Don’t know where to start

[Hadassah613]

I just had a baby girl (after 2 boys) and bought a beautiful huge but old doll house. I want to renovate it but don’t know where to begin. My biggest problem is I don’t know what material the walls of the house are made out of. It’s maybe plastic, mdf, wood, no clue. The trim is all wood so that’s good. So my main questions are:

what type of paint should I buy to paint the unknown material?! 

What should I use to seal it all so it last a long time

walls - scrapbook paper or is it worth it to splurge on wall paper? 

Roof - the roof is huge. I don’t even know where to begin or what to ask 

ahhhh any advice is SO greatly appreciated!

***shoot I can’t upload a pic

[Bob Hood]

Hi Amanda..........My wife Margo is in the same position as you.  We are just now assessing the project. Try to attach a pic as soon as you can.

Good Luck

[mesp2k]

Hi Amanda & congratulations!

Is the dollhouse painted? Does the underside of the house show any of the material?

MDS is pretty heavy & plastic light??

 

When you make five posts you can start an album.

 

[Sable]

Strip it clean of any paper, flooring. I won’t know about the roof until you post a photo. Downsize the photo to 500kb then try to load it. Anyway, once it is stripped clean sand it real well with a foam sanding block, vacuum it well and take it outside and spray the entire house with Kilz Primer, maybe two cans. Sand and vacuum again. Then you will have a nice blank project to work with. If you plan on keeping the windows, cover them with painters tape before spraying. My first house required a lot of prep work like this because it had mouse poo and pee in it. All of this extra prep work really pays off when you have a clean surface to work with.

[Sable]

Scrapbook paper works fine. But maybe just paint it for now until your baby is older. Kids love to peel paper. Or paper a rear wall in each room for accent and theme while painting the side walls. Also, It’s very difficult to paper around existing windows and trim. 

[Hadassah613]

My husband just got home and thinks everything is some kind of cheap wood except for the floors 

[Sable]

That looks like a Barbie size house or 1/6 scale. Yes, that is large.

[havanaholly]

The wood could be a type of particle board, if some of the house is, indeed, plastic.  If it is, as it appears to be, a Barbie house, it's 1:6 scale.

[Hadassah613]

Should I sand it, prime and paint. If it is partical board. Can I just go to a paint store or should I get from a craft store? Thanks! 

[Sable]

Kilz primer is cheaper at a paint store. It works well on particle board.