The instructions of this dollhouse are a little different. First there aren’t any detailed photos of each step. There are some illustrations on the final instruction page showing some of the assemblies, but they aren’t very helpful. Though this small dollhouse is not a very complicated build, its instructions can be confusing for a first timer.
I got my shell up, but it was somewhat difficult. You have to get all of these five sheets to stay up simultaneously. If you do them one by one, they will continuously fall. In order to have a nice tight fit, you will have to position them all together and clamp them with masking tape.
I used wood glue and lots of masking tape to keep them together. Make sure all of the pieces are fitting tightly. That’s the best way to make sure the glue will hold strongly. All of the tabs and slots fit without a problem.
While the dollhouse was drying, I decided to do take all of the pieces out of the sheets and label them. This is a small dollhouse without many parts, so it shouldn't be too confusing to remove them from their sheets but if you have doubts, do not proceed this way and leave all the parts in the sheets until the instructions tell you remove them.
I bagged each part according to component use. For example, all porch pieces in one bag, all windows pieces in another and so on. The parts that are too large, like partition walls etc, I just left them labeled in a pile together. As I take parts off the sheets, I cross them out on the schematics. That way I will know I got everything by the time I’m done.
There were some sheets that had pretty bad delamination on one side. My first floor ceiling was too delaminated for me to just paint it so I will use a ceiling cover to go over the damage. You can always use wood putty, sand and spackle it smooth. You can buy miniature ceiling cover or use textured wallpaper but I had cardstock on hand. It will work just fine.
After taking parts off the sheets and bagging them, I’m ready to do some prep work on some of the components. I took off the masking tape clamps from the dollhouse because the glue is dry enough to do so. There is really nothing else I can do to the shell for now because I have to order wallpaper. The shell of the dollhouse cannot go any further without it.
I will be able to put the first coat of exterior paint to the walls tomorrow. I don’t want to do it today, so the wood glue has plenty of time to dry completely. If I try to paint the dollhouse while the glue is not thoroughly dry, the warping of the wood will pull the walls apart easily so it's best to leave it overnight.
I like to put extra wood glue on the joints so that it penetrates missed areas. The wood will soak up all of this extra glue into any gaps in the joints.
I sanded all of the window parts and began painting them. I will sand each component as I get to it. I’m staining all the interior trim. I think it will look better with the idea I have for the floor.
Paint everything on all sides unless you're absolutely sure that all of its edges will lie flat against a wall.
