1:48 scale basic Swedish home
After discovering 1:48 scale, of course I wanted other Swedes to discover it too.
I came up with some designs for basic furniture, and wrote how-to instructions for them in Swedish, including adapting a shadowbox from Ikea into a basic house. Then I brought the booklets to a Swedish mini show, hoping to make others interested in 1:48 scale.
My "booklet house"
Besides wanting to write a booklet on how to build and furnish the house, I wanted a small house that I could hang on the wall at work and this fit the bill perfectly. As the shadowbox has a glass front the interior would be fully visible without getting dusty (the glass is fixed, but the back is removable for access). I decided on a vaguely contemporary style, and an exterior with a Swedish feel to it (red board and batten siding, white trim, and pantiles).
I'm sorry that the photos below are black and white, and in a very low resolution (they're from the booklet). I ought to take new ones; the trouble is, the furniture is all glued into the house, so either I have to pry it loose again or photograph through the glass (tricky).
I assembled a printable TV, VCR and stereo from Jim's Printable Minis to go with my living room furniture.
There's a remote control (just a painted piece of card) and a vase of flowers on the table. The vase was included in my how-to booklet along with the furniture.
A complete kitchen, including "magnets" holding notes on the fridge. I built all of it from scratch.
The cabinets are built from balsa, with all visible surfaces covered with veneer.
As I wanted this project to be doable for anyone, without having to go through the ordeal of ordering supplies from abroad (times have certainly changed since!),
I limited myself to using supplies readily available in Sweden.
For the master bedroom, I chose a nautical theme. I used a blue/white bedspread and painted the walls sky blue with a few white birds.
The furniture have "brass" knobs (brown mustard seeds painted gold or brass), and the mirror frame is braided "rope".
A girl's romantic bedroom. I painted basic flowers on the furniture (squigglies in pink and green). The dollhouse is a printable from Jim's Printable Minis.
There wasn't room to put any bathroom in the house, which was a relief as I think a bathtub, toilet and sink would be tricky to make oneself - not to mention that I'd have to come up with the how-to for it...
The response
I'm sorry to say that I sold very few booklets at that mini show. There didn't seem to be much interest in smaller scales at all.
But in the 10+ years since, I've seen a number of people try 1:48 scale, so there's definitely hope! E.g., how about this cottage, made by A member of my local mini group?