Post by Wickfield on Dec 14, 2014 12:01:44 GMT -5
I knew I wanted to add Caroline's parlor to my collection, being a completionist, but at $300 it was going to be a while before that ever happened. Fortunately with the crazy 2014 daily deals I was able to get it for $150! I think that is the perfect price point, and there was no way I would hesitate to buy it for that deal!
As others have said, it is a huge, very heavy box when it arrives. It is packaged very nicely, though. All the pieces are incredibly sturdy and have great details. This is such an amazing piece of doll furniture, and it makes a lovely display. We've had it set up in the living room since Thursday and everyone in my family has been enjoying it. I love that you have the storage in the window seat and drawers. I've already put several things in there just in the course of playing with it. I actually like that the drawers are connected in the shelf unit because it makes a deeper area where you can store bigger items.
Please to ignore my disheveled reflection, lol:
My favorite section is the fireplace. If AG decided to retire the other two units and keep the fireplace, I think it would still have a great seller. It is so fun to decorate it! For now, I set mine up to have sort of a holiday flair. I love the reversible painting/mirror. The painting is very nice and detailed, but it has a sort of purple cast to it that I'm not crazy about with the blue of the walls, so I leave it on the mirror side. The mirror is good quality, not like those cheap reflective stickers on some toy mirrors. You can clean it with Windex (as I've already done, lol). The peg-hole setup is a little odd, and it seems like a kid could break the peg of the mirror off if they were too rough, but it is useful, I guess. You could probably put a little piece of dowel or a knob in the hole so you could hang other things there, too. The fireplace itself is nicely detailed. It has 3D brick texturing in the back and sides, and it's airbrushed to look like it's been stained with smoke (my mother pointed this out and thought that was a great touch).
The shelf unit is also a winner. You can easily fit Caroline's dishes, and I added a teaset to my shelf because I think I am going to use it as a hutch. You see a lot of these arched shelves in period housing, so I'm glad it was included here.
I like all the little accessories included. The ship is adorable, even though it is made of plastic. The candlestick is very heavy, easily PC quality, though the candle doesn't come out of the holder. I don't mind the blobby horse at all, in fact I think he's kind of cute!
Interestingly, the fabric on the window seat is the same design as Caroline's chair cushions. In the paper dolls it showed her table and chairs with yellow seats, so I bet they were all originally designed to share the same fabric.
Honestly though, I have to admit I might have been a little...IDK, let down, if I had purchased it for $300. I have a few criticisms of it that are nothing at $150 but might bother me more at the original price. First of all, the color is beautiful, but it is not the most accurate choice. There ARE some examples of historical houses that use this color, but it is much more common to see a more blue-green color on the walls, like the seafoam color AG has been so fond of in the last year or so. Or, you might see yellow walls with teal trim. I like this blue, it's very classy, but I think I would have preferred the greener shade.
There seem to be a few scale issues. Obviously, they couldn't make it perfect 1:3 scale because it would be way too huge to move or store! However, the scale of the items to each other is a little off. First of all, I can't imagine the fire screen doing very much to block the fire, it seems too small. The logs/grate piece itself actually seems a little small, like it could be maybe an inch wider and take up more space in the fireplace.
The curtain on the window seat was a nice addition, and while you don't notice this too much while it is hanging I think it would have been better to have the edges finished. I don't like the way the window looks in the window seat. I love the reversible scene, and IIRC there is even plastic in the "panes" of the window. But the actual design of the window is strange. The panes seem like they are set on their side, for one, and it also looks like the window doesn't fit in the seat, like it was cropped off at the edges. You can kind of see what I'm talking about in the photos. Maybe there is some historical inspiration for this, but in my opinion it kind of spoils the effect. It is also tough to get Caroline to sit in the seat, she sort of flips the cushion up and slides off, however, her balance may be disrupted right now because of the way I styled her hair.
Lastly, there are just a few anachronisms that I, being picky, rather dislike. On the firescreen, the embroidery doesn't look quite Regency, it looks a little more Victorian in design. Also, the sailor's valentine is not at ALL accurate for Caroline's time period. American sailors never actually made the valentines themselves - they were purchased as souvenirs from the West Indies (I believe made by Barbados women) and did not begin to be distributed until the mid-19th century. It would work really well for Cécile (or MG), or even Samantha, but not for Caroline. That said, it is a very cute piece, even though the shells are printed on paper there is a terrific trompe l'oeil illusion, and the box itself is well made. I think I will just leave it closed and pretend there is a compass or something inside.
Despite my criticisms, I still thrilled the parlor is part of my collection! If I were deciding for a kid, I'm not sure this really has the most play value, especially compared to, say, the Ice Cream Parlor, which has a lot more pieces and the "ice cream serving" aspect. Caroline can sort of only stand around or pose in her parlor, lol, but that suits my display purposes perfectly! At $300 I would probably give it a B, but at $150 it definitely gets an A!
As others have said, it is a huge, very heavy box when it arrives. It is packaged very nicely, though. All the pieces are incredibly sturdy and have great details. This is such an amazing piece of doll furniture, and it makes a lovely display. We've had it set up in the living room since Thursday and everyone in my family has been enjoying it. I love that you have the storage in the window seat and drawers. I've already put several things in there just in the course of playing with it. I actually like that the drawers are connected in the shelf unit because it makes a deeper area where you can store bigger items.
Please to ignore my disheveled reflection, lol:
My favorite section is the fireplace. If AG decided to retire the other two units and keep the fireplace, I think it would still have a great seller. It is so fun to decorate it! For now, I set mine up to have sort of a holiday flair. I love the reversible painting/mirror. The painting is very nice and detailed, but it has a sort of purple cast to it that I'm not crazy about with the blue of the walls, so I leave it on the mirror side. The mirror is good quality, not like those cheap reflective stickers on some toy mirrors. You can clean it with Windex (as I've already done, lol). The peg-hole setup is a little odd, and it seems like a kid could break the peg of the mirror off if they were too rough, but it is useful, I guess. You could probably put a little piece of dowel or a knob in the hole so you could hang other things there, too. The fireplace itself is nicely detailed. It has 3D brick texturing in the back and sides, and it's airbrushed to look like it's been stained with smoke (my mother pointed this out and thought that was a great touch).
The shelf unit is also a winner. You can easily fit Caroline's dishes, and I added a teaset to my shelf because I think I am going to use it as a hutch. You see a lot of these arched shelves in period housing, so I'm glad it was included here.
I like all the little accessories included. The ship is adorable, even though it is made of plastic. The candlestick is very heavy, easily PC quality, though the candle doesn't come out of the holder. I don't mind the blobby horse at all, in fact I think he's kind of cute!
Interestingly, the fabric on the window seat is the same design as Caroline's chair cushions. In the paper dolls it showed her table and chairs with yellow seats, so I bet they were all originally designed to share the same fabric.
Honestly though, I have to admit I might have been a little...IDK, let down, if I had purchased it for $300. I have a few criticisms of it that are nothing at $150 but might bother me more at the original price. First of all, the color is beautiful, but it is not the most accurate choice. There ARE some examples of historical houses that use this color, but it is much more common to see a more blue-green color on the walls, like the seafoam color AG has been so fond of in the last year or so. Or, you might see yellow walls with teal trim. I like this blue, it's very classy, but I think I would have preferred the greener shade.
There seem to be a few scale issues. Obviously, they couldn't make it perfect 1:3 scale because it would be way too huge to move or store! However, the scale of the items to each other is a little off. First of all, I can't imagine the fire screen doing very much to block the fire, it seems too small. The logs/grate piece itself actually seems a little small, like it could be maybe an inch wider and take up more space in the fireplace.
The curtain on the window seat was a nice addition, and while you don't notice this too much while it is hanging I think it would have been better to have the edges finished. I don't like the way the window looks in the window seat. I love the reversible scene, and IIRC there is even plastic in the "panes" of the window. But the actual design of the window is strange. The panes seem like they are set on their side, for one, and it also looks like the window doesn't fit in the seat, like it was cropped off at the edges. You can kind of see what I'm talking about in the photos. Maybe there is some historical inspiration for this, but in my opinion it kind of spoils the effect. It is also tough to get Caroline to sit in the seat, she sort of flips the cushion up and slides off, however, her balance may be disrupted right now because of the way I styled her hair.
Lastly, there are just a few anachronisms that I, being picky, rather dislike. On the firescreen, the embroidery doesn't look quite Regency, it looks a little more Victorian in design. Also, the sailor's valentine is not at ALL accurate for Caroline's time period. American sailors never actually made the valentines themselves - they were purchased as souvenirs from the West Indies (I believe made by Barbados women) and did not begin to be distributed until the mid-19th century. It would work really well for Cécile (or MG), or even Samantha, but not for Caroline. That said, it is a very cute piece, even though the shells are printed on paper there is a terrific trompe l'oeil illusion, and the box itself is well made. I think I will just leave it closed and pretend there is a compass or something inside.
Despite my criticisms, I still thrilled the parlor is part of my collection! If I were deciding for a kid, I'm not sure this really has the most play value, especially compared to, say, the Ice Cream Parlor, which has a lot more pieces and the "ice cream serving" aspect. Caroline can sort of only stand around or pose in her parlor, lol, but that suits my display purposes perfectly! At $300 I would probably give it a B, but at $150 it definitely gets an A!