Displaying a Dollhouse with Easy Access

It's important to find a way to display a dollhouse that makes it accessible from the front and rear.  To solve this problem we converted an old nook style cafe table.  We attached a piece of wood on the bottom as a shelf and four caster wheels to make it movable.  Now we can display it this way or easily turn it and show off the interior decor.  Affordable , easy and fun.

Finished and Furnished Westville Dollhouse

The Westville dollhouse is now done it's been a wonderful project.  This is also blog post number 1111 sweet what a great day.  Happy New Year!

Shingles on the Roof Westville Dollhouse

The shingles are on one side. Even using the manufacturers suggestion for taping them is taking a lot of time since the birch sheets are all broken up in the box. I've applied the paint with a slight texture to it.

Decorative Trim and Primed the Roof Westville Dollhouse

The decorative trim has been added to the gables and the primer is drying on the roof. Looking more homey each day.  Happy Holidays!

Porch and Balcony Tops Installed Westville Dollhouse

The porch assembly and balcony tops are built and installed. I like how the bay window, porch top and porch bottom each have their own unique style. The color layout is making me very happy. Finally looking toward the roof.

Window Inserts and Front Door Westville Dollhouse

Unfortunatly I forgot the window inserts when I put the trim on. Not a big deal once they were glued onto the trim it didn't look bad. The door is put together painted and installed. I tried hinges glued fail then nailed double fail then opted for masking tape which helps it open and close smoothly.

Trimmed Out Interior and Painted Bay Windows Westville House

The bay window areas are painted now.  The kitchen is aqua and the living room is pink. I love the balance it has with the yellow bedroom and green bathroom. The windows are all trimmed out I used hot glue to make the project quick.  Steady hands while cupping my fingers into the corners squared them well.

Shutters Installed Westville Dollhouse

My daughter picked the cute little embellishments on the bay windows, I love them. After I finshed assembling the shutter pieces I installed them using hot glue.  I put a fresh coat of cool gray on the porch foundation and another layer around the entire foundation.

Exterior Paint Done and Exterior Window Trim Added Westville Dollhouse

It makes me smile looking at this shade of blue. When the sun shines in my art room it looks so pretty. The siding stayed nice and tight without a single buckle. I'm very pleased.  After everything was dry I added the exterior window trim with hot glue.

Siding Continued and Testing Paint Westville Dollhouse

Siding and Test Painting

I've seen quite a bit of blogs documenting the buckling of the birch siding I am using on this house. I've chosen Behr low moisture high quality paint and hot glue since it too will introduce no moisture into the siding. Small areas came up well. Let's see how the 12" pieces fair later on.

Cutting Siding Around Trim Westville Dollhouse

Detail Work

Close Up of Window Siding

I've installed the trim first.  I believe it realistically compliments the overall look of the house having the siding cut around the shapes of the window trim. It is much more effort but it can be fun like making my own puzzle pieces. One window opening at a time.

Started Siding and Porch Foundation Westville Dollhouse

Siding

Porch Foundation

The porch had to be assembled and completely dry before I could mount it to the underside of the floor with fast tack glue . The siding I attached at 5/8 intervals with hot glue. I applied it with liberal W's with hopes that it will not buckle with the introduction of paint. I've opted to do the siding install with trim attached.  It's more work especially places like the attic window cut out and around the sides of each ledge but I enjoy the process.

Shutter Trims and Porch Floors Westville Dolllhouse

This is the cool gray. In some lighting it looks almost gray blue.  All the shutter trims are done and the porch/balcony floors.

Color Decisions with Painting Exterior Trim Westville Dollhouse

Color Choice

Painted Trim

Before I could continue on to paint the exterior trim I had to sit down and decide what my colors would be. I knew I wanted a contrast. This is the layout I settled on after a few color ins. It's a very pretty soft blue, a cool gray and a very pale yellow cream. I tried putting them into different combinations but this really appealed to me. I especially like the way the cool gray is carried from door to windows to porch railings and floors. Like the interior I wanted everything to have a nice flow. I'm hoping the blue pops the creamy accents but that remains to be seen in the final layout.

Living Room Closet and Bay Window Foundation Westville Dollhouse

Closet

Foundation

Wallpapered and glued in the under stairs closet. I went with the wallpaper from the bay window wall at this area because I felt it blended a nice visual flow through the room. Today was a good day to add the two bay window foundations the previous install of the windows dried nice and tight. I needed to trim one set of them slightly so it would sit level. Using the Fast Tack glue helped these attach with relative ease.

Wallpapered Second Floor and Attic then Built Bay Windows Westville Dollhouse

Second Floor Wallpaper

Bay Windows

Wallpapering went smoother today. Mostly because I could move around easier with no roof. The bay windows are built and drying. I'll consider papering them or just painting them. Not too sure what direction I want to take yet.

Living Room and Kitchen Wallpapered Westville Dollhouse

Kitchen

Living Room

This was a bit more challenging than I anticipated it would be. I needed to puzzle together a few pieces of wallpaper when they weren't long enough. Being smart not to do it in large areas or middle zones the real challenge came from getting the prints to line up.

Instead of leaving the accent areas above the bay windows for white paint I opted to paper them. I enjoy the contrast the squares and stripes in the living room have. The yellow area under the stairs will eventually be a closet.  Also the living room stripe has every color that will run throughout the rest of the house including the aqua from the kitchen. Hopefully tying it all together.

Window Shutter Preparation Westville Dollhouse

All of them have been popped out, sanded and primed. I'm currently considering painting the upstairs and downstairs exterior in different colors so these will have to be separated into the two floors. After I make the paint mixtures so no real rush on these.

Attic Install Westville Dollhouse

The attic has been attached glued and glazed I didn't put the plank lines since the attics I've seen usually just have plywood floors. Primed the right wall and the 2nd floor ceiling. After everything dries I'll go around and touch up where needed.

Staining Floors Installing Stairwell and Glueing Walls Westville Dollhouse

Stairwell Wallpaper

Stained and Glued

With Liquitex glazing medium and a couple drops of brown acrylic paint I stained the floors. I made 1/2" lines on them before with pencil on the 2nd floor and sepia Pitt pen on the 1st floor. The final result is a pine bedroom area and darker living spaces. I wallpapered the wall where the staircase will go, easy as the angle cut paper from papering the stairs matched perfectly without cutting. Installed the stairs, the paint thickening the top made it a hard push, so glad I double glued the stairs! Afterwards I glued around the base of the walls. Weighting the 2nd floor down was the only way to secure the stairwell top.