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Help! Restoring my childhood doll house


Aferg15

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Hi everyone! I found this site while seeking information about restoring a doll house. My childhood doll house is about 40 years old as it was a cousin's before it came to me. My step-dad had taken it on as a project 7 years ago and apparently instead of fixing it up he slowly let it fall completely apart. I now have two little girls of my own and big dreams of passing this treasure from my childhood on to them. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing but I believe I've figured out where the pieces all go from memory, now I just have to figure out what to do with them/how to replace the broken/missing parts. When I let my step-dad take it the house was a bit beat up but still entirely assembled, now it's in a million pieces and I'm feeling overwhelmed! Any advice would be seriously appreciated. I tried uploading some pictures but they won't attach, the house is a white three story Victorian with mint green trim.

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When you find a minute do introduce yourself to everybody in the Newcomers' forum.  Meantime, take a deep breath.  If you have all the pieces you can rebuild it.  Begin with the foundation, then the floors, then the walls, fix up the first floor, install the second floor and work on those walls, then the third floor, the walls and the roof.  Craft stores, hobby shops and some art supply stores sell basswood boards and mini millwork to make or repair as needed.  Clear acetate can be found in many sources to replace missing window panes.  Of course you can do this!  I began when I was 50 and totally green myself.

When you have made five posts you can start making an album of your restoration in the Gallery here, and just copy pictures from there to paste into your posts.

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If you remember what it should look like, and you have the instructions (here they are in case: http://dollhouseworkshop.net/instructions/duracraft/SF_550.pdf), then you are the best person to figure this out. If you need to replace wood, craft stores and online sources should have what you need. You can do it!! Good luck! 

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Hi Amanda! :wave:   I love the San Fran and have restored one that was in pretty bad shape!  There are lots of folks on here that have built that house, so you will have plenty of help every step of the way.  As Holly said- start by ready thru the instructions and identifying all of your parts, as that will be very helpful in getting it back together.  Next you may have to remove old glue, so some sanding of parts and some general cleaning....then start at the bottom/foundation and slowly work your way up!  :) 

Once those pieces are identified and cleaned up, you can do what we call a "dry fit":  assemble the basic house and tape it together with masking tape.  This helps you visualize how it will all work.   Before you start the re-assembly process, you should also take this time to scrape off old wallpaper and paint.  Warm water with a bit of fabric softener or vinegar will help with removing old wallpaper.  I usually scrape/sand down old paint too - not that it all needs to come off (sometimes it does!), but usually it needs cleaned up, sometimes some spackle here and there and then some primer before it is ready for its new coat of paint.  

Does it have wood shingles?  Use an old, soft paintbrush to brush off the years of dust...then go over it with your vacuum cleaner hose attachment.

Those bay windows can be a real bugger, so be warned!  LOL  If you are missing pieces for the windows, you can find some compatible replacement parts online at Manchester Woodworks....and sometimes folks on here have extra parts to share.

There are lots of places online to purchase building supplies (wallpaper, trims, windows, furniture, etc), but a favorite is miniatures.com. The Greenleaf site has some nice items as well (shingles, etc).

Glad you are here!  Looking forward to watching your progress!  Have fun!

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Oh I feel your pain. I felt that way when I took on redoing mine, but after I relaxed, I had so much fun redoing it. Look on eBay for parts. That's where I always look first. If there is a dollhouse store in your area, visit! And by all means, do a google image search for similar houses for inspiration. I had to take on each room as a project. If I looked at the house as a whole, it was almost too much.  Baby steps.

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  • 3 years later...
On 12/5/2016 at 11:12 AM, Elsbeth said:

If you remember what it should look like, and you have the instructions (here they are in case: http://dollhouseworkshop.net/instructions/duracraft/SF_550.pdf), then you are the best person to figure this out. If you need to replace wood, craft stores and online sources should have what you need. You can do it!! Good luck! 

I have this exact same dollhouse! Thank you for posting as I am rehabbing it for a friends daughters (I only had boys)

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