{In Loving Memory Of Nancye}
This dollhouse is so large that the more preparation you do for the build, the better. I’m going to build this dollhouse a little differently from the usual. I am going to label and punch out all the pieces from their sheets first.
I do not recommend this for first time builders. If you have no experience on how these dollhouses go together, you will be completely confused with so many loose pieces laying everywhere. Inexperienced and new builders, should always keep all of their parts on their sheets until the instructions ask for them.
This dollhouse is similar to the Pierce Dollhouse and since I already have experience with the staircases and windows of these particular dollhouses, it will be easier for me to punch everything out and bag them all by components. That way the parts are ready for me when I need them rather than having to hunt them down in this massive pile of sheets. I will also be conserving work space if I can just get rid of all the wood scraps left over by the punch outs.
Even though the Garfield is a huge dollhouse, with a lot of sheets, it does not have as many pieces as the Beacon Hill Dollhouse, for example, so the punched out pieces are not so difficult to keep track of. There are mostly very large wall and roof sections rather than little parts.
All parts have to be labeled with a pencil using the schematics before they are punched out from their sheets. Even though the schematics for Greenleaf dollhouses are exceptionally detailed and you will be able to just recognize the pieces by its shape, it's still a good idea to label each correctly. Especially when you're punching out staircase risers and steps, which all look the same but each have a specific staircase they belong to. It is also very easy to mistake a legitimate dollhouse piece for a leftover scrap to discard. You have to label carefully and exactly as they are labeled in the schematics. Don’t write in your own short hand or you will be confused later.
I can bag up the smaller parts by components but the larger ones will just be labeled and put in the box for now. As you can see I’m sorting the parts according to what they are.
All the pieces are not prepared yet, I’m simply punching them out and sorting them. Tomorrow, I will sand them and resort them into more defined groups. This dollhouse brings some furniture like a pantry, corner shelf and tower window seats. I might or might not use them, it depends on the interior space that the finished dollhouse has. I have not thrown out any parts yet. I didn’t even throw out or modify the parts for the tower top bash I plan on doing. I'm keeping the entire dollhouse as is for now until I get a better idea of what needs to change in order for me to bash it.
This dollhouse does not require you to keep the box photo as a guide because the schematics bring an entire page of very detailed and clear pictures of the finished dollhouse, from all angles.
