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Sunday, March 16, 2014

Building a Dollhouse, Part 3

There's been a lot of progress on the dollhouse in the past few days, so I'm back with another update. The first order of business was to get the roof on. Here, the main roof and the front gables are being glued and nailed in place. Nails in the front were countersunk, then I filled the holes with joint compound, and once dry, I sanded and touched up the paint.


Originally, I had primed the roof white, like the rest of the house. Then I read that white could show through in between the shingles, so I painted the roof brown. I decided to go with wooden shingles that have an octagonal edge. Since the kit did not include the shingles, I bought two bags of 350 shingles from Hobby Lobby. At first, I was planning to stain the shingles, but decided I like the look of the natural color, which is much lighter than the brown I had painted the roof. The darker color won't show through in between the shingles, but you might be able to see the darker color under the edge of the shingles that are around the outside. So I painted around the edges with a lighter brown, closer to the shingle color. My sweet husband, who has put together the structure of this dollhouse since it required nailing (I don't do nailing), started laying the shingles. He drew guide lines on the roof 3/4" apart with a pencil to mark where the rows of shingles will go. We are using Fast Grab Tacky Glue to glue the shingles in place.


While he was working on the shingles, I started installing the exterior doors, windows, and trim.  Upstairs there's a little balcony.  I glued on the french door, corner molding edge trim, and the balcony railing.  All of the house trim is painted off-white. 


The front door was next.  I had painted the front door the darker Island Blue trim color.  All of the doors and windows have clear plexiglass panes that had to be slid into a slot in the wood before gluing them in place.  You can see some of the shingles strewn about in this picture.  


 I also glued tiny brass and crystal door knobs on the inside and outside of the front door and the balcony french door.  I ordered the knobs from eBay.


Next to go in, was the oval window in the front gable of the roof.


I had been researching how to shingle a dollhouse all week, but I still didn't feel comfortable that I could do it.  Since the shingles didn't need to be nailed in place, I thought I would be gluing them myself. Once my husband finished nailing the last parts of the roof together though, he told me to go get the shingles.  I started telling him all that I had learned about shingling the roof, and his response was "Don't worry, I know how to do this - it's just like a regular size house".   


I am so relieved that he took on this part of the build.  I was really worried about cutting all the shingles to fit into the valleys on this roof.  It's no problem for him though. He can cut the shingles to a perfect fit (it appears without even thinking about it).  It's like second nature to him.


I finished gluing in all ten windows. I used a combination of Fast Grab Tacky along with a few dots of  Zap-a-Gap to glue the doors, windows, and trim.  


All the corners of the exterior got a white corner molding trim.


I wanted to add some more of the Island Blue trim color to the outside of the house.  I found these adorable little shutters at Hobby Lobby and painted them Island Blue.  So to finish off the front trim, I started gluing the shutters in place.


I added four sets of shutters to the outer windows.  The walls around the bay windows aren't wide enough for shutters.  It's easier to buy four sets of shutters than ten sets anyway.  I like the look of the shutters just on the outer windows, and I like the pop of color.  


We got almost half of the shingles done.  My hubby is working today, but hopefully he will have time to work on it some more in the evenings this week.  


Once the roof was on, I was able to work inside on the third floor.  I found a fairy print dollhouse wallpaper on ebay for the third floor.  


I wallpapered the back walls with the fairy print paper and painted the side walls Cottage Rose.


Here's a view of the living room with the front door installed. I still need to add the trim.


Here's the french door upstairs that opens out onto the balcony.


Current view of the inside progress.

The next decision I'm trying to make is what to do with the area on the base in front of the house. I can't figure out if this area is supposed to be a porch or the yard. In the picture on the dollhouse box, it is painted white like a porch, but there is no roof over it like a porch would usually have. There is a fence or railing that goes around the edge that I have painted white. If I make it a porch, I could add some rocking chairs out there, but if I make it the yard, I could add some flower beds with plants. I know I don't want to leave it stained brown the way it is now. I am thinking about doing a flagstone treatment on it or on part of it. I'm not really sure how I could make it look like a yard with grass and flower beds yet.  

What do you think this area should be?  A front porch or the front yard?  I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

I hope you are having a wonderful, blessed weekend!

23 comments:

  1. It is looking so lovely! For the front part, what about a courtyard? That way you don't need to worry about plants or a porch roof but could still put some furniture there. Something like this: http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/04/2c/a1/00/front-courtyard.jpg

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    1. I agree. A courtyard might be a lovely compromise for a beautiful house!

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    2. Ooh! That's pretty! Thank you for the awesome suggestion, Nealie Jean. I just finished painting the base with 3 coats of a dark gray to cover the stained area and the white trim around the bottom. The gray will serve as the grout lines around the stones in the courtyard. I can't wait to get started on the next step.

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    3. I wanted to say Thank you to Anonymous too for confirming the courtyard suggestion! The suggestions here have definitely helped make this decision easy. Thank you!!!

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  2. Oh wow it is coming out so nice. I love the fairy print wallpaper. That was great your husband helped you out with the roof. It looks like a very tedious job. I meant to tell you in your last post that I really liked what you did with the stairway. I think that area you are wondering about would look nice as a porch with a white fence. Maybe you can find a nice miniature porch swing to put there.

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    1. Thank you Laura! The roof is proving to be tedious. It's still not quite done, but getting close. I started with 2 bags of 350 shingles. I bought another bag last week when we ran out, but now we are out of shingles again. Time to go back for another bag. Oh, and we are on the third bottle of Fast Grab Tacky Glue. Of course, I've been using some of that too. I've been building a kitchen for the house. I like your idea of a porch swing too. I wish there was a porch roof so I could do a hanging swing.

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  3. I love it! (I wish that I had time for something like this...) It really looks great. The look of the shutters is so nice and I really like the pop of island blue. As for the Porch/Yard issue I think it should be a porch (or a courtyard), but you could make it a yard. Really it's up to you. Personally I think that some rocking chairs (and maybe some potted plants?) would look very nice (of course that's just me), like Laura said above maybe you could find a miniature porch swing. That would be really nice and it would look great, but really it's up to you! <3 ;)

    PS: sorry for the long comment usually I keep it short! ;)

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    1. Hi Kitty! Thank so much for your comment. I love reading them and the suggestions are awesome to hear! I think the porch/courtyard sounds like the right choice. I wanted to do plants, but like you said, potted plants would look great and would still incorporate some nice landscaping into the house. I'm thinking about some vines on the porch railing too.

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  4. I adore your dollhouse! So very well designed and finished.
    That front area could be a flagstone entry/lanai with patio seating (benches, wicker sets, cafe table, etc) with potted plants throughout. Whatever you do I know it will be stunning.

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    1. Thank you for your suggestions Melody! I am going with the flagstone and potted plants like you suggested. Once the railing is in place, the porch area will be pretty narrow, I think, so I'm not sure how well the rocking chairs that I got will fit. I might have to go with some smaller seating. Benches would definitely work. There are so many cute mini porch pieces available in the fairy garden sections right now, it will be hard to choose just what will fit on the little porch.

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  5. It really is so beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing this creative adventure with all of the readers! You are doing such a lovely job.

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    1. Thank you Echo! I'm so happy that you are enjoying reading about my dollhouse adventure. Building it is so much fun, I think I've found a new passion. :)

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  6. This is looking fabulous! Your choice of colors are really beautiful together, and the interior is looking great.
    Shingling a roof is not much fun. What a great husband you have. He is definitely a keeper!

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    1. Hi Isabelle! Thank you for your sweet comments! My hubby is definitely a keeper! The shingling process is coming along slowly, but he is sticking with it and works on it whenever he has time. I've been working on the inside a little, trying building my own furniture. I'm pretty happy with how the kitchen is turning out, but the rest of the house is still pretty empty. Update to come soon, at least with the progress on the kitchen and roof. :)

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  7. I just nominated you for a blogging award! And I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the house is coming along.

    http://mylittledollcorner.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thank you for the award nomination Barb! That is so very sweet! What an honor!!! Update coming soon!

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  8. Lovely dollhouse. I like the link Nealia shared showing a courtyard. Nice indeed ;-).

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    1. Thanks D7ana! I love hearing your comments and suggestions! You guys are helping me so much to stay on track with this building adventure! Courtyard coming soon!

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  9. This is a great house. You are building it very perfectly!! The fairy wallpaper is so cute.
    hugs♥,
    Caroline

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    1. Thank you for your sweet comments Caroline!!! I just love your shabby chic dollhouses! Everyone, please check out www.cinderellamoments.com/ to see the most beautiful shabby chic dollhouses! Your blog is such an inspiration!!!

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  10. That is such a beautiful dollhouse! Where did you find the space to keep it? I always wanted to do a project like this - but I just don't have the space for one right now.

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    1. Thank you Alexandria! Right now the dollhouse in on a table in between my dining room and living room, where I have been working on it constantly it seems. I haven't really decided where it's permanent home will be once most of the major construction is finished. I'm enjoying working on it so much though that I'm already planning to build another dollhouse, so space is definitely an issue for me too. :)

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  11. Thank you Eliana! Update on the progress coming soon. :)

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Thanks so much for stopping by. I'd love it if you left a comment to let me know you were here. Have a wonderful day!