Building The Rooms!
At first, we had the collection in the middle spare room. It was good there when we first started, but as all collections go, it grew! We bought some new cabinets (Kitchen Cabinets) for the depth and the fact they were flatpacks (build yourself). Built-ins weren't an option cause as you'll see later down the page, things change, and we didn't want to be stuck without our units or unable to move them.
They worked great! The depth is 40cm, 38cm on the loose shelves. Height is 180cm and width is 60cm (outside) and about 56.5cm on the inside. In the middle we used 3x (on their side) 30cm tall/60cm deep/90cm wide units on top of each other (for tall buildings). At the time we had the 2 hotels on top, but you couldn't see into the top original Grand Hotel, so we turned it around. Get to see the outside, but still the space was too small and dark. |
We have a 2 story house, and on the first floor (ground) there was a BIG double garage. We didn't use it to its full usage, mainly for the car and to store stuff (as we all do!). We had a spare workroom down here aswell, which we could move the storage stuff to.
We decided to change the double garage into 2 new fully reno'd rooms! It was much needed space in the house, as the main living was upstairs. As you saw the picture above, my collections were bursting at the seams - and that's only 1 wall of that room! xD We had a builder and architect, and all the other important things done like permits etc. The plan was to change it into 2 big rooms. One for pc's/collections on the left, and the other on the right for a family room (Tv, couch, some nice cabinets, door to outside etc). With also a hallway to make the 2 areas blend & lead down to the storage room, and a small room inbetween to have our Freezer / Tools / Everyday stock stuff in. To do all this we had to have a big container and store all the important things in, and keep the already-arrived flat-packs (shelving for the family room, couch, chairs, tv unit etc) in. |
Everything went fine :) We had a few contingencies but thats expected in a project this big. Nothing horrible, just had to replace the water heater and it cost a lil more to box in the beams rather than having them exposed. Stuff like that :) I took a lot of photos as it went along, for memories mostly, but also just incase ;D
As the walls started going up it was looking great :D Was so nice to see the shape of everything coming together! :D
As the walls started going up it was looking great :D Was so nice to see the shape of everything coming together! :D
After construction had finished
The Sylvanian display was upstairs still, on a different wall, as we moved things around. It was still a bit crowded though. That stayed there for quite a few months.
We had the same sort-of layout, but it wasn't get as much light as we knew it could have. That's when we decided, downstairs it goes :D It would have a flat wall to go on, so spreading it out would be a lot easier. Also with the new moveable spotlights down there, it'd get great light and better photos. Without that load of cabinets in the way of the door and being cluttered, it could become more of a spare room for Mum and I. She wanted a small office, and I wanted to be able to hangout in there with her sometimes. |
These 2 images show what the room looked like before we moved the Sylvanian cabinets down here. I still have these, they're just past that door you see on the right, in the family room now.
They still get good enough light in there for anime figures. Sylvanian's needed the best they can get as they're tiny and have more details to them. Just after this, I had an Anime Convention I was attending, so I was getting ready for that. I was dressing in Lolita Fashion for the first proper time, and I was very nervous! |
Middle of June 2012, and we moved the units downstairs to where the anime figures were. I put the glass units over into the family room, which left a big gap on the to-be-sylvanian wall :) It looks more sophisticated in there rather then in the pc room. |
June 2012, and 1 year later in June 2013. A lot has happened since we started the Sylvanian display, so a lot of the time it was put off. Never out of boredom or dislike ever. Just real life stuff got in the way :(
Now we're in July 2013, and we're powering on! I've catalogued a lot of stuff, and the units are in the final position. The grass has been layed out, and buildings are going in their final places! The Town isn't far away from completion! |