As exciting as it has been to move into this new house, it was certainly sad to say goodbye to our old house and leave behind all of the parts (and projects!) that we couldn’t take with us. The penny tile backsplash. The deck. The fireplace. Wait, scratch that last one.
Let’s zoom in a bit closer on that little item sitting on the mantel. Well, what do we have here?
That, my friends, is an amazing miniature replica of our fireplace. Miniature as in completely portable and yes-it-totally-came-with-us-to-the-new-house. It’s the creation of Lisa Harrold, a recent fine arts graduate in the UK who specializes in miniatures. She emailed us to say that as a fun exercise to keep her skills fresh, she decided to recreate our fireplace – only smaller. Much smaller.
Since it wasn’t of much use to her after it was done, she asked if she could send it to us as a housewarming gift, and once we convinced her to let us pay her for it and the shipping, it immediately became one of our favorite accessories in our new house. It doesn’t have a final resting spot quite yet (it’s a bit too big/delicate for Clara’s dollhouse) although it might end up on the living room built-ins. These photos are more just my (failed) attempt to photograph the amazing detail that Lisa put into it. They don’t come close to doing it justice.
If the darn thing weren’t so awesome, I’d totally film a monster movie where Burger destroys it Godzilla style. Although that would also require Burger working on his destructive monster face. Right now he’s mainly giving me “confused” and “when can I eat the treat you hid behind this tiny fireplace?”
Yep, still just wants that treat. Guess the mini-fireplace is safe from annihilation for now.
Thanks again to Lisa for the awesome and meaningful mini fireplace. We’re so touched to have such a tangible memento of the love that we put into that house, and we thought sharing the goods might even inspire someone else out there to take something they love with them (Sherry wants to buy them as gifts for everyone we know). We may just have to dig up something from our first house that we can hire her to miniaturize. Sherry thinks the laundry nook would be cute. Or maybe we should go with the living room fireplace, to keep with the theme. You know we love a collection…
Barbara says
Does it fit in Clara’s dollhouse??
YoungHouseLove says
It’s a little too big/delicate for that ;)
xo
s
Andrea Worley says
so awesome! I love minitures!
Annie R says
So fun! Love all the details!
Our realtor gives a gift of a handpainted ornament that a local painter does. She has the street view of your house done. They are so beautiful!
YoungHouseLove says
Love that!
xo
s
Annette says
Could you make it into a Christmas ornament somehow?
YoungHouseLove says
It might be a little big but I can see it on the mantel for the holidays with my little white houses and other white/holiday stuff.
xo
s
Amanda says
This is so cool!
GreenInOC says
I think you should have her recreate a spot from your wedding – she does exteriors, check out the tree with the tire swing!
YoungHouseLove says
Oooooh! All of the chairs lined up. Man, that would be amazing.
xo
s
Kathryn says
Perhaps the little lattice arch you got married under? Don’t know why I’m chiming in! We just all seem to really find miniatures irresistibly charming, particular those as exceptionally skilled as this. So, cue unsolicited opinions!
Emily B says
Wow, that is so cool! Looking at this makes me realize just how un-artistic I am, ha!
Emily
Julianne says
Very sweet! And talented!!!! :0)
kirsten says
You could hand sew some tiny little stockings to put on it for Christmas (maybe an extra-tiny one for Burger)!
YoungHouseLove says
SO cute!
xo
s
Alice says
I vote for another fireplace… As much as I love the laundry room nook, the fireplace has always stood for “hearth and home,” the heart of a family. When we were looking for our house, I wouldn’t see any that didn’t have a fireplace. ;) So I think a collection of those would be amazing.
Mandy says
At first I thought you were literally going to pry out your fireplace to take it with you for today’s post.
I apologize for thinking for a short 10 seconds that you guys were being jerks to the new owner if you weren’t giving them a replacement fireplace! haha
That is amazing! You should ask Clara what her favorite thing in your house was and have it recreated!
Heather P. says
Such a cool way to remember a favorite project in your old home!
Katie says
Anything Miniature = awesomeness.
Just a thought, but perhaps you could put it on a floating shelf and do a miniature decor vignette on it with the changing of the seasons, just like you would decorate your old actual fireplace, just smaller. . .heck, you could even get Clara involved and have her do some mini crafts for the mini mantle.
YoungHouseLove says
So much fun! A tiny starburst mirror over it would be so cute.
xo
s
Amy @ a new old house says
I love that the last reader redesign was making something miniature into life-size, and now you’ve got something life-size going miniature. Love how you share the big & small things! ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Amy! Didn’t even notice the small-to-big, now big-to-small connection. So funny!
xo
s
Laura says
That is awesome!
Sophie says
THAT IS AWESOME! I feel like I need miniatures of everything I own, now!
Can’t wait to have my own house!! (I did some math yesterday and once I start working as a teacher next year I can have a healthy deposit saved up within 2 years so I could be a homeowner by 23 – pretty good going, right? :P)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome!
xo
s
Dani says
It looks like Burger has Donald Trump hair in the very last picture thanks to strange shadow/lighting combination :)
“Fireplace, you’re fired!”
YoungHouseLove says
Bwahaha!
xo
s
Abby says
Have you thought about mounting it inside a shadowbox and putting it on the wall as art?? Just a little commemorative piece of the old house.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s a fun idea too!
xo
s
Cadie says
That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. What a sweet gift!
Catherine says
That is so cute. I know you’ll fashion tiny stocking for it at Christmas — can’t wait to see! What a lovely thing for her to do. The internet is so great.
Shannon says
Love it!! Obviously, Lisa could make a business now out of commissioned miniatures; one little piece of “you can’t take it with you” when you move to your next home.
Amanda T. says
That is amazing!! I can’t believe how exact it is. It’s making all my dollhouse furniture look like jumk. Haha!
Polina says
Aaaa! Petersiks in the new issue of HGTV magazine!!! Congrats!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Polina!
xo
s
iris says
wouldn’t it be perfect in a shadow box with a miniature chandelier like your living room and penny tile as a mat….would go really nice in a picture wall display…hopefully you find a new place for a picture wall…loved your other one…..maybe in the office?
Wrenaria says
That’s incredible! What a sweet and thoughtful little gift. I love the idea of collecting mini replicas of fireplaces from houses in which you’ve lived. How fun and charming.
Christina says
In Bolivia, there is this annual festival where the villages sell miniatures of everything: homes, cars, buses, people, etc. Their creations aren’t as refined as this beautiful fireplace creation but the belief is that if you buy the mini, it will come true in real life. If that is the case, I’ll take mini’s of lots of different things. :)
suganya says
Have you guys seen the article about fake shows on HGTV on apartment therapy today? A LOT of the commenters want to write HGTV ask ask that they film you doing your ‘realistic renovations’ in real time. :)
YoungHouseLove says
No, but sounds interesting! Off to check it out…
-John
Whitney says
That is so so so awesome! I want to find my dollhouse again, what talent she has!
kristen says
her miniature of a noose hanging from a tree is especially classy. way to support local artists?
kristen says
never mind – i read her about page and her perspective of juxtaposing the sinister with daily life makes sense. tire swing vs. noose hanging from the same tree. context is everything :)
Ally says
What a sweet reminder of your former home! It makes me think of places I used to live and what I wish I still had from those homes. How I’d love to have a tiny replica of the circle driveway from my childhood home! I always thought that was the neatest thing.
And though you can’t take many of these built-in projects with you to your new place, it’s cool that you get to take the skills and know-how you honed while creating those things to your new home so you can do the same or even better projects.
Chris says
This is so perfectly timed! This morning I was at a garage sale with two kid-sized egg chairs and Sherry you lept to mind in a split second! If I was anywhere closer than Oregon I would have bought them and asked where you wanted to meet, haha! I was worried to comment about it but now I see that other people think of you randomly as well. :) That fireplace is such a beautiful treasure!
Lynn @ Our Useful Hands says
Wow that is awesome! Looking around this place there are a few things that if I had to relocate I would want tinyized and taken with us. Maybe my cedar lined walk in closet? Hmm…
My best, Lynn
Tiffany says
First I was like O_O “you took the fireplace?” then “aww, I want Lisa to furnish my dollhouse!” :D
Misty says
this is the cutest thing ever. So special!
Nicole says
I was so excited to see you in the July/Aug HGTV mag! The pictures look amazing and I was weirdly proud of you all….lol. Congrats :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Nicole!
xo
s
Diane says
Love it! Everybody’s talking dollhouse, which I agree would be fun. But I’m more into picturing it on the built-in shelves in the living room, with some fun, seasonal miniature decor. I’m sure that whatever you decide to do with it will be fabulous. The most important thing to remember is that it’s a special piece, made with love, & represents cherished memories. Enjoy it as such. Blessings on your family and your new home.
Krystle @ Color Transformed Family says
That is so cool! Although I did think at first that you took the actual fireplace with you. I was wondering how that would have worked. Haha!
karen says
that is f’n awesome!!
Sherri J. says
Cute mantle, a girlfriend of mine loves those things.
Elizabeth Claire says
Use it at Christmas time as a “fairy piece”. Look up fairy doors on the internet.
YoungHouseLove says
Cute!
xo
s
Patty says
OK, I couldn’t help but to notice the red basket or ‘container’ under your console table in the entry way. Can you reveal where that is from? I’ve been searching for something to contain shoes in our entry way and that looks like it would be perfect! Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
That red thing is actually a ceramic drum stool (garden stool) from HomeGoods. It was in our last house’s office next to the leather chair – but we just stuck it under there for now :)
xo
s
Rosanne says
I am sure it is just me, but doesn’t it look like Burger has a “Trump” comb over in the last picture!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, someone else said that too!
xo
s
Aurora says
OMG! I Love it! Lisa’s got some SKILLs!!
I think a Miniature collection of your Fireplaces is a FABULOUS Idea!!
Lesley says
Okay, so ever since other folks were spotting secret projects in the background of photos, I have started loking through all of your blog picsmtwice…once for whatever you intend to show us, and again for the background.
It annoys the crap out of me (in a self-admonishing way) thatbyou look more moved in after 3 weeks than we do after 12 years. Every single time I take a picture in my house I notice the junk you end up seeing in the background.
Dude, I have gotmto get on that!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, don’t you worry – there’s blue trim and wallpaper in the background of most shots these days! Not to mention piles of junk in nearly every bedroom and closet!
xo
s
Lesley says
I got on part of it this weekend though… I combined the effort with your 100 things idea from, I think, both of your previous houses. I removed 100 things from our bedroom on Saturday; some were slated to go anyway, but I found even more. And it FELT SO GOOD!!! It is all safely deposited at our local thrift shop and I am sure some of it is already in a new home that is happy to have it.
The bathroom is next. That’s right bathroom, you heard me!
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! I want to do that again at this house! So addicting!
xo
s
Meg Sluyter says
That is so amazing how small and detailed the tiny fireplace is. She did such an awesome job.
On an unrelated note, I just picked up the new HGTV magazine and loved your article in it. How funny that it came out just as you are settling into your new house. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Meg!
xo
s
Justin says
Stonehenge!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, you should see Foamhenge!
xo
s
Angela says
Wow, that is amazing! Such talent. Love the picture with Burger.
Off topic, but a friend told me about the website, http://www.gizoogle.net/ and I needed a website to search on so I did young house love and Young House Love translates to Young Doggy Den Love! It was hilarious, Jizzy and Sherry!
YoungHouseLove says
Hilarious!
xo
s
Rachel says
I have a post idea for you—but really I just want to know. What are the tasks in this DIY stuff that you hate…that you begrudge every time you do it? Prying up carpet tack strips? Cleaning off the parts of a wall that the paint wasn’t perfect on? Having to slow down and take pictures?
I know you love it- your you must to make it your career- but what are the parts of your loving it- that you would happily rid yourselves of?
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh that would be fun! Painting ceilings and beams are hard on your back, so those aren’t favorites. And I’m dreading wallpaper stripping! We do end up hiring stuff that’s over our heads (heavy electrical stuff, structural stuff, etc) but it’s kind of fun to watch a pro go. Haha. We’re like DIY voyers.
xo
s
Tj @ Phunkblog says
What a sweet momento :)