I really like this doll’s house because it offers such a lot of scope. i paid £127 for the complex. I intend keeping the end shops as retail outlets but the middle one will be a studio for the artist who owns the gallery/shop on the corner. This studio will be the entrance to her flat on the next floor.

I have decided to convert the upper floors into two one bedroomed flats. Today I have been working on altering the layout. I removed the upper staircase, this will eventually be fitted into the left hand shop and ‘continue’ unseen behind the 1st floor flat to give access to the flat on the top floor. I have removed the wall on the first floor to create a large open plan kitchen/living area. A small en-suite shower room will be built into this space. I also removed the half wall on the top floor to create a similar living ares there. I plan to put in some false walls to give the illusion of the staircase running behind the flats.

Since I picked the house up from Sowerby Bridge last Thursday I have also painted the fronts of the studio and gallery in Tuscan Olive green and made signs for the gallery which is called ‘Decorum’. I have removed the ’tiled’ floor and ‘exposed’ the original yellow brick floor (changed the floor papers!) I have whitewashed the room, reclaimed and fitted skirting boards (originally on the top floor) and fikd shelving for displaying 3-D objects. The ‘owner’ of the gallery arrived by post on Saturday. Her name is Lydia Lolley (my 4x gt grandma’s name). She is going to be keeping a blog of her own. Today I also made some ring binder files, a clipboard and a box file. The gallery is just about ready for business!