Zero progress on HBS contest build! (Well I am waiting for hubby to get me some plywood for a base, so I have an excuse...) And now I have the Spring Fling coming, so thinking hard about that one too.

Meanwhile, back at the Magnolia, I trimmed most of the parlor, installed the front door, and went ahead and installed the staircase (not before taking a bunch of glamour shots both in and out of dry fit, though, because I really like how those step pads are popping against all the off-white ):

In that last pic, you can see that I added a pretty hefty square dowel to bolster that 2nd floor; the edge that has the stairwell cut out right next to it is only about 1/4" wide and was almost literally ready to bend and break so I knew I needed a pretty robust edge trim there. I hogged it out a bit where it needed to go around the staircase.

Here you can see I am starting on siding; I glued all the lower trim pieces on but not very well-- some are higher or lower than others... sigh... So I am having to be very careful about siding heights and trying to make it look square even if it isn't! You can also see my porch light. I didn't have a carriage light or any more side-mounted lights sitting around, but I did have this overhead light, so I got some bits and woodsies and a "gold" finding off another bashed lighting fixture and put together this porch light fixture. I think it will do pretty well.

I have to tell you though, I am not feeling that circular pattern on the front door. I might have to do something about that (now that I've already gone and installed it...!)

I am also working on the fireplace, because I can't side that wall until I've placed the chimney, and I can't place the chimney until I've done something about the fireplace. The kit doesn't have any fireplace, just a hole in the wall and a couple pieces for a mantle and a hearth, so I built something from basswood and leftover San Fran corbels. I need to spackle it and paint it a few more times. I am thinking of something with these not-so-small tile pieces that I've had sitting around for a few years.

I also installed the French doors, after hinging them the "proper way" (at least the way I understand it! With the hinge faces mounted on the frame sides, not on the frame faces as I have short-cutted it in the past) onto their respective interior frames. (The nails are very fiddly and they won't hold well at all going into the 1/8" plywood side like that because of how large-scale the lamination is, so I did use a few nails but I bolstered everything pretty well with glue.) I had to make both interior and exterior frames from 1/8" basswood for the powder room French doors because that number 4 sheet was too tough to extract them! But that was fine. Installing the door frames this way enables me to spackle and paint the interface between frame and wall-cutout, and provided that I have provided enough head-room for the spackle-paint layer, it finishes pretty well and I can open and close the door sets tolerably well. (Door installation is something I've always struggled with, so always looking to improve on my technique...) I carpeted the bedroom before I "doored" it, with my last big scrap of olive green upholstery fabric. It was almost barely not enough-- I will have to install a bit of a wood floor landing where the stairs come in, because I was just that much short with the carpet! I need to get some more of this upholstery fabric because I just love it for carpet and this color in particular is a favorite. So far I have also used it in the Westville, Willowcrest, Country Cottage and Willow, so it has had a good haul of it.