Now that most of the trim on the dollhouse is finished, I can move on to the roof and attic. What I enjoy most about assembling The Rosedale Dollhouse is that you can complete almost the entire dollhouse without working on the roof section. This allows for a nice break between focusing on the interior and exterior.
I have assembled the mansard roof panels. This mansard roof has a slanted style rather than a curved one, which I think is a great addition to the Greenleaf Dollhouse line since they offer both styles. This particular mansard roof makes it easy to create shingle designs. The panels fit together perfectly, making assembly straightforward and smooth. I won’t install the top roof yet because I need easy access to apply flooring and wallpaper due to the room's unique angles and the attic trap door. Be sure to use wood glue on every joint, just like with the rest of the dollhouse.
The attic will be quite challenging. The angled walls make wallpapering difficult since you'll need to wrap it around slanted corners, which complicates the process. I also have some unique wallpaper for the attic that features borders at both the top and bottom. Since dollhouse walls are not always the same height as wallpaper, it will need to be cut. To preserve both borders, you’ll need to patch the wallpaper after cutting it to the correct height. I recommend cutting off the top border rather than the bottom one; this way, any patched edges will face down toward the floor, making them less visible.
Next, I’ll tackle the flooring and baseboards. If your wallpaper has a bottom border, and unless there’s a white edge left by the manufacturer for baseboards, you will need to create one yourself so that the baseboards and flooring do not cover up the bottom border pattern. I plan to install the flooring first in this room. This approach will help me measure how much space I should leave for the bottom border so it won’t be obscured by the baseboards.
Another challenge is the attic trap door, which should be flush with the attic floor rather than with the bedroom ceiling. There will be a slight indentation in the bedroom ceiling for this door, so be sure to paint all edges of the door opening in the same color as your ceiling. I painted the trap door white and added small pulls for it. Make sure to prime both floors and walls. I installed the flooring in the attic first, followed by the trap door. Ensure that everything is finished before installation. Remember, it should be flush with the floor but indented on the ceiling side.
After that, I installed the top roof. The wallpaper needs to be applied after installing the roof so you can position it correctly around the ceiling area. The roof isn’t too difficult to install, but you will need a mallet to tap in some tabs. Use masking tape to clamp down the roof and then turn your dollhouse upside down. Whenever possible, turning your dollhouse upside down is helpful for painting ceilings and reaching areas that are hard to see when it’s right side up. I went over all of the roof joints with wood glue and let it dry overnight.
In the morning, I was able to start touch-ups with the dollhouse upside down. This position allowed me to see many spots needing touch-up paint and spackle. You may also notice areas in the siding that require painting. I painted the roof eaves white since this is where brackets will go later. I also painted the interior ceiling.
For the exterior roof, I chose brown. It’s important to paint your exterior roof before applying shingles so that no raw wood shows through between them. Choose a color similar to your shingles for a seamless look. Finally, let everything dry.
