(Holly Tierney-Bedord)
Found Objects Find New Purpose
by Pam North
Holly Tierney-Bedord always has been fascinated by miniatures, with flipping dollhouses and styling room boxes as her main interests, combined with writing about how to do it.
She is the author of three books: Flip This (Mini) House: Turning a flea market dollhouse into a mid-century marvel; Decorate This (Mini) Room: Fun, easy, inexpensive dollhouse and miniature projects; and Style This (Mini) Room: Creative, simple ways to style dollhouses and miniature rooms. Her books are all about re-purposing everyday objects into miniature furniture and décor.
Her degree in graphic design, which entailed many art and design classes, has helped her immeasurably in her work with miniatures, and she loves using bright colors and bold designs in her creations. She cites her philosophy as this: “I want to spread the message that miniatures are for everyone, and that you don’t need to spend a lot of money, have a lot of space, or be an artist or a perfectionist to get started.” She is optimistic about the future of miniatures, feeling that they are going to become even more popular as time goes on, and she wants to be a part of that.
She shared several of her pieces, explaining how they evolved. “The dollhouse (living room with Eames chair, bubble chair, fireplace, and live plants) is from the Flip This (Mini) House project. The room boxes are just cardboard boxes I got in the mail. The house is a style from the late fifties or sixties, with 1970s and early 1980s influences. The room boxes each have their own stories, inspired by whatever scrapbook paper and other materials that often get moved around and reused. My room boxes and dollhouses feature a mix of store-bought miniatures in their original and altered-by-me forms, found-objects turned into miniatures, and handmade items. I use anything that appeals to me, and I’m not a purist as far as origins or scale. If it looks good in the room, I use it. Weavings and crocheted items are usually made by me. Plants are a mix of real, living plants and store-bought miniature plants. Room box floors are cutting boards. Wallpaper is scrapbook paper. Window blinds are made from coasters. The towel bar in the ikat-papered bathroom is part of a necklace. Pillows on the bed are purchased from other miniaturists on Etsy (Shepherd Miniatures and Seasons Beginnings). The little books are made from my own author business cards, and the fuzzy bed covering is a scrap of fabric purchased during the holidays. Some of the older-looking wood furniture pieces were purchased at antique stores and thrift shops. The lemon bedroom has a gold hanging light made from a Christmas ornament and a round button; the wooden vase is a big bead; the wooden night stand is the cap of a men’s cologne bottle; the colorful headboard and matching rug are coasters from an import shop. In the wood-paneled office, the art is hand-made by me, as is the little weaving on the wall. The rug on the floor is part of the Ikea Huset dollhouse collection. I like most of my rooms to have some handmade, artistic touches to make them unique.”
Holly has her own techniques for creating her pieces, using a variety of small looms and fine-gauge thread in her mini-weaving projects, and most don’t require fancy looms. Inexpensive bags of yarn turn up at thrift stores for next to nothing, to be turned into  miniature rugs or blankets. Most craft stores sell tiny, inexpensive stretched canvases that can be painted to suit. 
Holly embraces spontaneity in her creation of  miniatures. “Because my projects are made up as I go along, I’m not up against much resistance. If I had a set plan to begin with, it would be more difficult to make it happen. My pieces usually start with the wallpaper and evolve from there. I often have no idea what a room will look like when I start; I’m usually not even sure what kind of room it will be. The lemon bedroom, for instance, was going to be a kitchen before I realized that it made an even better bedroom. There’s something about creating a story - and that’s what a room box or dollhouse is - that feels very satisfying, as if I’ve uncovered something true and meaningful. I feel this when I write and also when I create art. Even a little room box can be a many-layered story.”
Looking ahead, Holly envisions creating many more room boxes and another dollhouse, making more weavings for both her real home and mini-homes, and writing more books.  

Contact Information:
Email: hollybedord@gmail.com
Phone: 608-669-6957
Address: 3593 Richie Road, Verona, WI 53593
Website: www.flipthisminihouse.com 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flipthisminihouse/