DOLLS HOUSE - finally finished!

[Glynne]

Ever since my daughter was little (she is 30 now) I've thought of making her a dolls house.
For a variety of reasons this has never happened and about 4 years ago I decided that if I "cheated" and bought a kit I wouldn't have any excuse not to actually build one - then I got promoted at work and 40 hours a week turned into 55 / 60 hours with 25,000+ miles travelling and so the kit went into the loft. Despite being retired for 18 months (ha!) I still hadn't got the kit down but as my daughter will be presenting us with a grand daughter next February, I thought I'd better start.
The kit in question came from: -
http://www.dollshouse.com
and I decided to go for the bare kit and paint / decorate myself to make it more unique.
Progress so far is: -

As you can see from the last picture, there is an amazing amount of detail with doors and windows (which open) with decorative architraves etc. and so it really is like decorating a house, only in minature.
In trying to decide on the decoration, I enlisted the help of the boss as I'm supposedly colour blind and we found a little place near Walsall which specialises in dolls house with wallpapers, furniture and accessories: -
http://www.jennifersofwalsall.co.uk/index.php
Brilliant little shop and extremely helpful in everything to do with houses, including explaining how their house builder (yes someone has an occupation in just building dolls houses) goes about assembling and decorating their houses. So little tips such as only spot glue the stairs in case you need to remove them, attach carpets to backing card and stick with d/sided tape so as you can remove to get to the wiring etc.

I'll post some pictures as it progresses but would love to hear of any tips suggestions as this has opened a completely new world for me.

Glynne

 

[david123]

Hi Glynne
Love it. That's going to keep you busy for a while. You are a glutton for punishment. Didn't you tell me you decorated her real house a while ago?? (daughters, not granddaughters). Caroline is the decorator here, I procrastinate about it for to long as I hate decorating. Lovely idea mate, she will remember that dolls house all her life.
Good luck and keep posting the WIP.

 

[ColeyS1]

Looks like a fun project ! Gonna look great when its fully assembled and decorated I particularly like the look of the stairs - looks really effective.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[wallace]

Their quite fun to do, my wife is a bit of a dolls house nut. She doesn't get out much so it gives her something to do. She wanted something a bit different from the kits so I made her one 4' tall 4' wide one. We found that fabric remnants makes good carpets. She wanted it in the Victorian style so I made some panelling from mahogany offcuts.

 

[RossJarvis]

Their quite fun to do, my wife is a bit of a dolls house nut. She doesn't get out much so it gives her something to do. She wanted something a bit different from the kits so I made her one 4' tall 4' wide one. We found that fabric remnants makes good carpets. She wanted it in the Victorian style so I made some panelling from mahogany offcuts.

Any photos?

 

[Harbo]

For a child's dolls house, don't make them too complicated as little ones are not too careful or patient.
Many, many years ago my father made one for my daughters that was so ornate and complicated they soon gave up with it.

I made two of these over a year ago for my Granddaughters and they are still going strong:

Rod

 

[Glynne]

I've only just got around to doing some more on the house but the sheer volume of painting needed has surprised me.
I've just about finished the priming and to give you an idea: -

I have had a bit of a problem with the doors in as much as water based paints seem to continually raise the grain and I'm not happy with the finish.
I even tried an airbrush albeit with water based acrylics (thanks to RossJarvis for the advice) but I'm going to have to go for an oil based paint.

The kit I bought was quite expensive but does have a lot of nice details.
To give an example, you can actually take out the window panes to paint as below: -

As the workshop is getting a bit cooler, I'm going to move inside which has mixed blessings.
On the positive side it is a lot warmer and I don't have to trudge off to the workshop in the rain. On the negative side, the workshop is now clear and there is a huge temptation to actually make things rather than just paint and decorate the house.
I'll post further WIP idc.

Glynne

 

[david123]

Who gets the job of cleaning.the windows when it's finished ???
#-o

 

[blackrodd]

Very interesting WIP, The mouldings and various parts look nicely finished.
My Dad made one for our daughter, which pleased me as I was extremely busy at work.
It will look very nice when it's complete, I'm sure, keep up the good work. Regards Rodders

 

[Glynne]

After a hectic Christmas which saw the arrival of a Grandaughter, I've started again on the house for Daughter (and her impending daughter).
Without boring you too much, you need to carefully plan what you need to do and when as in some cases you need to do some decoration before you complete the construction.
Certainly you need to get the wiring in before you lay the flooring and the untidied wiring can just about be seen.

The rooms are all wall papered - very entertaining to do because the paper really stretches. n every case I made a paper template and then cut the wallpaper to size. Easier to fit if you put the house on it's back and let gravity help.

As there is no way you could redecorate without removing the stairs, I've simply used Prit Stick to hold them top and bottom so they are reasonably secure but they van be removed. The floors fitted are simply stuck to card and then to the house floor - again with Prit Stick.

The attic rooms were interesting as there is no way you could fit the lights after having assembled the walls and so to avoid having a join in the wallpaper, I had to paper the walls, fit the lights and then assemble the walls!

Also started papering the outside

and finally the roof

Had something of a disater with the roof - all the paper you see here bubbled and had to come off. Despite being very thin, you have to treat it like proper wallpaper and soak with paste and leave for a few minutes before fitting. It does stretch but at least it goes on and stays on flat. Another tip is to use several smaller pieces rather than one large complicated piece. It is very easy to join (especially this pattern) but I'm still going to have to buy another sheets along with the carpets when the boss decides on the colour scheme.
Just about to start on the front panels and windows so I'll post these idc.
Desperate to get back to some proper woodworking and I even ordered some hardware (20mm threaded bar + nuts) to build my own Moxon Vice - after seeing the post "Medley of Moxons". But the dolls house is so big I would struggle to work around it so I need to finish that first.

Glynne

 

[david123]

Looking good Glynne. The hall looks stunning.I look forward to seeing the finished article. One lucky granddaughter.

 

[Alexam]

Hi Glynne,

that's very impressive work. Lots of detail and results that must satisfy you a great deal, as well as the family. The new Grandaughter will have great fun wen she is a little older........... that's IF she is allowed to play with it.

Alex

 

[Glynne]

Despite saying I would finish the dolls house before doing anything else, I did indeed build a Moxon (which you may have seen) and so yet a further delay was incurred.
However I have now finally finished it and am quite pleased with the results: -

If I ever make another one I'll leave it to someone else to decorate as it took forever!
Hopefully back to some "normal" woodwork although I'm being pressured to make 3 year Grandson a fort or a castle - but at least they can be spray painted.

Glynne

 

[david123]

Nice to see it finished Glynne.
I think you have done a grand job, looks a treat.

 

[Waka]

Superb job. =D> =D> =D>

 

[blackrodd]

You're patience and attention to the details have most certainly paid off.
The tiny decorators have made a first class job.
An excellent WIP and something the mums and dads will want to play with too!
I suppose a garage is next, for the boys? Regards Rodders

 

[Alexam]

Well done Glynne,

that's a superb job you have done there. Can't wait to see the next series of photos when the furniture arrives, but time to get into the workshop again if the water level allows.

Thanks for sharing

Malcolm