Some basement work!

 This is where the the stairs mentioned heretofore lead. 
That salt box in the back corner is going to be a brand spanking new coal furnace which is forever "just delivered" and about to be set up.
Two other things in this picture are the small table which will probably end up in the butler's room.
It was an incredibly cheap, red thing which I sanded, painted with brown acrylic gloss just enough to let a bit of the red come through, and painted the drawer knobs black gloss.  It has a simple yet not brand-new look to it, just perfect for below stairs.

 And last but not least is the COAL BIN!  I bought a bag of coal from a pet store years and years ago in anticipation of just this thing.   It is made from painted very heavy matboard with balsa wood battens.   It is really the leftover piece from Port Brown's roof - I knew it would end up as something!   I grabbed a bucket from my Hardware Store stock and put some in it.  A well-worn shovel or two is needed now.

Second set of stairs done!

These stairs are in the basement so they are servants stairs.  I wanted balusters on both sides because they are narrow.  Fortunately I had a second pair of them from some other set of steps bought in the past.

 In order to get as much room as possible for the steps I added on 1/4" sides  (using basswood) and mounted the balusters to that instead of the stair treads. 
I added an extra step provided in the pack and another final base at the bottom of 1/2" thick balsa. 
I painted the whole caboole with Dark Umber acrylic paint.

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These are noticeably narrower than the other stairs will be but they look good and worn just now.  I will be "varnishing" them.
I put a little piece of moulding as a little Roman a' clef to cover up rough edges.

Mini-Picture Framed

There has been a lot of progress on the "big house" as I call it sometimes.   But the last thing done yesterday was framing up this mini-picture.  I got it from my Victorian Trading Post catalog.   I cut it out, glued it to 1/8" thick matboard.   I then used chair railing for the frame and mitered the corners using an X-Acto.   That was the worst part, getting it all to fit.  Then I painted the pieces with Glossy Back acrylic paint.  
I used a bit of the plastic from a mini-door pack for glass and then glued the frame around the painting. 

Here it is perched on my chair with my messy workstation in the background.
And below it is where I meant to have it.