DIY Network

Pre-Fab Miniature Brownstone Build this hip brownstone from a storage unit. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-116

Create this mod miniature with Michele Beschen’s easy how-to.

For this miniature house, Michele Beschen takes a tip from the full-size construction industry and saves time and money by going the pre-fab route. The B. Original host shows how to create a hip miniature brownstone in no time from an everyday storage organizer. She follows up with a how-to on furnishing your diminutive digs with industrial-inspired furniture made from hardware.

This is a great weekend project for the whole family. Scroll down for the details, and start building your own hipster hideaway.

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	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D

Materials:

3-shelf organizer with door
drill
spiral saw
eye protection
1/8" clear acrylic
thin masking tape
silicone glue
red and black paint
small paint roller and tray
hardware and scrap fabric for furnishings
scraps of plastic mesh, artificial turf and contact paper

Note: You can simply paint your windows onto the exterior, but cutting them out creates a much more realistic miniature.

• Draw your windows on the outside of the organizer.

• Drill a hole in the corner of a window and cut out the shape (figure A). Michele Beschen used a spiral saw with a wood-cutting blade for these cuts.

  Safety Alert: Always wear eye protection when drilling or cutting the storage unit.

• Cut 1/8" acrylic slightly larger than the window hole. Michele Beschen made hers more realistic by taping off grid lines and spraying with a frosted glass paint (figure B). Glue the finished window (figure C) to the inside the window hole with clear silicone glue. You also can fill your window with clear plastic film or vellum paper.

• To prepare the outside of the building for its faux brick finish, sand the surface with a fine-grit sandpaper. Wipe off the dust, then wipe with a deglosser or degreaser.

• Spread joint compound 1/16" thick over one side of the exterior. Use a bamboo skewer to etch in grid lines for the bricks (figure D).

• Once the joint compound has dried, roll on red paint (figure E). Once that coat dries, roll over it lightly with some black paint to accent (figure F).

• Use a small paintbrush to paint grout lines with a mortar-colored paint, if desired.

Figure E

Figure F

	Figure G
	Figure H

Dress it Up

• Build some simple furniture with hardware odds and ends. Hinges and brackets make excellent seating (figure G), and bolts of all sorts support everything from chairs and tables to a wire bed canopy (figure H).

• Cut plastic landscape mesh and attach to window bottoms to mimic wrought ironwork.

• Glue on a thin rectangle of wood as a door and apply plastic house numbers.

• Carpet the roof with artificial turf for a terrace.

• Deck out the interior with cork, contact papers, decorative papers, carpet remnants and paint.