There are several ways to leave your dollhouse all wood:
1. You can simply seal it and let the natural color of the wood show as is. Any kind of wood sealer will work for this but you must apply it after the entire dollhouse has been assembled because sealers will not allow glue to adhere. You also have to be sure this is the look you want as you will not be able to paint or stain anything afterwards.
2. You can use different color stains to give it a washed, weathered look on the outside but still have color. That way you can still use a color scheme but let the natural wood show through.
3. You can just simply stain your dollhouse all one color.
I decided to stain the dollhouse completely in a chocolate brown. I used matte varnish and an acrylic paint mixture to make the stain. I didn’t go for the gloss because you don’t want a glossy dollhouse. Glossiness makes every imperfection show.
The paint I’m going to use for stenciling will also adhere better without the gloss. I suggest you use an air tight container to keep your stain mixture in because you will be using it a lot and you don’t want it to dry out.
When you stain your dollhouse, regardless of the stain you use, do it in sections. Do not try to get ahead of yourself because if you go over stain twice, it will get darker and you will end with a dollhouse that has a bunch of different shades and visible brush strokes going through it. Just stain carefully and patiently, covering all sides as you go along.
