Now I can begin assembling the structure of the dollhouse because all of my parts are prepared and ready.
You're going to skip the first two steps in the instructions and go directly to C) ASSEMBLY OF HOUSE STRUCTURE. Since you will be finishing the dollhouse with paint, flooring, wallpaper, etc, you do not want to glue anything to your walls at this time. So, the assembly of the windows can not be done now as the dollhouse can not be finished correctly if the windows are installed.
You need to start assembling walls and floors, to get the basic shell of the dollhouse done. Because of the interlocking assembly method of this dollhouse, you will not use glue while putting it together. You have to maneuver and turn the dollhouse structure in numerous ways to get the pieces to interlock, so any glue applied before the process is finished, will just drip everywhere and not stay in place.
The interlocking system is just sliding pieces together but if you turn them so they lay flat against each other, they slide into place easier. It's easiest to lay the dollhouse on its side in order to slide the floors into the center partition.
Once the floors are in the center partition, you can place the front and left walls in place. Make sure that all the tabs go into slots. Use a mallet if necessary to tap them into place. If slots need to be widened, turn a flat head screwdriver, gently, into the slot to make them wider. Don't worry about splinters, you can sand them down later. You just want to make sure that the tabs are in all of the way because that is what will hold your structure square.
If your first floor is warped, like mines, you can use a binder clip clamp to hold it straight. This can be done for any floor that is warped and wants to curve up or down at the left corner, where there is no wall yet.
Now you can apply glue to all of the joints. When you apply glue, it will seep into the joints and edges. I use wood glue for all joints. Run your glue along the joint and then run your finger over it to remove excess glue and also to push the glue down into the joint. Make sure the structure is square and that no tabs have come out of their slots during this process.
This is a multi step process as you need to apply glue first to all floor joints and then when it's dry, you have to turn the dollhouse on its side and apply glue to wall joints. Eventually you will need to turn the dollhouse upside down, to apply glue to ceiling joints and so forth. You have to make sure that all joints, both vertical and horizontal, are glued, on both sides of each piece. You need drying time between each turning of the dollhouse so that the glue does not drip off of the joints. If you have a relatively low humidity work area, the glue will dry quickly.
Use masking tape to clamp parts together so they don't move while the glue dries. Try to turn your masking tape around window edges, etc, so that it doesn't pop loose.
Now you may be wondering how I know which piece is which, considering that I took them all off of the sheets and didn't bother labeling them. It's actually quite simple for an advanced builder and here are some tips:
1. If you have assembled tab and slot dollhouses before, then you know that chimney flues, window trim, sills, etc, all have the same basic shape, regardless of the dollhouse model. It is easy to know what the part is, just by looking at it.
2. These instructions do not have photos but the schematics sheet is excellently detailed. It is pretty easy to see the size of the part you are searching for by comparing it to the surrounding parts.
3. Sort pieces together according to size. If there are many rectangles, all of one size, then you can pretty much guess they will be risers or steps to a staircase.
4. Each step in the instructions tells you what parts are needed and which sheet number they are on. You can tell which part went into which sheet by the wood grain.
