A Friendly Word of Warning

Even though my circumstances have not yet permitted me to do some of the things other miniature enthusiasts do (i.e. attend shows, take classes, join a local club), I have met a fair few people who share my passion, and almost every single one has been delightful.

This post is, I'm sorry to say, a warning about a miniatures business that cares more about money than their customers.

This is a well-established company, one of the oldest miniatures stores in the country. Their story reads like a heartwarming fairy tale - an ordinary family taking up miniature-making during the Depression, exhibiting their historical models to schoolchildren, and proudly displaying their best work in a long-running (now gone) exhibit at one of my home state's oldest theme parks.

I grew up marveling over the miniatures collection every time my family went to that theme park. Three generations of my family have supported this business, and I am sad to report that it is no longer a nice family company run by friendly people. (If you haven't figured it out yet, their name just might possibly rhyme with "Snots," which is, unfortunately, a pretty apt description of how their current employees behave.)

My cousin was also a dollhouse fanatic. Some time ago she ordered lighting components from Snots. They were defective. Cousin looked everywhere on their website and discovered that their customer service number had vanished. There were dedicated numbers for phone orders and for vendors, but there was no way to report a problem via phone. (Red flag #1.)

The site said to email the company regarding any items that arrived damaged or defective, and Cousin immediately did so. She waited...and waited...and waited for a response. (Red flag #2.) Several days later, it was returned to her as "spam" for being an "incomplete" message. (Red flag #3. Her message was meticulously filled out.) She sent the message again. THREE WEEKS LATER (red flag #4), after emailing them AGAIN (red flag #5), she finally got a surly message (red flag #6) promising her she'd receive a return authorization number within a few days. (Red flag #7. We both worked in retail and knew it does NOT take that long to generate an RA number.)

The return authorization Cousin repeatedly requested, and was promised in writing, NEVER CAME. (Red flag #8. I verified this by checking every last one of her email folders myself.) Therefore, I can only conclude that Snots never sent it.

And here's where it gets worse...

Cousin checked over their policies and discovered that return items without an RA number would not be accepted, that any chargebacks would result in a $50 fine (red flag #9, and I'm not sure this is even legal, especially with a chargeback related to faulty merchandise), and that if the customer refused to pay the fine, the bill would be sent to a collection agency (red flag #10; here in the USA this is definitely illegal).

Cousin emailed them again. They again failed to send the number. (Red flag #11.) She eventually filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (where, not surprisingly, they had a D rating). Not only did the BBB basically refuse to help her, Snots posted a blatantly dishonest rebuttal. They falsely claimed they had sent her an RA number twice (red flag #12...if this was actually true, they'd surely have re-sent it the last time she'd emailed asking for it), nastily accused her of damaging the items herself (red flag #13, and since this was Cousin's tenth house, she did in fact know how to handle lighting components!), falsely claimed that she was "in violation" of their policy (red flag #14 - how is that even possible, since she'd patiently followed their instructions?), and made it clear they wouldn't replace the defective goods they sold her or return even one cent of her money (red flag #15).

Cousin was not in the best health when she placed the order. She intended to take Snots to small claims court (and began filling out the paperwork), but didn't last quite long enough.

Cousin is no longer able to warn people about this company herself. However, I'm still here, and since I had a similarly unpleasant experience with Snots' rude and irresponsible approach to customer service, I feel that the miniature community should be aware of it.

Bedroom Furniture

This was supposed to be a post showing my completed bedroom furniture. It hasn't quite turned out that way.

I bought a whitewood bed and display cabinet from Vilia Miniature some time ago, intending to turn the cabinet into an armoire. (I highly recommend Vilia Miniature, by the way. Beautiful details, well-made, somewhat less pricey than Bespaq, and ideal for collectors who prefer to customize dollhouse furniture. I will be making quite a few more purchases when my budget permits me to do another house.)

Staining the furniture was easy. Delicately plucking the brass knob out of the cabinet and replacing it with a Swarovski crystal "knob" was easy. Dressing the bed involved a lot of sewing (I prefer not to use glue), but was not difficult. I even managed to scratch-build a decent bed crown (so far, all of my other attempts at scratch-building furniture have been disasters).

But...an armoire needs a mirror.

The mirror sheets I bought from Dolls House Emporium look exactly like real mirrors, but cutting them did not go well. Even with a jeweler's saw, the sheet cracked and splintered all along the cut line.

I test-fitted the sheet behind the cabinet glass anyway - no luck. It's simply too thick. If I glued it in place, I wouldn't be able to close the door. (I attempted to remove the glass, to no avail. It is to Vilia's credit that their furniture is VERY sturdily made, in spite of its dainty, delicate appearance. Oh well, at least I know the glass will never fall out.)

So...back to square one. I am determined to have a freestanding armoire in my tiny bedroom, so hopefully I'll be able to find some sort of mirrored paper that can be cut with scissors or a sharp knife. (I also tested some silver paint on the backside of the glass, just to see. It did not look good.)

Anyway...the bed is done, the crown is fixed in place (with curtains), and I will figure out the mirror somehow. (Any ideas, readers?)

The bed and armoire, finished in pecan satin.

My scratch-built bed crown.

The furniture in situ. I'm still undecided on the artwork, and haven't found any bedside tables I like yet. (Also, I think this room needs a chair somewhere.) The wallpaper is a scaled-down Cole & Sons "Woods", and I painted the ceiling.

A better angle on the bed (please forgive the blurring, I am a lousy photographer). The pillowcases are embroidered to resemble a pair of Louise Bourgeois pillowcases I bought at the Tate Modern three years ago (but only on the front, as the back would be mind-bogglingly hard to do in 1:12 scale and won't show anyway).

Happy New Year, and THANK YOU for reading.

Bedroom sneak peek

More to come when it's done...

Kitchen update

The dining area with a few more accessories added. It's starting to look like tiny little people actually live here.

One of these days I'll get around to making a backdrop (for a better view through the windows), but for now, enjoy the little peek at my tiny Vespa parked outside.

Living room update

This room still doesn't feel "done" to me, but this is the current setup. I'm not sure the house really needs a pool table, but the room looks out of balance whenever I take it out. I've experimented with moving the piano to this room, but it's an upright, so there's nowhere to put it without blocking a window.

From this angle, you can see the fireplace better, along with the artwork I chose to cover up the "viewing hole" that allows my iPod to be used as a television in this house. The speakers, discussed previously, are made from an old pair of earbuds and are permanently installed. Even with the painting up, I can still play music in the house.

The painting is Emily Winfield Martin's "Joy Division Girl", shrunk and cropped to fit the frame. Since I have the print (which, btw, has beautiful color saturation - this version came out grayish and faded due to being printed on canvas at home), and since this "painting" is for my use only, I hope she doesn't mind.

Someday I'll make a nicer trunk - this one is made from a cheap craft store box and I've never really been satisfied with it. I haven't found the right one yet.

Considering The Possibilities

Although it's clearly still a work in progress (and there hasn't been much work on the house lately due to a pesky thing called real life), I can't resist posting this picture of the living room. Something about the afternoon sun streaming in through the little plastic windowpanes reminds me of a real house being fixed up for a new tenant.

On the left, you can see the hole in the wall where my iPod "television" can be seen - I still need to make a painting to fill the frame (I do have an image chosen, it's just a matter of printing it onto canvas). My purple sofa will be in this room, but I'm still undecided on the rest of the furniture.

My Un-Fitted Kitchen

I have a confession to make: I am not a fan of fitted kitchens.

I've never lived anywhere that didn't have a fitted kitchen (the oldest building I've ever called home was built in 1950, by which time they were a standard feature), but I still don't care for them.

Overhead cabinets make me claustrophobic...I haven't had a dishwasher in years and would rather have more space, thank you...lower cabinets can be too deep (which means back pain when trying to locate and retrieve less-used pieces)...I can't imagine ever needing so much cabinet space anyway so it's a waste of room...somehow, the prep area is never big enough...and what do you do about a hopelessly inefficient work triangle?

Having traveled a bit (and having seen lots of Apartment Therapy house tours), I have serious kitchen envy. If you have an older kitchen without anything built in (beyond the sink, stove, and refrigerator)...can we trade houses? Please? Small size is not a deterrent.

This kitchen suits not just my visual style, but my cooking style as well.

When I get home with a week's worth of food, I tend to do all the prep work in advance, then store it in the fridge and have it ready to go when it's time to actually cook. Hence the sink on one end, prep table between the sink and stove, and the fridge on the other side (and the pantry across the room).

It's still a work in progress, but I like how it's coming along.