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Seeking Beacon Hill Ceiling Ideas

klaviergoddess

By klaviergoddess
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What are your plans for the period of the house? Is it going to be decorated Victorian style, or is it an old place with modern touches? How fancy would you like it to be? There are so many options!

I tend to like to build my places with current day conveniences, but the homes have maintained some of their original charms. This gives me free rein to do whatever I please, as the house may have been renovated several times over the years. When I did the BH ceilings, some were done to look like "tin" and others were just flat neutral. The tin is pretty simple to do with a textured piece of scrapbook paper and some metallic craft paint. Hallway with tin & metallic and kitchen with painted texture. I see a lot of medallions around showy ceiling fixtures and it fits the time period of the house too. Brae's parlor is a good example that comes to mind :)

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klaviergoddess

klaviergoddess

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This is the house that I wish I could live in, but can't afford. Therefore it's a historic house with a modern family living in it. I want it to have lots of personal touches in celebration of our family because I'm hoping that it will be nice enough to be an heirloom for my daughter to pass down. I can't wait to look at your ideas. I had already thought about the possibility of some "tin" ceilings. Thank you for your reply.

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havanaholly

havanaholly

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If you make templates of your walls and paper or paint the templates and attach them with douple-sided tape you can remove them to access youur wiring. I use round paper lace doilies to make ceiling medallions, gluing two or three togetherr and then then gluing them to the primed ceiling and painting over it when the glue has dried. I do ceilings, then floors, after the dry fit and before assembling the house (except the Pierce I'm currently rebuilding, since the floors were trashed; I'm finishing the celings before assembly and doing the floors room by room).

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I had originally intended to electrify. So I started out the main assembly done in way that allowed me to wire all the floors first and then add paper and paint. Unfortunately something failed with the tape wire and because of that I'll forever use round wire.

If I had to do it all over again, I would template the walls like Holly suggested. I've done it the hard way and it was not the most fun I've had during a build. Also, this puppy is heavy wit lots of fiddly pieces extending out when assembled, so flipping it upside-down to paint and/or paper is an exercise in balance and insanity. I ended up painting the ceilings with the house upright, performing a contortionist act, and being very careful not to get paint all over the already painted/papered walls and finished wood floors. Please for the love of all that is sacred, don't do that to yourself :lol:

Pinterest is a huge guilty pleasure of mine ;) I have to admit it's pretty flattering when I come across my own work over there from time to time. So thank you, and just shout if you get caught up during your build. We have a big group of helpful BH builders here. It's a big build and no one is going to think you're a pest. I think it's safe to say we'd rather have you ask 100 questions than see you cry 100 tears!

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Minsanity

Minsanity

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What she said (April)!! I have asked countless questions with my Beacon Hill and am confident my house, which is almost completed, would have ended up on the curb complete with mallet damage on trash day if it were not for the wonderful people here!

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WyckedWood

WyckedWood

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Do the ceilings before installation!! I also do the floors,walls and windows (interior) first. I didnt used to build this way, but finally I stopped making things harder on myself. Dry fit and label the parts first...with lots of masking tape. Learn from all of our mistakes lol!

I really wish I had done the ceilings in my Beacon Hill, but I simply painted them. I would love for them to be a little more special, so I will probably end up trying the balancing act of turning the house upside down...not looking fw to that day!

There are tile ceiling papers availble, Ive used rubber stamps punched into paperclay to get a faux carved look, some people use dollhouse stucco, or spackle. Once I used wood filler sort of sponged on with soso results. I think the BH would look great with tin ceilings.

the picture is the rubber stamp in paperclay method.

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WyckedWood

WyckedWood

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Electrifying the house will mean planning for a larger budget for the house. Lamps can be added later if you decide you want them using the round wire method. Wiring can be a pain and make it harder to display the house (you need a place to plug it in, and a place to keep the wires, and switches, etc...in my opinion a house can be just as special without them.....but an electrified house is wonderful at the same time! I wasnt planning on lighting my BH but now Im going back and adding lamps with round wire because I just cant resist:-) The rooms of the BH are quite deep and shadowy without lights.

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klaviergoddess

klaviergoddess

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Oh you are all SO wonderful! Thank you so much for the ideas! Yes, I would assume that I should finish the ceilings first but at this point I'm afraid to act on my own assumptions. I would rather get advice. This is going to take a lot of hand-holding, I fear. :D

Re: Electrifying or not. I have already hand etched my wood floors, therefore, there is no way to hide wires under flooring. I was thinking that wires could be hidden under a papered ceiling. Could it? Such a dilemma. I know it will be a frustration and expense, maybe best avoided, however I realize those deep Beacon Hill rooms will be dark since I made the floor rather dark. Somebody wiser please help me make this decision!

Here are my floors:

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&user=3376

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Lony

Lony

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Wow your floors look amazing! You can still electrify your house with tape wire. You just have to run the flat wire up the walls and across the celling. If you do decide to do this make sure you take photos and measurements as to where your wires are. (I learned this the hard way) There is nothing worse than trying to put an outlet in where you are sure the wire is only to find out you are 1/2 inch off.

Well, trying to paint an assembled house might be worse!

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klaviergoddess

klaviergoddess

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For those of you who do electrify, how did you first learn to do it? A book? A DVD? Trial and Error. I'm wondering if the "Dollhouse Lighting" book would tell me what I need to know . . . http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0933168489/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

Still not sure I'm brave enough to go there. It would just be so pretty if it all worked.

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Minsanity

Minsanity

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I remember being in your shoes with my beacon hill which was my first house, wondering if i should take the lights on. there is a tutorial on this site which I was directed to and I did fine with the wiring. I'm glad I did it. also I did not run the wires on the floor. I ran it under my ceiling paper and it was fine.

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WyckedWood

WyckedWood

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I love your floors, they look awesome. Theres a great little booklet called Everything You Ever Wanted To Know about Dollhouses and Didnt Know Who to Ask...its available at Hobby Builder Supply website and prob on amazon. It has a very straight forward lighting tutorial in it, and lots of other useful info.

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minime

minime

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I love your floors, they look awesome. Theres a great little booklet called Everything You Ever Wanted To Know about Dollhouses and Didnt Know Who to Ask...its available at Hobby Builder Supply website and prob on amazon. It has a very straight forward lighting tutorial in it, and lots of other useful info.

A link to the online booklet

http://www.miniatures.com/Everything-You-Wanted-to-Know-About-Dollhouses-W111.aspx

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