Starting work on Riverwood Cabin. After viewing a lot of landscaping videos, I’ve decided it’s better for me to build the house first then do the landscaping to fit. I found this great inspiration house online. I love the colors and the water’s edge landscaping. I won’t be copying directly, like adding a chimney or making a bigger deck, but it gives me a good starting point for a color scheme and landscaping ideas.
Planning ahead, I bought shingles from Ultimatetrains. The kit shingles are printed and good quality, but I wanted to try true texture.
The kit manufacturer has included guide marks for shingle strips if you happen to buy them as a supplement to the kit, which is just awesome. :D Less prep work is always awesome.
The patio is pretty warped on the frame. I foresee the use of many magic words in my future as I assemble that part. After I get it painted, I’ll press this and any other parts for a few days to see if I can get them flattened a bit more.
The instructions indicate that painting and staining work better before assembly, so I am going to start there. For the front and back siding, I’ve chosen Villa Green by Folk Art. Paint has to be applied in thin layers to keep the thin wood from warping.
I would apply paint on a portion and then flip over to paint the other side. This kept the warping under control. There is an interior second floor that adds stability and a more realistic interior view. I’d also like to add some LED lighting to the interior. I painted the interior front and back Battleship by Americana so the light will glow through the windows and not light up the whole structure inside.
It’s a lovely teal/seafoam mix. Since it’s just the front and back, I didn’t think the brighter color would overwhelm.
I stained some of the pieces using Minwax Staining Pens.
The exterior roof pieces, floors and lower floor supports are dark walnut.
The interior roof pieces are golden oak.
For the trims, deck and railings, I’ve chosen Camel by Folk Art. I’ll need to paint the outer edges as I remove the parts from the frame during construction since they are dark from the laser cutting process. I painted the front and back doors Night Sky by Americana, which I will likely change. These are very hard to paint, and they look a little uneven in the photo. I’ll try to fine tune them a bit more.
