Miniature memories

Feb/Mar 2008's Home New Zealand magazine arrived in my post box this morning and there, on the cover, was a chair which looked quite familiar.

You see, way back in 1994 our miniature club hosted the New Zealand Miniature Convention and our theme was A little look at the twenties. And our club project was to each make a bedsit using the same basic pieces* but put our own spin on it. We had a choice of a bedsit set in the 1920s or what the bedsit might look like now. And we had to create the back story for our bedsit inhabitants.

At convention our bedsits were arranged into sets of four, with a foyer and stairs between. I have a (bad) photo of them set up somewhere if you'd like me to load it later...

Here's a (scanned) photo of mine (the original no longer exists although I still have some of the furnishings):It's rented out by an 18 year old who's just left home and moved into her first place. Her job doesn't pay very much so she's had to furnish her bedsit with bits and pieces from the op shop and hand me downs from friends.

On the left as you enter you can see her kitchenette area with a small new fridge (the old one that came with the flat blew up so the landlord bought a new one), a convection microwave, a small amount of bench space and cupboards. The noticeboard next to the door holds her bills so she remembers to pay them and she hung the piggy picture above the fridge as she's heard about the "Freshman five" you put on when you first go flatting...

Behind the kitchen is a small bathroom and between the bathroom door and the bed (her old divan from home which her parents let her borrow) is a wardrobe with a curtain (no room for doors on it!) Not seen on the back of the wardrobe is her collection of Beverly Hill 90210 stickers and pictures, so she can fall asleep each night staring at Luke Perry. Ahhhh...

Speaking of beds, she's turned hers into a couch for daytime use with a new duvet cover she bought with her first pay and various cushions she's made. She thinks she's too old to still be surrounded by teddy bears so brought just her favourite childhood one from home and has a couple of teddy bear cushions to show her devotion to arctophilia. And she's very grateful for the extra storage space in the drawers underneath - this is where she keeps her manchester and craft supplies.

The small blue 1950s chair is a perfect fit next to the kitchen table and is great for reading in the evenings. Since she can't yet afford a TV (or the space for one) she does a lot of reading and knitting here or crafting at the kitchen table (which came out of her father's workshop and so is covered in paint splatters, which she kind of likes)

Finally there's a very ratty chest of drawers with a missing handle that she found on the side of the road up the street which she keeps her clothes in. Her clock radio and tape deck live on the top and she has a beer crate which can be used as seating for extra visitors or a coffee table for anyone sitting on the divan. A small cheap mirror is attached to the wall above the dresser - she's heard that mirrors make a space seem larger and God knows she needs all the help she can get!

For the same reason she chose red as her accent colour when she bought her kitchen bin and containers and recovered the footstool. She also hopes that her books and ornaments on the windowsill and the vase of flowers on the dresser divert visitors' attention away from the peeling and watermarked wallpaper and the lack of view.

(* We each started with the same basic box with the "bathroom" (actually space to keep the battery for the lights) and front door either on the left or right. There was a club workshop for a stove (which I chose not to use because I needed the space for a fridge - even though in real life I didn't have a fridge when I first went flatting!) and also for the kitchen units. Originally they were curtained underneath but I added sliding doors to make it seem more updated (ie: 1950s rather than 1920s))