. I just love it.

This room is going to be a living room. The wall paper here is also very cute. It is hard to see, but the left wall paper is also in the ceiling. The bedroom on the earlier picture has also wall paper on the ceiling.  

Now we are on the ground floor and the room to the left which is going to be the kitchen. The house has no doors, just openings, as the windows. 

The middle room/hall on ground floor has the living room wall paper on the back wall and a Lundby lookalike staircase. 

The last room, to the right on ground floor is going to be a bathroom and it has the same wall paper as the kitchen. I will post pictures further on when I have decorated the house. 

A Gemla house

On my road trip in Sweden this summer I picked up 3 doll houses. One of them I am going to present for you today. It is a house containing of two rooms, one above the other. The house could be closed by a door with glass windows. As far as I have managed to find out the house is manufactured by Gemla but I don't know yet have old it is.

The wallpapers look rather old so I guess it is from the first half of the 20th century. When I bought it, it was furnished with lovely furniture from the 50s and 60s. Those furniture I am going to put in other houses from that period of time. This house is going to be decorated with older furniture and in a bigger scale, because this house is bigger than the Lundby houses. 

The top room has a lovely yellow wallpaper and pink curtains. It is going to be a bedroom. 

The room on ground floor has green wallpapers and white lace curtains. The floor is of same kind in both rooms. This room is going to be a living room. When I have decorate it I will post you some pictures.

A 1960s Lundby with spiral staircase

Today I am going to share with you a post about a dollhouse which I haven´t showed you before. It is a Lundby house from the beginning of the 1960s but with the old layout from the 1950s. Perhaps it is one of the latest houses with this layout. Am not sure about the age but I think it is from about 1962 to 1963.

When I bought it it wasn´t in this good condition.It had wall to wall carpets from the 1970s in all room except in the kitchen and bathroom. A wall to wall carpet in plastic material from the 1970s in the kitchen and the house was filled with furniture and little boxes in a mess. So I actually didn´t know for sure what I bought but it turned out to be a treasure. Below is a picture from after the reparation. I am so satisfied with the result, compared to how it looked when I got it. 

I took away the old carpets, glued the roof and chimney, took away paper pictures from the walls, glued the staircase and managed to take away a lot of stains on the wallpapers. All the floors were also cleaned. The staircase is intact and all wall papers are original, as the floors.  In the little boxes I found curtains. On the top floor two ceiling lamps followed the house and a ceiling lamp for the living room laid in one of the boxes but it is broken. I shall try to fix it. 

We start a house tour in the bathroom. Here I furnished with bathroom units from Kleeware, sold in late 1950s to early 1960s. The towel came with the house. 

Next stop is in the middle room on top floor. Here the family of the house have a grand piano made by Lerro (I think) which the father likes to play on. His daughter is sitting in an armchair made by Lundby in late 1950s. The picture on the left wall is made by a dear friend of mine. 

In the bedroom I have replaced beds from Lerro which came with the house. The right bed I think has original bed clothes. The corner cupboard followed the house and is repainted. It was probably white or brown from the beginning. It is at least manufactured by Lundby. The night table between the beds and the dressing table to the left are Lundby's and sold in the 1960s Look at the cute curtain which came along with the house. 

Down stairs in the living room we have a rather cool wall paper. I can´t decide if I like it or not but I think it´s very special. The two green plants followed the house and are home made out of textile fabric. I guess that the sofa, armchairs and table are from Lundby, but I am not sure about that. 

In the other end of the living room there is a dining table with chairs of Lundby model sold in the 1960s. The book case is also Lundby and was sold from late 1950s to 1960s. The rocking chair is also of Lundby model and was sold in mid-1960s. To hide some damage to the floor I put a little carpet, made out of fur which also came along with the house in front of the door to the kitchen. By the way the dining table and chairs came also with the house. 

We end the house tour in the kitchen. Look at the lovely wall paper on the back wall. The lamp came with the house and also the kitchen units. The kitchen chairs are also part of the house but I bought a new table because the one which came along was repainted to red. The little drawers on the upper cupboard are also repainted.