It has been busy the past few weeks, so I notice that I haven't posted anything for a month! But I have been plugging along with the staircases and laying out where I want the railing:

I also put together the 1st and 2nd floor fireplaces, and had a hard time figuring out where exactly they go until it occurred to me that they mustn't stick out from the house any further than the exterior chimney pieces will let them... I had thought paperclay for these two, but if I do the exterior in egg carton that might look funny, so I am thinking egg carton for the fireplaces also.

I worked on the "built-in" shelves for the parlor, and put hinges on the cupboards, so I put a frame of scraps around the cupboard space on the backside of the shelf unit, so that if one puts things in the cupboard they don't fall down into the shelf unit and become unreachable.

I also painted (my little pot of enamel black) over all the white lines, mullion lines I guess, on the window pane transparencies because I really don't like them!

I installed the interior window trim and sashes as well as the sills for the rooms that don't have some type of wainscoting; to add some interest to the trim, I added small basswood strips:

Finally got started on flooring, because that is what is holding up installing the shelf unit; I used 1/32" basswood strips, and left a space for the staircase unit on the left. It still needs to be glued in place, and sealed and buffed a few times for some smoothness and shine:

Wow, that flash really brings out that bad wallpaper junction on the left! Good thing the staircase unit will hide it!

I am working on something new now, the flooring for the 2nd floor foyer. I cut 1/4" wide strips of 1/32" basswood, chopped each strip into a ministrip, and angled each end (this took a while). There are some gaps, I see, but I purposely laid the strips perpendicular to the way one will view the foyer so any gaps between the strips won't be as noticeable. This is the most involved basswood floor that I have tried so far, which is why I chose the foyer which has alot less area! We'll see how it turns out, but first I have underestimated how many pieces I needed, so have to cut some more angles...

I am thinking that it would look even better if each ministrip were half as long, add more visual interest, but I guess this will be OK for a first go at it...