Building Tips

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Whether this is your first dollhouse or you are an old pro, the following building tips might be very helpful!
If you're looking for dollhouse building ideas, I found a treasure trove of dollhouse plans in 1930s-40s editions of Popular Mechanics posted online by Google Books. This site has an excellent directory to each plan.http://hisibley.com/?page_id=71

  • Some kits offer houses in fiberboard or plywood.  I've built with both.  The fiberboard houses are much heavier, but I've found that if you plan to make any adjustments, such as cutting out a new door, the fiberboard is easier to cut.  If the exterior walls are frame boards, the plywood houses come out a bit neater.  It's difficult to get all those little pieces of fiber off the side walls before painting the fiberboard walls.
  • I buy the cheap vinyl table cloths to cover my table that I am using to build the house.  This protects my table, and makes a good flat surface.
  • Be sure to use a good glue. Don't use a glue gun as that type of glue doesn't hold up through the years. 
  • I paint and paper as I build. Some do that after the house is constructed, but I've found I cannot get into small places after the pieces are glued together, especially walls beside steps.  I use regular wallpaper, not the expensive dollhouse paper.  I take a miniature chair with me when I shop for wallpaper to place in front of the pattern to make sure it fits the scale.
  • Read the directions several times, identify all pieces and dry fit (tape) the walls together before gluing. 
  • If your house has siding, be sure the planks are aimed in the right direction before gluing! 
  • If your house doesn't have a foundation, I would recommend adding one.  It really gives the house a nicer look.  I cut up yard sticks to make the foundation walls.  Sometimes I cut a small window in the foundation and cover it with a little screen (tea strainer).
  • I've used regular floor tiles for flooring in some houses.  It depends on the period of your house, but they are much cheaper than flooring ($.99 each).
  • After I paint trim or dowels, I place the on a few pieces of spaghetti to dry.  This keeps them from sticking to the surface.
  • Most house kits do not have a flat bottom.  I put one under the foundation.  It makes the house much sturdier and if you plan to display it on a table, it will be stable, even if the table is a bit smaller than the house.
  • Sometimes I display my houses on microwave carts (the kind you assemble youself).  Wal-mart sometimes has these for $20 and they come complete with wheels and a shelf for storage.
  •   I label my wallpapers with code letters: B for bath, BDR for bedroom, etc.  When I dry fit the walls together with tape, I can see which wall is part of the bath and which side of the wall is part of the bedroom, so with a pencil, I write those code letters on the walls.  That way, when I take the house back them back apart and remove the tape, I will know where to apply which wallpaper before the walls are glued in place permanently.  I also make those notes on the directions.  
  • One thing I wished I had done was to keep all the directions.  I threw them all away when I finished the house.  
  • Making a stone foundation:  I make the rocks from white Sculpty clay.  I formed the rocks on aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, bake them, and paint them while they are still stuck to the aluminum foil. Then I cover the foundation with spackling paste mixed with black paint to form grey. While the spackling was still wet, I put a dab of glue on the bottom of each rock and pressed them into the spackling.
  • One more thing...you might consider taking pictures of your house in progess.  They make a nice keepsake.  I also make a tiny calendar with the year I build the house and place it in every house I build.  That way I can keep up with the year the house was built.  Some others put the year on the house as a house number.
Got a suggestion to share?

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