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Hi Everyone, I need a little help with the Orchid's double hung windows and staining/paint the surrounding walls. Sorry if a simliar question has been asked before, but I could not find an previous blog post. For part B of assembly, the directions say that the "portion of the wood surrounding the window opening, both interior and exterior, should be finsihed as the sashes have been (i.e. paint or stain) before gluing the sashes in place." (I stained my window sashes a dark brown, but I plan to paint the exterior a light blue. For the interior I want to do stucco.) So my question: how do I measure how much I should stain around the window on the house's walls? When I look at pictures of finished Orchids online it's not obvious to me that everyone has followed this direction. Is it really that important? -Sarah

Hi everyone! I've had a long quiet period on here, but I've been steadily working away and going to shows/shops (I was at Good Sam in San Jose and was fortunate to visit Dollhouses, Trains, and More in Novato, CA for their closing sale). I will, finally, post a batch of haul and progress photos in the first week of November, when I get settled back into my home in Eugene. I really am terrible with a camera and it bugs everyone I know! In the meantime, I have a question: Has anyone ever tried adding siding after their build's exterior was complete? Still being a novice, when I finished my first build (the Orchid; the interior is still a work-in-progress) I stepped back and thought 'I think I should have done siding.' Especially with the shingles on, the level of detail on the exterior just varies too much; it's been irritating me for a couple of months now. I'm a bit of a stickler it seems (though I didn't know it at the time)! My window/door casings, dormers, gingerbread, and my custom porch/railings are all already in place. I realize it may be very difficult, but the question is: is it even possible? If so, do you have any tips on how to do this? Any and all possible mini wisdom is welcome! P.S. I have the opportunity to snag a very affordable Laurel kit secondhand so I'm trying to decide where I should just start the next building with siding and call it 'lesson learned' or go back and add to the Orchid (and stash the Laurel until after the New Year, space is a very important consideration here). P.S. P.S.: I'm not a Cher fan, but I took a page out of Elizabeth's book (Studio E miniatures) since I'm always charmed by her ability to make musical jokes in her posts/titles!

I finally got it! I'm building my first house, the Orchid. I literally sat and stressed for hours yesterday about the stairs, which were horrible and splintery and way too big really for the housel. So I found angieaug's video on youtube and the lightbulb went on. I cobbled together a set this morning that fits like I want and she made it easy as pie. Eating pie that is, lol. So thanks to her! They are drying but I need to figure out wallpaper and stuff before I put them in permanently.

Hi there! I just purchased an Orchid kit that I’m very excited to build and wanted to join this community to chat about it! I have one unfinished dollhouse that’s just too big for my current home (it’s 32” wide and I needed something smaller), so I decided to start over again. By day, I’m in marketing and I live with my fiancé and our two cats in Madison. I also like to read, write, play video games, watch TV, and see live music. Nice to meet you all!

Hi, new member here and wanted to introduce myself. I built a Harrison for my daughter several years ago; and although I was in over my head for a first timer, I enjoyed myself so much I wanted to build another one although I couldn’t justify building one if I wasn’t making it for someone (I’m not a collector (yet)). It’s been about 8 years, but I’m jumping back in with an Orchid kit that I’m kind of envisioning as a beach cottage. I’m excited for my winter project and really grateful for all the expertise and inspiration I’m finding here. I live in Virginia just outside of Washington DC.

This weekend I decided I’m all in on dollhouses and will have 2 under construction at once. I dry fit and started assembly on my Orchid. (This is to put off dealing with getting the electrical done on my RGT bungalow. I have 4 out of 7 lights installed and working, but each has been a project in itself!) i had been debating omitting the stairs on the Orchid since it’s such a small house and stairs in the kit are very basic. Well now I’m committed as I put the second floor on backwards, which would place the stairs in front of the bay window. So...how do I, or do I even need to, fill in the hole? I plan to plank the upstairs and I could wallpaper the ceiling below but I feel like I ought to stick a piece of wood in there.

Just in time for Christmas in July, I have finished building and decorating the Greenleaf Orchid as Santa's Gingerbread House. Mrs. Claus, Santa and his brother Krampus live in this house with the elves where they make toys, check the naughty and nice list, sip tea and eat cake. The house includes a study, workshop, family room and bedroom. Started building last December, now 8 months later, I was helped in making design decisions by my 4 year old daughter, who loves to play with "Gingy". We've been cranking up the music box which plays "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and eating spice drops while playing.

Howdy everyone, I'm currently working--slowly but surely--on my first house (surprise!) The Orchid. I was wondering, has anyone tried to modify the side sheet containing the bay window to suit French doors? I've swapped the side sheets, in favor of more wall space in the "parlor" (the larger room to the left), so now the bay window would look in on the small kitchen under the stairs. I'd prefer to "open up" the space by allowing more light in; also, I must admit I don't love the idea of working hard to build that bay window if it isn't going to be a focal feature. Relatively long story somewhat shorter, have any of your found that it was possible to convert the bay window into a space fit for French doors? If so, how? Any and all guidance is deeply appreciated! Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday!

Hi Everyone! I gave my brother the haunted cottage as a surprise last week and he loved it! I made a lot of the interior items myself and used kits for the fridge and stove. This was SO much fun to do, I'm considering doing a larger one next. Again, I want to thank everyone who helped guide me thru with their tips and suggestions. This is a wonderfully supportive forum! I'll post Missy

Hello, my daughter and I got a free dollhouse that we are turning into a fairy house. I am not sure what it is.... That inspired me to buy an Orchid kit to turn into a Haunted House. I am having troubles figuring out if I should paint before assembling? Is there anything else I need to do before assembling?

I am working on wallpapering individual pieces of a tower (Harrison) and am trying to figure out how much paper I need for the entire room. Math class was a really long time ago...I know I knew this at one time. Can anyone help? I do not need to know how to measure the tower walls because I know I have enough wallpaper to do them; as they are laid out side-by-side on a table in my family room. However, I do not know if I have enough wallpaper for the other walls and if I do not, then I need to know how much of another pattern to buy. My other situation: I want to have a crown molding on my walls in my Harrison and in the Orchid I am making. How do I determine the amount of molding, chair railing etc. if I am using a miter to create the corners? Does the angle of the corner determine how much extra I need beyond the length of the wall. My Orchid just has square walls so the angle will be mitered at 45 degrees? Right? So if I am cutting crown molding for my Harrison tower which is 5 pieces the angle for the corners will be different and does that make the length of the molding different? I am hoping that someone can understand my ramblings and possible run-on sentences!! Thanks for your patience.

My first build, an Orchid that was a Christmas gift from my sister is finished! More or less, do they ever get completely finished? Still have some decorating and furnishing to do. I learned a lot from my first build. 1. My Bff's were painter's tape, emery boards and the weights from my knitting machine 2. Template for the roof! Also, this house comes with shingles. The directions said to place them no closer than 1/2". So I placed them 1/2" apart and ran out. The majority of the back is hand cut from the waste on the edges of the shingle sheets. The bay window was a complete fudge. 3. Don't skimp on sanding. There are places I wish I'd spent more time on this step. 4. Don't throw anything away. Little bits and pieces come in handy for repairs or trim. I had a blast and for the most part am pleased with the results. Thank you to Holly, Mike, Inge and others who answered my questions and provided inspiration. My next project will be a boarding house bash with Pierce and Primrose. I'm already losing sleep over it!

Hi all! I'm new here but have loved dollhouses all my life starting with the one my dad made me when I was 8. I finally decided to buy one just for me to decorate and I'm starting with an Orchid/Primrose bash. This is my third attempt at building a dollhouse. The first one was in college and was just a mess because I didn't have a good space and was working out of someone else's home (I was renting a room). The second was the HUGE Beacon Hill that I made but never 100% finished for my daughter. She never did play with it much but it ended up looking ok. Just a few things never got finished. This time around I'm going "small" but I'm going to do it the way *I* want to do it and take my time. My plans are to make this Orchid into a French country farmhouse/cottage with a modern farmhouse chic interior. Very excited to get this going! I did my first dry fit last night with both kits. I've decided not to do the large gable in the middle of the house and that large gable section just doesn't work with what I'm going for. I plan to keep the dormers though because those do. The outside of the house will be made to look like it's made of that beautiful golden french limestone. It will be a bit of work but I think it will look great in the end. I plan to make it using textured cardboard pieces that will then get colored with chalk pastels. The fishscale shingles will be changed to square ones and textured to look like shale. I'm leaving off all the gingerbread work and simplifying the window trims too. Sorry all you gothic architecture lovers! For the addition, I will not punch out the door, only the windows and I will raise the roof pitch to match the main part of the house. It should be pretty easy to just cut out a new panel for that side of the house to make it all fit right. The interior of the house has gone through some planning, replanning, and replanning. I had originally thought I would bump out the right side of the house (when looking at it this way). I even went to the trouble to cut the bump out out but I just didn't like it and I couldn't figure out a way to deal with the stairs that made me happy. I know some people just leave them off but I KNOW that would just irritate me to no end. My original plan was to have the bump out on the right for the kitchen and use the addition for the bedroom and bathroom. The upstairs would be a studio area and storage area. Once I saw everything put together, I decided to scrap the plans for the upstair and just dedicate that to the bathroom (second level of addition) and bedroom (second level of main part) and make the bottom part of the addition the kitchen and the large part of the main house the living room/dining room. To do that, I'll cut an opening between the main house and the addition. Sad to lose to studio area but perhaps I will find room for it somewhere. I don't want to lose the bay window so that will be moving to the right side of the house but closer to the front. And for those of you who are observant, my other hobby is sewing and I'm a giant Star Trek nerd

Hey all, There is a little notch at the top of the orchid stairs, but I can't find anywhere that this notch is supposed to fit into. Or does it? Thanks