Beren's Gondorian Bedroom!

[Beren]

For those who haven't seen my LOTR collection yet:

https://sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70089

OK, now that you are back , that was how I displayed my collection at my apartment, where I lived for the past 9 years. Am moving into my house end of February and have been working for some time now on...

... my Gondorian bedroom.

Overview

This is what the room looked like to begin with, going clock-wise:

So, it's not very big (11 X 14ft or 3.35 X 4.27m), I wish it was bigger, especially the ceiling height (7ft7" or 2.30m at the point where the light fixture is), so I could put up a decent chandelier. At this point, if I want to be able to just walk under a light fixture without watching my noggin, it couldn't be higher than 19 inches.

 

[Beren]

Closets

I was just trying something out that I saw in a horror publication and it turned into a 30 hr project... I figured it's hidden once the doors are closed, which they will be most of the time and I find it interesting...

I also thought because of the hidden aspect, I could use the interiors of the closets to experiment with some painting techniques. (yeah yeah, experimenting in the closet, way ahead of you )

For the second closet, I was at first going for a "His" and "Hers" theme, so I was going to try out painting black marble and some other design elements and making it more 'feminine'and took this picture (and several others) as reference:

At the time I was considering imitating the design of the Hall of Kings and installing pilasters (half pillars against the wall) and painting them to look like black marble.

 

[Beren]

Then I decided doing black marble pillars was too much in this size room so I went ahead and made the second closet interior the same, painted stone blocks. Added the detail of textured grout, with a small piece of sea sponge.

More and more pieces get boxed up from the LOTR cave and brought over to the house...

Both closet interiors done!

Moving the Wetas into the 1st closet.

I bought books on faux finishing but I was hitting a wall in comprehending everything I was reading. So I took two courses with Lori Lemare here in Toronto last year, her Intro to Decorative Painting and Old World Finishes. I learnt a lot and she is a fantastic teacher.

Her website:

https://www.lorilemarestudio.com/

 

[Beren]

Closet Doors

The idea is to have the illusion as best as I can, of entering the world of Middle-Earth when I enter this room. So I wanted wooden doors. So I took the closet french doors that were at hand and decided to make them look like wood.

First off, a basecoat. Actually, needed two layers to cover the white completely. (more time)

Then a layer of wood 'pores'. You need rags, a flogger brush, hog brush and other tools, I'm sure. Won't bother you with the details.

What made this really time-consuming was painting the sections of the door separately so it would give the subtle impression that the door was made of different pieces of wood, cut together.

The next layer, which makes the 'grain' stand out more.

 

[Beren]

Another layer.

Added detail of woodgrain on the side, to add to the illusion of real wood when the doors are folded open. I even went so far to paint a portion of the back part because I noticed a bit of white when the doors folded open.

All in all, painting these 4 doors took me 30 hours, an insane amount of time. If I had to do it again, I would do a better job and it would probably take me 20 hrs. I think it would have been better to just go and buy REAL wooden doors. Also, they turned out a lot redder than I wanted them to vs red-brown. Oh well. Still need to varnish them.

 

[Beren]

Ceiling

You can't tell from these pictures and I didn't take any more specific pictures at the time: the ceiling had this yucky 1970's 'popcorn' texture (still used to this day in construction!). So I started off with scraping off all that texture off the entire ceiling! Then the ceiling had to be plastered. Took 3 coats to smooth it out enough for my purposes.

In this picture you see a hint of what I have in mind for the walls.

Here's the result for the ceiling. Took 12 hrs in total. 4 layers.

 

[Beren]

References

So this is something I did only a few days ago. I went once again through the galleries in the extended DVD appendices. Pulled these pics for reference.

My idea for the walls was to make them stone blocks, this being a bedroom set in Minas Tirith, after all. I wouldn't paint them like in those closets, however. I was debating using photographic wall paper or actually 'making' stone blocks on the walls using Venetian Plaster, which would be very time consuming but in the end would be more 'real'.

 

[Beren]

After studying the pics pulled from the movie, where one can get only glimpses of the bedroom, I realised that there is plaster in the bedroom, not stone blocks. So now I am debating which way to go. I always did feel a bit wary of doing 4 walls of stone blocks, that it may be a bit too 'dungeony' even though the ceiling has a warm color, the floor is also hardwood and I will have velvet curtains in a warm color for the big sliding door.

I could also do a mix of stone block wall and 'aged plaster' wall.

The floor plan is not in proportion, just gives an idea of what is where.

Fake window

On side C I was planning on putting in a mural, a fake window with a view of possibly mountains. Actually, ideally, I could change the view as I saw fit and would print out a few backdrops.

Examples:

The problem is that these images are too small to blow up (at most 500KB) and print out as a fake backdrop. Anybody have high-rez copies of this? Know anyone?

 

[Beren]

Other Stuff

I made these two pieces in the Old World course I took.

The Tree of Gondor is made with silver-leaf.

The Grey Havens is from a painting by Jeremy Bennett who did color studies for the LOTR film production. I made it so it seems like an ancient fresco. Taken from one of the 'Art of LOTR' books. (I have all 4).

In pristine condition:

After giving it some 'age damage':

Ideally I'd find a way to integrate these two pieces in the room. I can also make good use of my Witchking sword and Sting. I may get the Gondor Shield and Banner. I don't want to put up anything that has "Lord of the Rings" literally written on it. (which means I would have to change the face of the Sting display... ). That also means I won't be putting any Wetas in here for display...I would like to make the entry door like an old door, wood with iron hinges. But that is not a priority right now.

I am planning on making the trim look like stone, the same material that would be for the stone blocks.

I plan on installing candle wall sconces.

I am leaving my apartment for good by the end of February. So I will keep this thread updated with any progress made. I plan to have this project finished by the time I move in completely!

I open the floor to comments and suggestions.

Beren

 

[The Ween]

Very cool. It will be fun to watch your progress!!!

 

[The Ringer]

 

[Mooncat]

Looking forward to more progress shots, looking good so far

 

[-Super Hans-]

Thats dedication

 

[WrathofSauron]

Hey Beren that's amazing work keep it up, by the way, have you ever been to Dublin, Ireland??

 

[ProgMatinee]

cool stuff!

 

[GrueSam]

Beren! Totally, totally b!†çhin'!

I can't wait to see what you end up deciding on and how you achieve it.
And I say go for the banner and shield! (The banners are just plain awesome!)




Here is my "Queen's" Chamber:

 

[The Ween]

Beren! Totally, totally b!†çhin'!

I can't wait to see what you end up deciding on and how you achieve it.
And I say go for the banner and shield! (The banners are just plain awesome!)




Here is my "Queen's" Chamber:

Now you just need to add this accessory and it would be perfect:

 

[The Ringer]

Those banners are absolutely gorgeous Sam!

 

[GrueSam]

Thank you...

Now you just need to add this accessory and it would be perfect:

What are you trying to do? Kill me?

 

[Elendil]

These are both great!