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First Greenleaf dolls house: The Adams


ariadne

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Hello all,

I always wanted a doll house but never got one as a kid. This year, I decided it was time to get one for myself!

I live in Germany, and the dollhouse hobby seems to be less popular here than in the US and the UK, so I looked at British and American houses. For my first dolls house, I decided on Ash House, from the Dolls House Workshop, because I thought an MDF house would be easier to build for a beginner. Also, I have cats and I thought a front-opening dolls house would be safer. Luckily, they seem to have no interest in miniatures at all, so I think I could really get either type of house in the future! I've built the shell of the main house (though still need to build the separate basement, which I bought once I was sure I liked the hobby), and am in the process of decorating/furnishing it. It will probably take me a long time to complete as I'm very slow, but I enjoy it. It's a Georgian House and I'm doing a Victorian interior, possibly with some small steampunk twists.

There's a picture of the Ash House kit here: http://www.dollshouse.com/ash-house-dolls-house

In the meantime, I've been to a miniatures fair and somehow ended up buying an already assembled shop (the Barbara's Mouldings corner shop) because the seller didn't want to take it back to the UK and I got a really good price on it. That's sitting around waiting for me to get to it. I'm planning to do it as a pub or bar in 1930s Art Deco style.

And because my husband seems to find my dollhouses quite cute and I'd like to get him more involved :D , I've just ordered and received The Adams to turn it into a little Swedish wooden house for him (he really likes Sweden).

So, I got into dolls houses in March, and my third - or, if you count the Ash House basement, fourth - kit has just arrived. It really is addictive.

I've been reading here as a guest for a while and admiring everyone's projects, and now that I'm tackling my first plywood dollhouse, I thought I'd join and ask lots of questions, because building this is going to be really different from the MDF house, I think. For a start, I didn't bash the MDF house at all because it's so thick and hard, and the windows were all cut out already and are only in the front. Whereas with the Adams, I've been thinking a lot about how I might adapt it.

I'd like to finish the Adams for my husband by Christmas. I'm going to do the outside in dark red siding and the trim in white, basically, it's meant to be similar to this style of house, though with the porch, of course: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albert_Engstr%C3%B6m_-_Hus_2.JPG

I've got a question to start with, though will ask it elsewhere separately, if that's better: Depending on what furniture I decide to put in, I may not punch out one of the side windows to gain wallspace. But how do I go about the planning/building? Do I do a dry build before I punch out all windows, then try to decide on all the furniture, and once I have decided I punch out the windows I want to punch out before I do the proper build? How do you do your planning? I find it really difficult to decide 'in my head' what I want to put where, maybe because I'm new to this... I need to put things in and move them around and generally try them out in practice... But then, the effect will be different once the house is painted/decorated/the windows are there...

What order do you do things in?

Really looking forward to the build and becoming part of this community.

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Welcome to the little family, Ariadne.I always do the dry fit first.  Sometimes I use painter's tape and sometimes I use masking tape, but I always do the dry fit first because I might not want to punch out one or more parts, or to make new door or window openings.  It is also when I sand or whittle at the tabs and slots to make it fit together more perfectly.

I use carpenter's wood glue when I am ready to glue it together.  I use a clear-drying tacky glue for the clear acetate inserts for the windows and doors.

To make a roof like the one in your picture I would cut a sheet of corrugated cardboard into strip and dampen one side and gently remove the top layer and let it dry thoroughly.  Then I would dampen the second side and gently remove that layer.  When the corrugated middle strips are all dry I would begin by gluing a strip along the bottom edge of the roof, and slightly lap each subsequent row over the row beneath.  This I how I plan to roof my Lily when I build it as a Tuscan villa.

The order I work in depends on the house itself and what I learn during the dry fit.  I always wait until I have decorated the interior before installing the trims for the windows and doors, and if I'm hanging any interior doors I also install them.  I wait to finish installing the exterior doors and windows until I have finished the exterior décor; I also hold off on as much of the porch as I can until the doors & windows are on, although now that I make pin-hinged doors that's no longer an issue for me.

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Welcome Ariadne, I agree with Holly about the dry fit first. Once you have done the dry fit, you will see how everything goes together, and it will answer a lot of your questions about how to turn it into the house you are planning!

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Welcome. With my current build, I am building all the interior components first; bathtub, kitchen cabinets...then deciding what windows will be covered based on the required wall space. My flooring keeps changing so all the dividing walls have not been permanently attached since the final floor layout will determine where the walls are going. The box has been built for months, it's the placement of the components that are slowing everything down.

Edited by Sable
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Thank you for your welcome and advice .

Sable, I suspect that's how I should do it. So have you glued the shell? I thought I had to decide on the windows while I can still cut them from the sheets lying flat, but it sounds like that's not necessary?

Would it work to paint the inside before I decide on the windows, or will punching out the windows make the paint flake off?

 

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3 minutes ago, ariadne said:

Thank you for your welcome and advice .

Sable, I suspect that's how I should do it. So have you glued the shell? I thought I had to decide on the windows while I can still cut them from the sheets lying flat, but it sounds like that's not necessary?

Would it work to paint the inside before I decide on the windows, or will punching out the windows make the paint flake off?

 

Pre-painting will make all parts difficult to punch out.

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2 minutes ago, Sable said:

Pre-painting will make all parts difficult to punch out.

Ok, thanks, good to know. I better hold off on that, then. 

Maybe I'll just paint some paper  and white-tack it to the walls to see what feel the yellow I have in mind gives the space, then play around with/make furniture, then decide on the windows. 

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This is the tub which is covering a window. Smoke and mirrors. This build is a 3/4" plywood pre milled kit with the windows already cut out so I have to use a window from the outside, but no one will really know that the inside is covered up by the tub since the windows are up against the rear and will never be seen. I'm just going to insert a closed shade into the window's void.

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=view&id=121689

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4 hours ago, ariadne said:

...have you glued the shell? I thought I had to decide on the windows while I can still cut them from the sheets lying flat, but it sounds like that's not necessary?...

Another purpose for the dry fit, you can remove the windows or doors, if you still want to, before you glue things together.  Whilst the shell is in dry fit you may stage your furniture.  If you choose not to punch out  window or door you might wish to use a bit of polyfilla (spackling compound) or joint compound or drywall "mud" and smooth it into the die-stamped area you wish to leave in, and sand it all smooth when it is thoroughly dry, for a smooth finish to prime before painting or papering.

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Welcome, Ariadne! I also dry fit and then start playing with furniture. Sometimes a piece that I think is perfect ends up being too big or small, or I might have to rearrange something to get it to fit.  I left the stairs out of my Orchid since the house is so small and I couldn't arrange the furniture to suit my plans with the stairs in.  I spackled, sanded, and put the floor and ceiling in, and it worked great!

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On 25/09/2016, 07:27:39, Sable said:

This is the tub which is covering a window. Smoke and mirrors. This build is a 3/4" plywood pre milled kit with the windows already cut out so I have to use a window from the outside, but no one will really know that the inside is covered up by the tub since the windows are up against the rear and will never be seen. I'm just going to insert a closed shade into the window's void.

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=view&id=121689

Sable, that looks stunning. I love that whole build.

It never would have occurred to me to actually block up a window from the inside only - I think I'm a bit too literal minded. Must think 'smoke and mirrors'...

On 25/09/2016, 11:43:05, havanaholly said:

Another purpose for the dry fit, you can remove the windows or doors, if you still want to, before you glue things together.  Whilst the shell is in dry fit you may stage your furniture.  If you choose not to punch out  window or door you might wish to use a bit of polyfilla (spackling compound) or joint compound or drywall "mud" and smooth it into the die-stamped area you wish to leave in, and sand it all smooth when it is thoroughly dry, for a smooth finish to prime before painting or papering.

 

18 hours ago, armymom166 said:

Welcome, Ariadne! I also dry fit and then start playing with furniture. Sometimes a piece that I think is perfect ends up being too big or small, or I might have to rearrange something to get it to fit.  I left the stairs out of my Orchid since the house is so small and I couldn't arrange the furniture to suit my plans with the stairs in.  I spackled, sanded, and put the floor and ceiling in, and it worked great!

Thank you Holly and Debra. I'm starting to understand it's really a very different process from the MDF house. There, I did a dry-fit, then prepainted the outside and some of the inside, then built - without knowing what furniture was going in each room, but then the rooms are fairly square and I'm gradually working on decorating and furnishing them. I didn't bash anything.

With the Adams, it's going to be a much more integrated process, moving backwards and forwards between planning and building.

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So, I've done the floor and assembled some furniture kits. I've been a bit reluctant to work with oil-based primer so somehow I just ended up spackling the entire interior walls. I hope this wasn't a mistake in terms of actually sealing the wood, but if it was, it's too late now. I need to give them another coating of polyfilla to get them (hopefully) completely smooth, then they'll be painted light yellow. This is the state of play at the moment. 

image.jpeg

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks Linda. 

I've been reeeally slow making progress on this because I realised I'd have to make and stage most of the furniture first to be sure what I wanted to do with this... and the house told me it wanted new window frames with six panes rather than the four that the kit normally has - so I made those from scratch. And somehow I've found it quite hard to figure out the best order to do things in. But I've finally given the walls a second coat of polyfilla (the first one really was very bumpy), then sanded as Holly suggested, and now painted the whole thing and glued the house together. 

So, this is what it looks like right now - the yellow is darker IRL than on the photos, though - the colour of eggyolk more or less. 

I've glued veneer strips on the outside walls as siding and it's waiting to have the outside painted, so the windows are not fixed yet.

I'm still going to make some shelves for the reading corner with the wing chair and probably a slant front House of Miniatures desk for next to the bed. 

What I'm a bit disappointed with is the corners - I was hoping that with the additional thickness of the polyfilla, I wouldn't have visible gaps in the corners (I made sure I didn't plaster the tabs, so I thought that way the additional thickness inside would cover any gaps between the walls). But I have slight gaps, as you can see if you look closely.

So, do I cover them with some trim? Or do I try to put some spackle in the corners and then paint over that again?

How do I best put spackle in a gap like that? With my finger?

As I mixed the colour for the walls from Americana Mustard Seed and white (3 parts to 1 part), I'd probably have to paint another coat on all of the interior walls, as it's unlikely I'd get any paint on the spackle in the corners to blend in exactly?

Or do I just give the walls another coat of paint without spackling, will the paint be enough to cover/disguise the slight gaps in the corners?

Even if I end up just doing trim to cover the gaps on this one, I've got a Glencroft kit lying around that I got on ebay for next to nothing, and I'd like to learn how to avoid this in the future so I'm not force to use trim if I don't want to... :dunno: Help?adams2.thumb.jpg.df1053642a9b94153d8d5d7adams1.thumb.jpg.4bb08cf2dcc3f54d56b20a5adams3.thumb.jpg.d28ea0019c27a752c10390e

 

 

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7 hours ago, ariadne said:

Even if I end up just doing trim to cover the gaps on this one, I've got a Glencroft kit lying around that I got on ebay for next to nothing, and I'd like to learn how to avoid this in the future so I'm not force to use trim if I don't want to... :dunno: Help?

You've considered three good options: 1) add trim -- which will call attention to the corners even more than the slight gaps -- or  2) fill in with Spackle (yes, your fingertip is a good tool for this) and maybe have to repaint the whole room -- or 3) see if paint will fill it in, although unless the paint is really thick, I'm not sure it will work as a filler. Of those three, I'd try #2 first, and if that doesn't work, go with #3. In either case, if you can't match the paint color, consider repainting the entire room as one more step along the learning curve. 

There is a fourth option, one that I use for filling the gap. After I've glued the walls in place, I run a bead of white glue (Aileen's Tacky Glue, for example) along the joint, the way real life painters run caulk along seams to fill gaps before painting. (As I'm typing this, I'm wondering why I don't use regular painter's caulk. :hmm: ) I do this as a general rule, whether the room is to be painted or wallpapered. Capillary action draws the glue into the crevice, making a smooth corner, plus it adds strength to the construction. I do this at ceiling and floor joints, too, for the additional strength, as they will likely be covered by trim.  

You might experiment by running a bead of glue up one of the corners and see what happens. It dries clear, so the original color may show through, although it may leave a slightly shiny surface. If this doesn't work, you've only wasted a few minutes and a little glue and you can try one of the other options.

Tip: One thing you've already learned is that if you mix your own paint color, it's a good idea to save back some for any needed touch-ups. An old prescription bottle (marked with the name of the color and where it is used) is handy for storage.

There's no right or wrong way to address this issue.  It's your house. (As an aside: My mother had a decorative plate hanging in her kitchen for years with the motto, "This is my house, and I'll do as I darned please". It now hangs in my kitchen, but the message carries over into the miniature workroom. :) )

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13 minutes ago, KathieB said:

Of those three, I'd try #2 first, and if that doesn't work, go with #2. In either case, if you can't match the paint color, consider repainting the entire room as one more step along the learning curve. 

 Capillary action draws the glue into the crevice, making a smooth corner, plus it adds strength to the construction. I do this at ceiling and floor joints, too, for the additional strength, as they will likely be covered by trim.  

You are amazing! Thank you. I'll try the glue thing and see what happens. We don't have Aileen's Tacky Glue in Germany, but I suppose any white craft glue would do the same thing? 

Just to clarify, among the other three options, which would you prioritise? You've mentioned Nr. 2 twice. 

And yes, I know I should have mixed more paint. I misestimated what I'd need. I measured the paint with a measuring spoon when I mixed it, so I should be able to get pretty close to the original mixture, but probably not quite enough for it not to show...

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Thank you, Holly. If the glue doesn't work, I'll try the spackle. Fingers crossed...

I've seen your Glencroft pub, it's very pretty. Mine hasn't told me properly what it wants to be, but that's fine, as I'm still busy with the Adams anyway. Who knows, maybe mine wants to be Miss Marple's cottage? 

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4 hours ago, havanaholly said:

I think Kathie meant #3 instead of the second #2.  I spackled the entire interior of my Glencroft pub and yes, the fingertip is the way I squished the spackle into the corners.  I was going for a rough plaster finish, so I didn't sand it.

Yep ... that's what Kathie meant. Chalk it up to writing early in the morning without a caffeine safety net ... :D. (I've edited the post.)

Didn't realize you are in Germany. Yes, any white craft glue should do it.

If you keep the repair as narrow as possible and feather the new paint into what's already on the wall, a slight difference in shade may not be noticeable. The corners by their very nature are shadowy anyway, and when you get the curtains up, put stuff on the wall and give viewers wonderful furniture and accessories to drool over in the foreground, it may become a non-issue. 

Chant the mantra: smoke and mirrors, smoke and mirrors ... lol

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