You have to insert the groove fill before you apply the staircase. You should paint it first.
This little sliver of wood was actually very difficult to insert into the groove of the sidewall at the staircase opening. I had to sand it down quite a bit, for it to fit, and even then, I had to still tap it in with the mallet. So far, unbelievably so, it has been the most difficult step in the assembly of this dollhouse.
But once it's in place, you will have a nice transition between the first and second floor wallpaper without the need of creating your own from strip wood.
Staircase
The staircase comes in two parts, which are joined and glued together to form the complete staircase. Pay attention to the illustration carefully, so that you glue the two parts correctly. If you don't, the staircase will not install properly into the dollhouse. The top and bottom of the staircase has to match the illustration.
When you finish the staircase, don't forget the backside of it, as well as the front, since it will be visible through the front door and window. Like I mentioned before, the staircase is MDF and so it can not be stained. You can try and apply some type of finish to it that can resemble stain but I haven't tried it myself, so can't speak on the results. I decided to paint mines.
Installation Of The Staircase
If it's easier for you, turn the dollhouse on its side to do this.
Apply glue to the top and bottom of the staircase only, do not apply glue to the side where the wallpaper is. It will take a little adjusting of the staircase, once it's installed, for it to sit correctly in the dollhouse. If you apply glue to the staircase side where the wallpaper is, it can smear on your wallpaper, as your trying to find the perfect fit.
The top of the staircase goes into the staircase opening and rests on the second floor edge.
There is no spindled railing or landing for this staircase. Like I wrote in a previous post, you can upgrade your staircase by ordering it directly from Real Good Toys. The upgraded model will have a spindled railing and landing set.
I plan on making my own landing and possibly doing something with the riser (not installed yet) in order to create a handrail of some sort.
Front Door
The kit comes with an operable, pre-assembled front door. This particular door was hinged perfectly and it made the finishing of the door very easy. There were no snagging sides since the door was hung square in its frame.
I wanted a wine exterior and a white interior. It took a little bit of work but it could be done easily enough. Just remember what I mentioned before about finishing operable components. Be easy on the paint and allow for adequate drying time. Also paint in sections, rather than all at once.
This door fits perfectly into the opening.
The interior has a little gap at the threshold but I covered it with a very thin strip wood piece painted to match the floor. It is hardly noticeable. I did the same for the interior doors.
Porch Floor
I painted the porch floor and then gave it two coats of gloss varnish.
Additional Trim
Now comes the interesting part. Because the dollhouse is square and linear, in the back, with no side walls, the back ends of all your ceiling and flooring trim will be highly visible. The floors and walls are already thick as is, so your back edge trim will not be wide enough to hide these visible trim ends.
The ends of the interior mouldings were driving me crazy. They just didn't look good. I sanding and painted them but they still looked hideous to me, so I decided to try and fix this. I used balsa wood to create these quarter circles for each back corner of the dollhouse. I cut them out with a craft knife and sanded them to all be the same size. Balsa wood is incredibly easy to shape by just sanding.
I painted the quarter circles and added them to the back corners. They worked. They hide the back ends of the interior mouldings. It just makes everything look so much cleaner.
You will not have to do this if you ordered the special interior molding set.
