I have to begin wallpapering because if I want to move on to the top part of the dollhouse, I need to get all the walls that are left done and I can't do them until I wallpaper. I also want to finish putting in this staircase.
Before you begin to finish the interior of the dollhouse, analyze your structure. Notice all of the areas that might give you problems and have a plan. Decide which rooms will be what, so you can choose the right wallpaper pattern. As I was analyzing this dollhouse, I noticed some things I have to keep in mind as I apply the wallpaper. First, the little decorations over the bay openings. I want to stain them. This will have to be done before the wallpaper goes up. The bay will be easy to wallpaper because they are basically two slanted walls meeting in the middle. The staircase has to be wallpapered inside and out because the inside is the closet wall. The railing that is sticking out of the center partition wall has to be stained before wallpapering as well.
Now that I have a plan as to how I’m going to do everything, I’m going to begin by staining everything that has to be stained. I also primed all of the walls. You can use any light colored paint you have laying around for priming and evening the wood. To make your priming job easier, turn the dollhouse on its side and front to get to the walls better without dripping paint on your floors.
I also painted the ceilings in the same color. It will match my wallpaper well. For the ceilings you have to apply enough coats to cover well. If you turn the dollhouse upside down, it will make the job easier. As you’re priming and staining, focus on what you’re doing and take your time, so you don’t accidentally paint an area that was to be stained.
You have to wait for everything to dry completely or you will get paint on your wallpaper. If you have a fan running, everything will dry quicker.
Once it was dry I began wallpapering what’s going to be the kitchen and/or dining room in this dollhouse.
When you’re wallpapering this room you have to keep in mind several things. There’s a bay and there’s a staircase. You have to have enough wallpaper to be able to cover these areas too, so measure your wallpaper out. I suggest you cut all of your wallpaper first and figure out the best way to apply them to the walls before you begin. That way you know if you have enough. You don’t want to end up with a half a wallpapered room because you ran out of paper in the middle of your project.
Also the center partition wall where the staircase abuts has not been glued down to the first and second floors. You won't be able to get a good measurement unless you hold the floors against it, which is how it will be once finished. Use masking tape to hold the floors against it so your wallpaper comes out right.
Don’t worry about the edges of the bays and of the wall in front of the staircase. This dollhouse kit has interior trim to put around those areas later.
I primed the staircase so I can wallpaper it too.
After everything was dry to keep the wallpaper in place, I inserted the staircase. Getting the staircase into place is very difficult, as is the case for all staircases. You’re going to need a mallet for this one. Here is where you will appreciate having a very well glued shell and staircase because the pressure will be enormous. Having the center partition wall movable from not gluing it to the floors was vital in this step. You can't get this staircase in if you can't move the first and second floors up and down to allow it in.
Now that the staircase is in, you can finally glue the center partition wall to the floors and staircase. Clamp everything. Leave it overnight because the glue has to be completely dry before you loosen the clamps. Position the clamps in a way that won't stop you from continuing to work on other areas of the dollhouse.
I wallpapered the living room. I haven’t wallpapered the staircase wall because there’s glue that has to dry still.
Now that both of these rooms are wallpapered, I can put in the bays. After the bays were dry, I wallpapered them. Remember to not worry about the edges because there’s trim for them.
I also finished wallpapering the second floor. You have to make sure you have enough wallpaper leftover if you want to wallpaper the rest of the walls up here. Some of these walls are missing right now because they are the roof gables.
Now I have to wait for everything to dry so I went ahead and put the front door together.
