Thursday, June 14, 2012

Surprise! A Mini Tour of Morristown

You can thank Georgia Girl for this impromptu post.  She asked "what size are your dios?"  It was just easier to show some of the dios than answer that question.  Morristown resides in what used to be my family room, which is located down a small flight of stairs off the kitchen.  Warning:  Many areas appear to be in disarray. It's because I have a place for just about everything, and I will leave stuff out until I have the time to put them back where they belong.  It beats putting them back in the wrong place and spending too much time looking for them later.

If you look off in the distance, you can see the stairs.

When you first come down the stairs, you run into the hair salon and the daycare dios.  They are sitting on top of my sewing cabinet.  On top are all my Rement items, still in their boxes.  My handbags and shoes are organized in two plastic cases up top.  The motorcycles and an extra Barbie house are stored here.  To the right in the metal case, each drawer is dedicated to something.  There is a drawer for jewelry, sports accessories, hair accessories, luggage, etc.  

To the left of that is a shelving unit I bought a long time ago.  It's really two pieces.  You can stack them on top like I have here, put them side by side, or completely separate them.  The shelves are adjustable.  This used to be my library of all my How To books.  I moved the library to my living room.  I still have a couple of cubbies to clear our to free up space for two more dios.  The center cubbies are twice as large as the outer cubbies.

Here is another angle.  The girls bedroom, Tina's office, Danielle's spare bedroom,  and Debbie's dressmaking studio, are the permanent dios here.  The doctor's office, the Dance Studio, and  Robyn's kitchen are all temporary dios that get changed out at a whim.  The dance studio is where all the restaurants get built.  How do you like my parking garage on the bottom?  To the left on the bottom is all the restaurant stuff, so I can build them quickly.  Right above the cars is where the Pet Boutique is going to be built.

Moving down to the end of the room is another deep bookcase.  It has three shelves and great storage with double doors underneath.  There's not enough room for three dio areas, so I use the top shelf to hold lots of props.  The second shelf is Nichalet's Boutique.  It's a mess right now.  The ladies raided the place for clothes, and Racquel has not put everything back yet.  The bottom shelf is where I built the Hotel Monaco Lounge.  This is not permanent.  I've also had a Harley Davidson dio here with a pool table and everything.  No one got to see it.  I didn't even take pictures of it.  I'm sure it will be back one day.

Here I am standing almost in the middle of the room.  You can see the bookcase I just showed to the right.  There are quite a few clear storage boxes in that area.  They are organized by room.  All the kitchen stuff in one tub, the outside stuff in another, etc.  For now, the miniature house is sitting on my sewing drafting table. My plan it to put that in the dining room, eventually.  To the left is more very organized storage bins.   Oh yeah, and there is the grocery store.  The college girls are here.  They stopped so Jasmine could get some money from her brother.  Another story you guys didn't get to see.  

To the left, all along the wall, are the permanent houses; The Andersons, The Taylors, and The New Taylors (Danielle and Rod).  They sit on tables, which allows for storage underneath.  The A-Frame house sits in the middle of the room on a table.  I plan to  add  table cloths to keep the storage out of view.  This center configuration was redesigned a couple of months ago.  The Anderson and The Taylor homes are both in new locations.  As you can see I am in the process of rebuilding the Anderson home.  I will be adding shelving above it to make a 2nd level.  This is probably where I will put The Den.

This is the same picture I showed in the beginning.  Now hopefully it makes more sense.

The Anderson patio had to be redesigned with the recent move.  Their backyard is no longer next to the Taylors.  It's a disaster at the moment.

This is right next to the Anderson home along the wall.  On the bottom is Tony and Antoinette Taylor's place.  Still in the rebuilding process.  Above their place is the versatile condo.  It's where Halle, Jason and Lynn, and a host of other people will live.  Most of the families that don't have permanent homes, will have rooms here as needed for stories.  I just dismantled Jason and Lynn's place.  Nikki is modeling a new sectional I finished yesterday for a customer.  That is the last of that material.  Just in case you were wondering.  On top you will see three bins.  These are supposed to be the active dolls.  One  for men, one for women, and the white bin is full of kids.  

To the left of The Taylors is Danielle's place.  As you can see it, too is in disarray.  Mainly because I moved some dolls from a dio, here temporarily.  Won't take me long to whip it into shape.  On top are most of my clothes, nicely organized.  Got the idea from an organization post by Fashion Doll Foto, featuring Christina, to organize clothes by color.  It's been working very well.  Makes it real easy to put clothes away now.  .

My final bookcase is the one I am most proud of.  I built this bookcase long before I was doing doll stories or videos.  My intent was to make it my one Barbie house.  It was going to have windows and doors, and I was going to do miniature brick on the outside.  I bought my lumber from the hardware store, put it in my jeep, brought it to my garage, built it, primed it, and set it up in my family room.  All by myself.  I was the queen at figuring out how to lift and move huge pieces of furniture by myself.  As you can see I never put in the windows or doors, but this has come in handy for my dios.  Right now I only use the top two shelves, but if I need more dio space, I will clear off the third shelf.

On the top shelf is a dio waiting to be shot.  There is a new Asian Buffet restaurant being built.  The second shelf currently has Nikki's office, but that is not permanent.  I put a lot of different dios here.  It's deeper than the average bookshelf, so  it's more versatile.  The hotel suite will probably be built here.

Next to it is more storage.

My dusty guitar and amp live here, too.  I bought them many, many years ago.  I am showing this so when I tell you guys I've signed up for guitar lessons, it won't be a surprise. 

My best buddy, Elmo lives here too.  I am a huge Elmo fan and watch him every chance I get.  Here he is doing the "Hokey Pokey".  Left arm in....

Right foot in....  Tickle Me Elmo lives in my bedroom.  He cracks me up!

So that is the mini tour of Morristown.  Most of the dios take place here.  The wedding and the reception was set up on my dining room table.  It's all dismantled now.  It isn't often that I have to leave the family room, but for that massive production, I did.   Hope that helps answer any questions you had about my setup.  I like having some permanent dios, like the hair salon, the daycare, and the grocery store.  But for the most part, I really enjoy the condo concept I came up with.  As long as you are organized, it doesn't take that long to set up these mini temporary dios.  The Dance Studio story will be posted much later today.  I'm off to make furniture and food now!  Have a wonderful day. 


59 comments:

  1. Gosh you have one room just for Morristown and all your "toys" including Elmo!? Lucky You!

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    1. Comeca - Most of the toys are in the basement. Elmo is just special.

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  2. Very interesting. I couldn't help noticing how "laid" back these nude and/or scantily clad dolls appear in this image. They are probably in no hurry to appear in the next dio.

    :-)

    dbg

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    1. DBG - Most of the dolls get undressed right after a photoshoot. I like having the clothes put away where they belong. Those dolls will go in the pink bin with the other mostly nude, waiting for their next role, dolls.

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    2. Okay... my comment was in gest. The dolls just looked like they were having way too much fun or had already had their fun.

      dbg

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    3. DBG - I'm not used to you gesting. LOL! You are always so serious. I will say that Darius is in that pile, too, so I imagine they are having way too much fun.

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  3. Oh that's all I had to do to get this long awaited tour? hahah! Can't wait to see your basement!

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    1. Vita Plastica - Probably not. I've been trying to get it ready to show for the past couple of months. I figure, heck, it's close enough. Every time I would get one area straightened out, another area would get messed up. So Georgia Girl asked at a good time. The basement is a whole 'nother story. I sure wish I had taken pictures when everything was in it's place. I used to keep it in order because I had students coming to class weekly. I haven't taught since 2008, so it's a mess now.

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  4. Whoa, that's totally awesome. It's nice you have a whole room you can dedicate to it as well!

    I also love the fact that there are stories and dios we never see... it makes it feel more like a real little town, going about its business.

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    1. Heather - I keep thinking I should rebuild everything in the basement. It's so much bigger and lots brighter. Then I would turn the current town into my sewing and craft room. Hmmm.

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  5. Wow! It must be wonderful to have everything at hand for the sets. It looks like a dio's studio.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Hugs, Drora

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    1. Drora - Being organized is definitely the key to doing them quick and stress free. I have to slow down with the stories, because most people would miss all the posts I want to do.

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  6. Your doll room looks like paradise! I'm stuck cramming everything in my bedroom.

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    1. Verona - I feel your pain. My bedroom is where I moved my sewing stuff once Morristown expanded and took over my sewing area. I am now considering taking the bed completely out and completing the transformation to my furniture and food making studio. I don't sleep anyway. Why do I need a bed?

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  7. Bonjour Vanessa, je suis impressionnée de voir ton plateau de tournage de tes films. Wow ! Moi je n'ai pas toute cette place. J'aimerai bien avoir une pièce toute seule pour mes films, mais je dois toujours ranger ou détruire mes scènes après mon tournage.

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    1. Shasarignis - The room took on a life of it's own. I used to put up and take down every dio, too. I've kind of gone back to that. I don't like seeing a dio sit for 6 months or more unused. But I don't like shooting dios more than one or two times, so it doesn't make sense to have them waiting to be used. For instance, the girls bedroom will be taken apart. I will build another kid room there, like Todd, shoot the video then change it to something else. When I need the girls room again, it will be easy to put up. Danielle and Rod's bedroom will be turned into different adult bedrooms as needed.

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  8. Hello from Spain: thank you for showing the pictures of your Morristown. I have also a room in my house just for my houses and dioramas of Barbie. I have everything organized as you although I have several houses of the barbie mounted on the floor of the room. I have also organizers for clothing and accessories. I love to see how you organize to create beautiful scenes. Thanks again for sharing your'' secret.'' Keep in touch

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    1. Marta - As you probably know, the biggest secret is being organized. I have several big Barbie houses in the basement not being used. The train and the cruise ship are there too. Maybe I will use them one day.

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  9. Ooohh I love this post!! Thank you for this tour, I would love to have all this space for my dolls and for their stuff

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    1. Sergio - I'm glad to finally show a little of Morristown.

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  10. Oh wow, what a big space and lots of stuff to play with, i am hoping to get a extra room in the future. Thanks for the nice tour.
    Hugs
    Maria

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    1. Maria - Good luck getting more dolly room! I hope to get mine a little more organized and streamlined.

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  11. It's always interesting to peek into other people's dolly worlds! I want to come over and play!

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    1. TM - The behind the scenes are always interesting. Come play any time. It's a happy place.

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  12. Awesome mini tour of Morristown. Need to get my act together. Getting things straightened out.

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    1. Frannie - Thanks for stopping by. I still have more work to do, but I am making progress.

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  13. Thanks for the tour. What a fantastic play space. You must be pretty limber to get the photos from the dios on the bottom shelves of your units though.

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    1. Carrickters - There are only two dio areas that are lower than my stool. I have a couple of huge pillows I sit on to take those pictures.

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  14. Thanks for the tour u look as if u can shoot a dio in a pinch. I guess I need to get more bins so I can seperate my things more and become more organized. My space is way smaller then yours but knowing where things are would save time on setting up. I have 8 permenant dios. I have 3 shelves that I switch things in and out of. Gosh I wish I hade more space.

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    1. mustiwait - No matter how much space we have, we all want more. You will see a huge difference the more organized you are.

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  15. Thank you so much much for the tour!! I totally agree with Verona, your space is paradise! Truly amazing!!! I need to get better organized. You seem to have everything in it's place. I'm going back to tour again. Lol! This is one of my favorite post.

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    1. Georgia Girl - Morristown is a happy place. It's hard not to smile when I go there.

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  16. Thanks for sharing Morristown with us. I love seeing organized doll rooms. Seeing the dioramas permanent and temporary are inspiring. It's like the time I visited Small Blue Planet's warehouse. Packed full of visual delights ;-D

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    1. D7ana - So glad you enjoyed the tour. Come back again soon. We are open 24/7.

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    2. LOL - don't be surprised if I do ;-D

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  17. That's an impressive collection! :D

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    1. mijbil - Thanks! I was supposed to be downsizing the last two years. I don't have a clue as to what happened!

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  18. I would move to Morristown at once... it's awesome! My girls have to do with two small bookcases in a tiny room...

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    1. Rossetti - I can't believe Morristown has grown so much. It used to be a very small town. It was more like a subdivision. Now it's a real town with restaurants, stores, a daycase, hair salon, and now a dance studio. It's even crazy to me. Looking at these pictures made me realize how crazed I have become. But at least it's fun.

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  19. Vanessa, your dio room is bigger than mine- I too am thinking of moving the doll room to a bigger room in the house. Everything is crammed in there, but mine is much more cramped & messy...takes so much time to get things together for a diorama, and I have so many I want to finish in Barbietown. I love how you're organized, that must make it so much easier!

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    1. Lisa - I think once I sell the things I'm supposed to and streamline a bit, I won't need to move. Of course I bought a few more things at the thrift store today. By the way, I still can't leave comments on your blog. I love your Mickey diner.

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  20. Enjoyed the tour. Now I don't feel so bad about how messy my own space gets. When you are in the thick of shooting it is hard to continuously put things away. Two or three days of shooting can leave the place looking like a cyclone hit it. Thanks for giving us a closer look at your creative process.

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    1. limbe dolls - Cyclone is right. And when you are setting up multiple dios at a time, it can get real messy. Now that I have a system, it's a lot easier to clean up. I think I need bigger active bins for the dolls. They seem to be outgrowing the pink ones. Of course I could just stop by dolls. Haven't proved that I can do that yet.

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  21. Van,
    I really enjoyed that. I got some great organization tips I will be using.

    I can't wait to start the my stories in 1:12. You are truly an inspiration!

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    1. Grandmommy - Glad I could be of help. Can't wait to see your stories when you start.

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  22. I don't know what a dios is but I sure enjoyed the look inside. I always wondered what it looked like.

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    1. Kenya - A dio is short for diorama. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Every time I see these pictures, I think, "take it back a notch, sister." I really have to get some things sold.

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  23. Thanks for sharing the behind the scenes tour. I always wondered how you kept everything organized. The bookshelves look like high rise buildings. I love it!

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    1. Debbie - You're welcome. I can't wait to get it even more organized. Or shall I say less cluttered. It would help if I stop buying things. Bought a few more items today at the thrift store. Aye yae yae!

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  24. Holy crap! Man, if I went down there you wouldn't be able to drag me out for days. This is amazing.

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    1. Muff - Glad you like Morristown. I can't wait to get it a little more streamlined. It's a wonderful place to hang out.

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  25. Oh my goodness, look at all of that space! You have some AMAZING items, Vanessa. I would be in that room for hours on end. This is definitely inspiring to me. I don't know how but I'm going to try to make room so that I can just make sets instead of worrying about everyone having their own home.

    Thanks so much for the tour.

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    1. Tracy - It's a tad messy and I was trying to get it all perfect before showing it, but you guys would still be waiting. When I'm running around setting up multiple scenes, it can get a little messy. I've nixed the everyone has a home idea, too. It's just too much space. I do like having the businesses like the salon and the grocery store up all the time.

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  26. Vanessa,
    I just started following your blog. Thanks for the tour of Morristown. I really enjoyed it! All my dolls live in my bedroom and in my bedroom closet. I also have a Barbie mansion in a storage room. Sigh...someday I'll have more space...

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    1. Cindi - Welcome to my blog. Glad you enjoyed the tour. I'm trying to get more organized. It makes Morristown a much more enjoyable place.

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  27. Venessa,
    Where do you get some of your props for the dios? I finally found wine glasses for my "lounge" and I was able to find some bottles to pass off as wine/liquor bottles, but they seem too small. Do you know where I could find some of these bottles?

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    1. Cindi - I buy a lot of props from Ebay. The company Gloria has playsets that have wine bottles and wine glasses in them. Just search Gloria in the dolls section. Rement is also a good source of 1/6 scale props. Also on ebay.

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  28. Love the tour! Wish I had the space to set up more myself.

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    1. Jan - Thanks. I have since moved everything to the basement where there is a little more space. I'm still in the process of setting everything up. There will be another tour when I finish.

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