r/booknooks

Hi friends, I'm Fleur. I’m in the middle of designing a new miniature bakery kit, and I need a little help to choose the best color and architectural style.

I’m aiming for a look that feels both cozy and sophisticated. Which of these three designs do you think works best?

1️⃣ – Full mint green exterior, inspired by classic vintage French patisseries.

2️⃣ – Bright white walls with elegant French arched doors and windows.

3️⃣ – A clean white exterior with mint green accents, featuring arched details on the interior.

Let me know your favorite in the comments. I’m looking forward to hearing what you think. Thanks very much! 😊

A fun little themed corner of my build collection! Old, modern, and future 🍜

Theater Dressing Room. It comes with a usb cord with power and cycle buttons. Thats awesome... sorry for the plastic pic. It is so hot out that I am a little worried about any stickers and power so Im going to do a check. Oh and lookie... a hammer! :)

This kit was so much fun! I did not get far on day one (Friday) as I was helping my mom, sister, and 2 of my adult kids work on their own kits. Finished it up today. It's very much a 3D kit, but only by way of structures and vehicles that you build. I did a LOT of edge painting. And then repainting on some as things went together.

I'm pretty sure I broke off a column when adding a part that I forgot, but I could never find it to fix it! Everything went together well, for the most part. A couple of pieces were a little too tight and needed adjusting. The lighting was hella confusing and I ended up with extras at the end, so those went back by the mirror at the top.

This kit was a perfect style for me. Mortise and tenon but reads completely 3D. Not a 2 hour build, but it did not take more than 9 total, I'd guess. I already have another cyber punk one on the way, and I'm lusting after the one by Mini Alley!!

https://byanavrin.com/en-ca/blogs/news/your-guide-to-your-very-first-diy-book-nook-kit

This guide in Anavrin is 100% chatgpt slop. I've been burned before by really lazy designers who don't bother reading what they let chatgpt write for them.

This is my first time building a kit. Are the tools listed necessary and is this a complete list, or should other tools be included?

I liked this nook for the most part. There were a few steps that I think would have been better off taken before the nook was put together such as attaching the balcony to the wall before attaching the wall to the rest of the enclosed nook per the manual. Otherwise, I enjoyed this one.

Tiled my kitchen and the raw edge of the tiles looked awful. Had to figure out the right shade of porcelain paint from 4-5 options then apply it without getting any on the grout.

All the edge painting served me well. I don't have to feel guilty about a whole day working on a book nook anymore - it's training!

Again, I don't have too many "in progress" pictures, because this kit took maybe 2.5 sessions to make. They're photos #2 through #5.

On the whole, this one wasn't too taxing. There were a few places I felt the need to slather Aleen's (the tower in back) and B-7000 (the sides) to make sure things didn't fall apart while I was assembling larger elements, but I've certainly had worse, even in my limited experience.

I made a few errors along the way. The worst one was that I put the LEDs for the two lanterns on the right whichever way, thinking it didn't matter which 40cm wire was which, and... it did matter. I had to disassemble both lamps fully, including the waxed paper lantern shades that were firmly glued in place (and irretrievable after removal), and put them back in the right order. Luckily we had two Costco rolls of parchment paper, and a couple of very small pieces of it worked as a good substitute for the shredded shades.

The material is sturdy, and the veneer is smooth and pleasant to the touch. There's very little papercraft or other DIY. Instructions are clear (despite the previous paragraph). I made two minuscule mods: edge painting the seats of the stools red, and painting the parasol handles brown.

I like the two designs of Anavrin's I've made so far. With the lights on, this is a striking and attractive scene, and the cats add a touch of warmth.

I'll add a smidgen to the Price Discourse. Neither they nor Cutebee acknowledge or credit their designers, and otherwise I don't see a substantial difference in their "city scene" products. And Cutebee's are much less expensive.

Photo #6 is Kyoto Gion in its home with a few mementos from Kyoto, and Cutebee's sweets shop, on my dresser.

Speaking of Cutebee (again), photo #7 is up next: their adorable Cat Café Garden.

After countless times of losing the plastic spacers that come with the moving kits, I had an idea to mark them so I can see them. I may be the last one here to think of this. I still wonder where my others disappeared to.🙄

Just ordered it, looks like a fun tropical vibe!

Picked up another anonymous ABC kit, this time the Astronomy Lab. I wasn't crazy about the official name at first, but after building it I started thinking of it less as a lab and more as a bedroom or study a couple of generations after the first settlers arrived on Mars.

It's not a heroic "first footsteps on the red planet" scene. It's just...home. Books on the shelves, a telescope by the window, and Mars is simply what's outside.

The build itself was pleasantly straightforward. Nothing especially fiddly or frustrating, and everything fit together well. The only real gripe was the wire management. It gets a little chaotic behind the scenes, but the industrial sci-fi aesthetic actually disguises it pretty well, so I never felt the need to fight it.

The warm lighting and the backlit porthole are definitely the stars of the show. Once it's illuminated, it really sells the feeling of a lived-in space rather than just another futuristic room.

Overall, another solid ABC kit. If you're looking for something that's more grounded science fiction than flashy space opera, this one is worth a look.

This is a new kit, came out maybe a couple of months ago. Fairly easy, well designed, the kind that works without any customisation just as well as with a ton of it. For my liking, painting the edges was perfectly enough.

Pros:

The pieces snapped together without the need of sanding or excess force.

I suppose gluing wasn't required either, but I do glue everything I can plus a bit more, required or not, so don't take my word for that.

The wiring was easy-peasy.

Cons:

Dim lights. Two AAA batteries just aren't enough for 5 LEDs.

There are three lanterns in the garden, none of them are lit. I would've loved to add an LED to at least the big lantern.

.

I normally build a nook and then I'm done with it forever. This is the only one so far I'd happily do again, but I'd heavily customise my second build into a snowy winter scene.

Booknook from scratch. Inspired by a littele town Santo Stefano di Sessanio - Italy.

Scale 1/24