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How to paint a house


LLP

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Hi, everyone. I am new to this forum and new to building doll houses. My daughter and I got the Corona Orchid house. Before we begin, I really need help thinking about painting. My daughter wants to paint it rather than stain it, so we definitely will be painting it. When should we do that? Should we put the house together before we paint? I'm nervous about painting first, since the painting might make it hard to fit everything together, but as I look at pictures, it looks like many people paint the pieces first. 

For an inexperienced newbee like me, what would you recommend? Should I paint first or after building it?

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As Sable said its personal choice. I like to paint first then build because I'm not a very neat painter and certainly wouldn't be able to keep "in the lines" on things like trim & doors & windows. I also like to prime with spray paint for a smoother finish ( no brush marks) so painting first works for that too. If you do choose to paint after. I would at least leave trims off for the main house painting to give easier access. 

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9 hours ago, LLP said:

Hi, everyone. I am new to this forum and new to building doll houses. My daughter and I got the Corona Orchid house. Before we begin, I really need help thinking about painting. My daughter wants to paint it rather than stain it, so we definitely will be painting it. When should we do that? Should we put the house together before we paint? I'm nervous about painting first, since the painting might make it hard to fit everything together, but as I look at pictures, it looks like many people paint the pieces first. 

For an inexperienced newbee like me, what would you recommend? Should I paint first or after building it?

I have built a dollhouse kit or two over the years and I do a lot of prep work for each one.  I first dry fit the parts together, building it with masking or painter's tape before using the first drop of glue (wood glue, NEVER hot glue!) for the following reasons:  it helps me to understand the instructions, I can sand or shave the slots and tabs for a more perfect fit, and I can see where the areas are I will never in a million years fit my hands into to decorate once it together.  With a pencil I trace along the joins and mask them off with more tape (cut to width) so I will not get primer/ paint/ stain where I will want to glue. I also lay the window and door trims around their openings and trace and mask around them.  I also trace the door and window openings onto sheets of grid paper if I'm going to make my own windows & doors.  I prime and decorate/ paint the ceilings and stain the floors and lay them and, depending on the design of the house, I might go ahead and prime the interior walls.  Usually I assemble the shell of the house and decorate the interior of the first floor, installing windows and doors and stairs and then adding the second floor, working my way up; and then I finish the exterior of the house and add the exterior window and door trims last.  This is in general, as it depends on what I figure out and what the house tells me it wants during the dry fit.

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I agree with painting the ceilings first, but I paint exterior after it's built because there are probably places you'll have to fill in with spackle or wood putty.  Plus once it's built you might change your mind about colors or theme for the house. I don't like to be too rigid with planning things out. 

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Windows...I use tacky wax to prop them in place temporarily to see what they're going to look like. The greenleaf windows look best if you use wood filler or spackle and carefully sand them before painting. I don't like to permanently glue windows until last possible moment. 

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I actually disagree with painting ceilings before assembly, because it can warp the ceilings and also make the pieces harder to fit together if you get paint on the tabs or in the slots. I had this experience on one of my first houses (the Fairfield) and won't do it again. I like to put the shell together, then paint, then add trim and windows. I usually put paper on the ceilings but have sometimes painted the ceilings with the house assembled, before doing anything else on the inside. Flipping the house upside down makes it easier to paint the ceilings.

Everyone has their own favorite way, though! There's no one "right" way to do it.

 

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12 hours ago, WyckedWood said:

Windows...I use tacky wax to prop them in place temporarily to see what they're going to look like. The greenleaf windows look best if you use wood filler or spackle and carefully sand them before painting. I don't like to permanently glue windows until last possible moment. 

I so wish I'd had this advice before starting my Pierce!  I followed the directions so most of my windows were glued fairly early on.  Now of course, when the outside is the last thing to finish, that has been a huge issue!  At least I haven't hung any doors yet!

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I also start on the ceilings, then walls and floors usually last, but I guess everyone has their own method. I also prefer to prime before assembly, unless I'm doing a really thick layer of plaster. However you want to do it, masking tape will probably be your best friend to keep the edges clean. I like to paint the windows and doors before assembling them, and I'm not a fan of painting the siding/walls after the windows are glued... however sometimes that is necessary, and again a lot of masking tape is involved. 

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It seems to me that the manufacturers of kits write the directions for a quick and easy house built for a child, rather than collectors. All of the decorating done before assembly, construction with hot glue, gluing on windows and trims as a first step, etc. Like others have said, there's no "right" way, but there are certainly better and/or easier ways, and ways that will give a much nicer finished product. .  

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I primed my dollhouse as I built it...  and then painted, wallpapered and carpeted later...  I couldn't decide how to decorate it until it was all put together. I highly recommend Gane Yes All-Purpose Stik Flat Glue if you decide to get any scrapbooking paper to wallpaper any of the rooms. And upholstery fabric works great for carpeting!  

If I had done more painting and less wallpapering / carpeting, I might have opted to paint walls following the primer, only for the easier access.

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