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My first dollhouse AND rehab


allucht03

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Hello all! I picked up this "less than beautiful" dollhouse for $65 and am redoing it. Any suggestions on what to do design wise? Craft wise? Technique wise? This is my first dollhouse and I want to make the effort as painless as possible! 

P.S, if anyone knows what the name/manufacturer of this dollhouse is, that'd be great! I believe it's a kit, because it has pegs/holes for many of the pieces that go together. 

 

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Also, I've decided to go with a "modern farmhouse" look for the interior. I really think it'll give this little (actually it's quite large for a dollhouse in my opinion) house some fresh life! I have taken apart the first floor stairs and painted/stained them. Below is what they looked like before (nasty, thick paint and haphazard hot glue job) and after! What do you all think?

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4 minutes ago, allucht03 said:

 I have taken apart the first floor stairs and painted/stained them. Below is what they looked like before (nasty, thick paint and haphazard hot glue job) and after! What do you all think?

Nice job! 

18 minutes ago, allucht03 said:

I want to make the effort as painless as possible! 

Good luck with that. :D When you get really frustrated, step away for a few hours or overnight or at least turn your attention to some other component.  

Is the whole house put together with hot glue? If it is, you may want to take it apart, scrape off the hot glue residue, and put it back together with wood glue. In time, the hot glue will degrade and the house will fall apart. This is as sure as death and taxes.

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Oh believe me, I have already torn, broken, and snapped a couple of pieces that I was not planning on having to remake. 

1 minute ago, KathieB said:

Is the whole house put together with hot glue? If it is, you may want to take it apart, scrape off the hot glue residue, and put it back together with wood glue. In time, the hot glue will degrade and the house will fall apart. This is as sure as death and taxes.

YES! Ugh it frustrates me because it has the potential to be SO beautiful, yet someone slapped it together with hot glue. I've already started taking it apart, so I guess I'll just keep on trucking until I can get it all off!

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I love that house because it is similar to my sister’s house in England. She has the lead glass bays on both sides of her house like this one. However, Hers is more rustic with rough sawn elm siding instead of the Tudor beams. Great find. Once you put the banister in your stairs will be marvelous. See the different a banister makes: http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=gallery&module=gallery&controller=view&id=9905

you can always put a carpet runner in the steps to dress it up.

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Yes, it is the Harrison. You can always check my Harrison album maybe that will give you some ideas. I reversed the stairs. I also embroidered stair runners on my sewing machine. Good luck. I am one of a few that does not care for the tudor style so I went Victorian

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Are you using a blow dryer or a heat gun to remove the hot glue?  I go with a heat gun, since I tend to make my own windows and doors for my houses, and an old metal putty knife to scrape off the globs of glue.  I like your stairs; it depends on where they go in the house as to whether you will want to fool with balusters and banister & newel or just mount a handrail on the wall beside it.

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On 9/28/2018, 11:47:02, Inge said:

Yes, it is the Harrison. You can always check my Harrison album maybe that will give you some ideas. I reversed the stairs. I also embroidered stair runners on my sewing machine. Good luck. I am one of a few that does not care for the tudor style so I went Victorian

I'm drooling over your Harrison album! your detail is exquisite! I love that you decorated in a Victorian fashion, as I also do not care much for Tudors. 

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On 9/29/2018, 5:22:52, havanaholly said:

Are you using a blow dryer or a heat gun to remove the hot glue? 

Heat gun! I was cutting each of the glue joints with a knife and then scraping the glue off that way, but after seeing my frustration, my husband says, "here, use this heat gun to loosen them up." DUH! My dismantling time has been cut way down, and the glue is coming off much easier. 

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You can use flat clear acetate packaging or the plastic from report covers to replace the acetate in the windows.  Printmini.com has a nice selection of stained glass windows you can print off on transparency film and use; I use a black Sharpie pen or black acrylic paint from the tube with a liner brush to go over the lead lines.

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