Thursday, January 18, 2024

One thing leads to another*

Last night, as I considered options for my now-deconstructed Daiso miniature Eames chair I was drawn to the idea of not painting it, as I'd first thought, but covering it with some black and white patchwork fabric (rather like this fine example, or even this option).

I even went so far as to spend some time trawling the interwebs for pictures of patchwork to harvest for the project, and was feeling rather pleased with my imagined end-result.

But while I was making dinner I received a comment on my Instagram post of Tuesday's scene, saying "I think you're a monochrome expert".

Which was lovely, but also made me wonder if I was going with the easy option, and should perhaps push the boundaries a little (while at the same time remembering a tutor when I was studying design telling me that there's nothing wrong with sticking with what you're good at, and enjoy).

Feeling content that this was not something I needed to think about right then because I had already social-mediad for the day, I went to bed.

And at around 3am the next morning, helpful brain piped up (for the first time in years) with a suggestion: perhaps I could go in completely the opposite direction and 'skin' the chair with the (very) colourful duct tape I bought from Daiso back in 2017.

Which is what I did at lunchtime yesterday (yay for working from home and being able to duck into the studio at lunchtime!):

One-twelfth scale modern miniature Eames chair with a colourful design on the seat, next to a roll of duct tape with the same design on it.
It worked well enough for a proof of concept, and got me thinking about the rest of the scene that the chair would live in. Could I be bothered skinning a whole set of four to make a dining room? Or perhaps (and more easily) could it be a desk chair in a bedroom or study?

I went with the latter option, and pulled out my stash of kits to see what I had in the way of drawers and dressers, as I felt that the chair needed a mid-century-modern vibe option in white.

One-twelfth scale modern miniature flat lay of an Eames chair  surrounded by 4 wooden kit options.
I felt like goldilocks.

Option 1 (not really a kit but in there because I wanted to make changes to it) was too traditional, plus when I picked it up cheap from a show I had plans for it which I'd still like to try. And, if I were to use it , it would have to go through the microwave, which would possibly cause more work putting it back together. 
One-twelfth scale chest of drawers
Option 2: a kit I bought from JWT Dollshouses & Miniatures
One-twelfth scale chest of drawers kit
got a thumbs down from me, due to the number of pieces involved, and the fact that I've found their kits generally run too run large.
One-twelfth scale chest of drawers kit with a thumbs down in from of it.
Option 3, by The Tiny Timber Company, made me think the wood was too nice to paint
One-twelfth scale modern miniature chest of drawers kit.
(and wonder when on earth it entered my collection).

Which leads us to option 4: a kit by Mini Materials.
One-twelfth scale modern miniature chest of drawer kit.
It looked good.
One-twelfth scale modern miniature chest of drawer kit.
The wood wasn't spectacular, so I wouldn't feel bad painting it.

Until that is, as I took it out of its package and saw this:
Kit instructions that state 'Please remove all protective paper prior to building your furniture'
and took a closer look, only to discover that this kit has the best wood of all:
Flat lay of pieces of a one-twelfth scale modern miniature chest of drawer kit pieces
So I guess I'm back to seeing what I can do with option 2,
One-twelfth scale modern miniature Eames chair next to a piece of a kit for a chest or drawers.

 or contemplating a complete change of direction.
* It seems that I'm also getting my 1980s earworm back this year.

2 comments :

Anonymous said...

I *love* the cover you ended up going with for the chair - so gorgeous and bright!

AMCSviatko said...

Thank you :-)