le.doll.house Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Hi there. I've been lurking on this forum a long time. Hobby Lobby and seeing their houses on display really woke my interest again. For the past few weeks I have been drooling over your lovely photos. I wanted RGT Painted Lady to be my first but all this research before the purchase I'm now looking at front opening houses due to space to display. This afternoon I remembered in my stash of hoarded craft supplies I have a GL Orchid Kit. I dug it out, and I think all the parts are there! So I started cutting the shingles out today... this will be a sort of practice house 'til I can go big. ☺ I have tons of questions. Hi Everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Welcome to the little family, Rosie. Greenleaf makes the Cheltenham, a front-opening house: http://shop.greenleafdollhouses.com/Search.aspx?Keyword=the+Cheltenham There are two team building blogs for the Orchid in the "Blogs" section. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathi17 Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Welcome to the forum Rosie! Since you already have an Orchid, that is a great way to start. It's a really cute little house, and it isn't too difficult. I would love to do the Painted Lady, I have done two San Franciscans, which it is what this one is a take off on, and would love to see them side by side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.doll.house Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, havanaholly said: Welcome to the little family, Rosie. Greenleaf makes the Cheltenham, a front-opening house: http://shop.greenleafdollhouses.com/Search.aspx?Keyword=the+Cheltenham There are two team building blogs for the Orchid in the "Blogs" section. Thank you I seen that, but it says out of stock and googling it I don't see it anywhere on the internet... Maybe they will bring it back at some point. I've bee.n peeking at UK dollhouse sites, it'll cost an arm and leg for shipping... Edited January 30, 2016 by le.doll.house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.doll.house Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 32 minutes ago, kathi17 said: Welcome to the forum Rosie! Since you already have an Orchid, that is a great way to start. It's a really cute little house, and it isn't too difficult. I would love to do the Painted Lady, I have done two San Franciscans, which it is what this one is a take off on, and would love to see them side by side. Thank you The orchid has such bad reviews on Amazon I wasn't even gonna take a look at it, just toss it out... but here no one seems to trash it, so I decided to take a look and if awful then maybe use it for parts on some other project, but it doesn't look so bad... just gotta move real slow with the shingles. That's what I'm working on now. Ooohh the San Franciscan is BEAUTIFUL I actually like it better than the painted lady, how is the quality? What about size compared to the Painted Lady. I really want to do a Victorian for sentimental reasons but today I've been scoping the front opening houses... I grew up in the house below, I loved the beauty of Victorian's even as a child... it was heartbreaking when we had to leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathi17 Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 I absolutely love the house you grew up in. There actually are some kits that look a lot like that house, I just don't remember which ones they are. It would be neat if you could find one and duplicate the house you grew up in! About the San Fran. I'm not sure how the size compares to the Painted Lady, because I've never measured mine. (My granddaughter has the other one I built). I have a tiny real life house, so my dollhouses are in a big unheated barn where my mother and I have a gift shop in the summer, so I can't measure it right now, but I've been curious about the differences too. I do like the looks of the San Fran better too. About quality, there were three versions of the San Fran. The first one was the 500, and I wouldn't recommend that one. It's the one with strips of trim up on the top front peak, glued right to the front of the house, and it looks a lot different from the other two versions. The second two, 555 and 557 were a lot nicer. The 555 is plywood and has an oval window in the peak, and the 557 is MDF and has a round window in the peak, and a few other little differences. Mine are both 557's. I expect the Painted Lady is much easier to put together. With the DuraCraft ones, you had to cut all the trim pieces from longer stock, and trim, (and miter), them to exactly the right size. All those working windows in the two bays were a huge pain to do. I really think the San Fran was one of the most difficult houses to build because of all the trimming and mitering involved, but in spite of that, I loved the finished house so much that I bought another one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbytsdy Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 (edited) 22 minutes ago, le.doll.house said: The orchid has such bad reviews on Amazon... Sometimes I like to look through dollhouse kit reviews (on amazon, overstock, etc) just so I can have a good chuckle! It's patently obvious that the reviewers don't have skills or, more importantly, the desire to develop skills. The biggest thing I have learned (and am still learning ) is that if I want the house to look nice, I have to be willing to put in the time and effort to learn and do! Edit: your childhood house is beautiful! Kathi can probably speak to the San Fran better than I; it appears to me to be a bit more refined than the RGT Painted Lady, though one can pretty much only find San Fran kits on eBay. I built the San Fran 557 model which is MDF, and did not like the building experience (heavy, and shipping disaster), and am currently building the 555 model which is not MDF but rather based on pre-milled boards. Neither kit is as precise and detail-oriented as the Greenleaf Beacon Hill, for example. Edited January 30, 2016 by rbytsdy add comment 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathi17 Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Just now, rbytsdy said: Sometimes I like to look through dollhouse kit reviews (on amazon, overstock, etc) just so I can have a good chuckle! It's patently obvious that the reviewers don't have skills or, more importantly, the desire to develop skills. The biggest thing I have learned (and am still learning ) is that if I want the house to look nice, I have to be willing to put in the time and effort to learn and do! Exactly!!! I meant to mention that in my comment above, but I got so long winded that I forgot! I think the Orchid is one of the most loved houses on these forums. Those who bash it, really don't have any idea what they are talking about. Many of them probably expect to get a $349.00 house for $34.00 or whatever the Orchid costs. Others, just have no idea what they are doing when they try to build it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.doll.house Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 55 minutes ago, kathi17 said: About quality, there were three versions of the San Fran. The first one was the 500, and I wouldn't recommend that I really think the San Fran was one of the most difficult houses to build because of all the trimming and mitering involved, but in spite of that, I loved the finished house so much that I bought another one! Thank you, oh gosh I would love to find a house that looked more like the one I grew up in. I'll compare the measurements online. I'm sure I can find the San Franciscan's somewhere... I've seen the first with the starburst thing going on. I wasn't too thrilled with that one. The other two I don't think I noticed the difference in the windows. It looks like a lot of detail to handle but they are sssooo beautiful! Must be worth the pain lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.doll.house Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 1 hour ago, rbytsdy said: Sometimes I like to look through dollhouse kit reviews (on amazon, overstock, etc) just so I can have a good chuckle! It's patently obvious that the reviewers don't have skills or, more importantly, the desire to develop skills. The biggest thing I have learned (and am still learning ) is that if I want the house to look nice, I have to be willing to put in the time and effort to learn and do! Edit: your childhood house is beautiful! Kathi can probably speak to the San Fran better than I; it appears to me to be a bit more refined than the RGT Painted Lady, though one can pretty much only find San Fran kits on eBay. I built the San Fran 557 model which is MDF, and did not like the building experience (heavy, and shipping disaster), and am currently building the 555 model which is not MDF but rather based on pre-milled boards. Neither kit is as precise and detail-oriented as the Greenleaf Beacon Hill, for example. You know after I opened the box up I realized that was probably the case, they expected easy peasy... I think a lot of times also they don't realize the Orchid isn't meant to be a toy. Have you built a Beacon Hill? That was is so grand. I can't wait til I'm at that level... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.doll.house Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 1 hour ago, kathi17 said: Exactly!!! I meant to mention that in my comment above, but I got so long winded that I forgot! I think the Orchid is one of the most loved houses on these forums. Those who bash it, really don't have any idea what they are talking about. Many of them probably expect to get a $349.00 house for $34.00 or whatever the Orchid costs. Others, just have no idea what they are doing when they try to build it. I agree... I think a lot of people who aren't truely into miniatures don't realize the cost of these houses... so they expect heavier qualify for a few bucks because they have to build it themselves... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbytsdy Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 1 hour ago, le.doll.house said: Have you built a Beacon Hill? That was is so grand. I can't wait til I'm at that level... I have-- and I wasn't at any sort of level! I learned so much on that house-- it was my first (round-wire) electrical job, for example, and I worked on my trim finishing technique (sand spackle paint sand spackle paint sand paint), and tried out some window dressing techniques too. If you have an eye for the BH, go for it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.doll.house Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 9 minutes ago, rbytsdy said: I have-- and I wasn't at any sort of level! I learned so much on that house-- it was my first (round-wire) electrical job, for example, and I worked on my trim finishing technique (sand spackle paint sand spackle paint sand paint), and tried out some window dressing techniques too. If you have an eye for the BH, go for it! I am so in awe of all these big house, I'm confused what house I want to do next... but for now I should just finish cutting out the shingles of my Orchid lol. With wiring... how does one light their house if they arent planning to use wallpaper or special flooring? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 3 hours ago, le.doll.house said: I am so in awe of all these big house, I'm confused what house I want to do next... but for now I should just finish cutting out the shingles of my Orchid lol. With wiring... how does one light their house if they arent planning to use wallpaper or special flooring? There are creative ways to run round wire. The stock baseboards have a groove to accommodate horizontal runs. Runs along ceilings can be hidden behind copings. Vertical runs can be hidden behind drapes/curtains or tucked into the corners of rooms and masked with a bit of Spackle or run along the edges of walls and ceilings/floors and covered with a U-channel. Wires that need to run up walls (as for sconces) can be hidden in channels cut into the wall and then smoothed over with Spackle (or joint compound/wallboard mud). All of the wires end up beneath the house, where they are either plugged into a socket with multiple receptacles or soldered to a strip of tape wire, either of which is then connected to the power source. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.doll.house Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 1 hour ago, KathieB said: There are creative ways to run round wire. The stock baseboards have a groove to accommodate horizontal runs. Runs along ceilings can be hidden behind copings. Vertical runs can be hidden behind drapes/curtains or tucked into the corners of rooms and masked with a bit of Spackle or run along the edges of walls and ceilings/floors and covered with a U-channel. Wires that need to run up walls (as for sconces) can be hidden in channels cut into the wall and then smoothed over with Spackle (or joint compound/wallboard mud). All of the wires end up beneath the house, where they are either plugged into a socket with multiple holes or soldered to a strip of tape wire, either of which is then connected to the power source. Thank you. I will need to start planning placement for the next house... ☺ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 If you are planning to have all painted walls rather than wallpaper or wainscoting, etc., you may want to put a very thin/skim coat of Spackle (wallboard mud/joint compound) over the entire wall. When it dries, a very light sanding gives the impression of a lovely smooth plastered wall (or leave it textured, for a rustic/provincial look). Even with substantial sanding, the grain of wooden walls and even minor irregularities in the surface will show under the paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathi17 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 9 hours ago, le.doll.house said: Thank you, oh gosh I would love to find a house that looked more like the one I grew up in. I'll compare the measurements online. I'm sure I can find the San Franciscan's somewhere... I've seen the first with the starburst thing going on. I wasn't too thrilled with that one. The other two I don't think I noticed the difference in the windows. It looks like a lot of detail to handle but they are sssooo beautiful! Must be worth the pain lol. Yeah, the starburst one is the 500, and it wasn't that nice. They definitely are worth the pain though, that's why I built two of them, and still want the Painted Lady just to see the differences! My granddaughters house is the one in my avatar. Both houses are in my album, but I didn't get a finished photo of my house before it met with an unfortunate accident. I still need to fix it. (I tipped it over onto the corner of a desk and broke out two levels of one bay, plus more stuff). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.doll.house Posted January 31, 2016 Author Share Posted January 31, 2016 Ouch. I'm sorry to hear about your house... I will have to go over and try to figure albums feature out. I think the painted lady will be a lot easier, less detail but very heavy. Have you been to hobby lobby? They have samples set up there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathi17 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 3 hours ago, le.doll.house said: Ouch. I'm sorry to hear about your house... I will have to go over and try to figure albums feature out. I think the painted lady will be a lot easier, less detail but very heavy. Have you been to hobby lobby? They have samples set up there. It was my own fault about the house, I should have been more careful. I felt bad, but at least I broke something I could fix. :-) A year ago, we finally got a Hobby Lobby a couple of hours away from us, but I've only managed to get in to it once. Normally we only get off the island on Sundays, which is the day they aren't open. At other times when we made a special trip, we never managed to be able to get into the parking lot. Our Hobby Lobby went into a bad shopping center. The developers put it into a place where you couldn't turn left, so you had to go right, then pull into a mall further down the road, turn around and come out again, and then go to Hobby Lobby. Once you get turned around, you are allowed to go straight, which brings you by Hobby Lobby. On top of that, it was a very small piece of land, and there are three other business sharing the same tiny parking lot, one of which is a very popular steak house. The parking lot is like a meat grinder of irate drivers all trying to get into the same spaces. I hate it because I'm afraid that the corporation will think they don't do much business because no one is interested in it, when it's really only because of the locations, and it's almost impossible to shop there. I hope they move it, as soon as their lease is up, rather than shutting it down. My kids are in Rochester, NY, and when we are out there, sometimes I get to go to the one in Webster, NY. I love that store! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.doll.house Posted January 31, 2016 Author Share Posted January 31, 2016 Oh that sounds like a nightmare! I'm sorry... we just got one a few years too in the place of a Mervyns. It's heavenly! I go there and take pictures of all the thungs I plan on buying later and post them to my instagram... lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soapz Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 A late, but nevertheless warm welcome to the forum, Rosie! I just bought an Orchid for my stash - just because it's so darn cute.... And I do agree, a painted lady would be another one I couldn't say no to...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.doll.house Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 On Mon Feb 15 2016 15:11:57 GMT-0800, Soapz said: A late, but nevertheless warm welcome to the forum, Rosie! I just bought an Orchid for my stash - just because it's so darn cute.... And I do agree, a painted lady would be another one I couldn't say no to...... Hi Soapz! Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm still working on the Orchid, it's moving slowly, lol but I'm loving the results so far. I changed my mind on the Painted Lady... I went over to wanting a house from the UK, but now I found a Lundby for my next project and for a 3rd I'd like to build my own... I'm dreaming real big lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.doll.house Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 So I think this is really gonna happen tomorrow... I'm excited, it will be worth the two hour ride each way... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathi17 Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Congrats on the Lundby, there are a few members on here with those, so you will be in good company! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le.doll.house Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 48 minutes ago, kathi17 said: Congrats on the Lundby, there are a few members on here with those, so you will be in good company! I am excited! I'm a little nervous about the smaller scale and also am I actually skilled enough to do a dollhouse renovation?... I am glad I have found this awesome group... I've been browsing the galleries. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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