Isara Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 (edited) Hi everyone: I posted a lengthy introduction about my refurbishment project in my introduction, so I won't bore you with all the details, but basically, I have this dollhouse I want to change the floorplans for. Currently, there's a kitchen and a living room on the bottom floor, a baby room/bedroom with toilet and another bedroom on the second floor, two attic rooms on the third (the top of the whole roof comes off), and then a random, additional "loft" on the fourth "floor" (no stairs, and the very top piece of the roof comes off to find this one). The stairs bisect the house and take up a lot of space. I want to turn one of the bedrooms into a bathroom, and move the stairs around. Not sure what to do about the loft (I don't have pics of the loft). I'm thinking of ripping out one of the center walls and putting the door to the kitchen behind the stairs. This would expand the living room, and leave the kitchen the same size. The toilet I would remove and move to the right side, expanding the left into a master bedroom. I'd like to add windows onto the sides of the attic. Oh, and I was thinking of making the doorway a bit fancier, like with a half-circle on top with stained glass. I think I also want to make windows that open and add a bay window or two, but I need to do some reading to make sure this can happen. Soooo.... other than measuring everything there is to measure, what else should I take into consideration for modifying it? I like things to be as realistic as possible, taking into account how children and adults would want to move around their space. And if you were given the existing floorplan, what would YOU do? I'm still working through ideas and looking at pictures, but there're a lot of details shots I'm finding, and not so many of how people arrange stairs! Edited February 8, 2016 by Isara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I'm not sure how you want to "move the stairs around". Is it possible to disassemble the house, partially? Will you be replacing your doors and windows with ready-made components? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathi17 Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 There are so many possibilities with that wonderful house! You really need to put all those photos into an album so you could refer to them there, or just link to them from your posts when you want to show a detail. I'm one of the people who leaves stairs out of my houses, unless I was lucky enough to have a house with a grand entryway. They take up too much room. To get an idea of sizes of doors and windows, you can download the Houseworks catalogue here: https://www.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=272004 It's one of those stupid page turning things, but over on the right is a down pointing arrow. Click on that, and you can download a .pdf file so you can see what is available, and sizes to compare to your house's openings, so you will know if you will have to change opening the sizes. If you plan on making your own doors and windows, it will give you ideas. While you are planning on rearranging the rooms/taking walls out, you will want to keep in mind that, like a real house, some of those walls might be structural, so you might want to do a very wide archway, rather than removing the whole wall. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I'd think about removing the stairs completely on the ground floor as well as the living room wall. If you do that, the kitchen wall could stay where it is. You'd gain a much larger living room, and the view of the inside of the front door (foyer area) wouldn't be blocked by the stairs. You could put a false wall at the back of the kitchen, cut a doorway into the foyer and insert a few stair steps to imply the stairs going up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isara Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 Thanks everyone for your feedback. I just took a closer look at it, and those interior walls are definitely support structures. The floors are plywood that run straight across, but are resting on thin mouldings. So the weight of the roof is coming down through those walls. But, I think I can move the walls around and it won't collapse the roof into the house. It's heavy, but not THAT heavy. Primarily, the space is that is inefficient is because of the placement of the left walls, but I can work around that, and save myself some work and leave the stairs in place (I remember hours of fun from the stairs, so I want to leave them functional) That Houseworks catalogue might be the death of me. I want ALL THE THINGS. Holly, I was going to make my own stained glass windows, but I don't need to make my own components. Just wasn't sure quite where to start for that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathi17 Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I'm looking forward to see your progress with the house. It is a real treasure! And yeah, I love that Houseworks catalogue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isara Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 Just now, kathi17 said: I'm looking forward to see your progress with the house. It is a real treasure! And yeah, I love that Houseworks catalogue! Is there a way to order the catalogue without being a dealer? Or do they care if you sign up as an artisan? I might, one day, once I have my tool shed in a good state, want to make excess pieces for sale, but I'm not planning on selling anything right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathi17 Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I think they only supply dealers and large businesses like Real Good Toys, and you have to buy from a business that carries their products. I'm not sure they even have a physical catalogue any more. I doubt that they sell to artisans, but you can always check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Miniatures.com is a retail site, has a catalog and sells all the Houseworks things. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsbeth Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I am so in love with this house - I just love house unique it looks. I will be following your progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsbeth Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 For renovation ideas, I have really enjoyed Jean Nesbitt's books - "Dollhouse Makeovers" and "Dollhouse Inspiration" - what I liked most was her photos of different ways to do stairs (or fake them), and the way she altered a large boxy house to have an entry way. I enjoy the photos and the ideas seem within reach for me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isara Posted February 10, 2016 Author Share Posted February 10, 2016 4 hours ago, Elsbeth said: For renovation ideas, I have really enjoyed Jean Nesbitt's books - "Dollhouse Makeovers" and "Dollhouse Inspiration" - what I liked most was her photos of different ways to do stairs (or fake them), and the way she altered a large boxy house to have an entry way. I enjoy the photos and the ideas seem within reach for me. I'll check those out! Funny - I've been collecting a lot of dollhouse furniture and textiles books, but somehow seem to have failed to get any building books... OH! but I did just find "The Big Book of the Dolls' House" by Nesbitt. Yeah, I collect books, too (and forget I have them...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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