Baker Street Book Nook Build

Title: Baker Street
Brand: Tonecheer
Begun: June 16, 2024
Completed: June 16, 2024
211B Baker Street: the residence of none other than Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective made famous by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Such is the focus of this lovely little nook by Tonecheer.
From the opening of the box, this nook drew me into the fictional world of Holmes. The colors, architecture and detail in every piece is amazing. If you get the chance to see or build one of these, do it! I’ve done other nooks by Tonecheer, but the designers on this one took it to the next level, in my opinion. I sent a friend of mine a photo of the completed street view without any context of what it was to represent. (Other than a street, duh) He said, “Looks so much like side streets in Europe! 🤟” Having never been myself, I have to take his word for it, of course.
The use of the mirror to expand the scope of the world went beyond what I’ve experienced with any other nook I’ve built to this point. Mostly, the mirror is used to reflect the items there and give the illusion that the scene continues using the details you can’t see very well due to the limited viewpoint of the nook structure. They’re still simply a reflection of what’s already there. This designer, or team of designers, chose to paint different designs on the reverse side of objects and PEOPLE facing the front, so when they were reflected in the mirror, something new appeared in the background, extending the illusion and truly creating magic. They even have you build half of a window, knowing the second half will be reflected in the mirror. There is a small wall that is attached to the main right wall at an angle. The angle is perfect for how it interacts with the reflection of the mirror because it makes the street appear curved instead of straight or angled.
The instructions were in black and white, literally. No words beyond the standard introduction and warnings. After that it was just black and white outlines of the pieces along with their board letter/number call references. This is par for the course with Tonecheer instructions. However, there was one part where I wish they would have been a touch more descriptive. I’m thankful I didn’t glue this part, or it would have been irreparable. Not many parts had to be glued, actually. Mostly just the ones that were décor on the wall without notches. Everything else fit snugly where it was supposed to go. The part that needed more description was the flower bed. There were two notches where the bed was to insert into the wall, and therefore two corresponding juts, I guess you’d call them? Anyway, they weren’t the same size. Which means that there was a definite top and bottom to the piece. This was NOT MARKED anywhere! Of course, I put the flowers in the wrong way, so their roots would be popping up for the world to enjoy instead of their blooms. I did not find this out until I went to insert the piece into its designated notches. It didn’t fit. Rather, one side swam in its notch whilst the other just bopped against the wall like a woodpecker. So, after very carefully removing the flowers from the bed and reinserting them so their blooms could shine, I was finally able to successfully seat the flowerbed in its appropriate place.
That was the only hiccup in this otherwise seamless build. It was fun, easy, relaxing, and created a charming piece to use as decoration or a nightlight when you get up in the wee hours of the morning to take care of business. Did I forget to mention the light has a motion sensor? You can turn that off if you don’t like it.
Copyright ‪@StepCatStudios‬ 2024