The Willowcrest Dollhouse Day 12

Time to get the fireplaces in. The best way to put the fireplaces in is to first assemble the fronts and trims. Clamp them until they are dry and you can stain or paint them. I then added a brick printie I got from my computer to the back of the fireplace fronts. I then glued this assembly to the dollhouse walls where I wanted to have a fireplace. I glued on in the living room, one in the bedroom and one in the attic. I then glued the hearth floor and the mantel to already positioned fireplaces. This makes the fireplaces turn out so much better than assembling them away from the dollhouse. You are able to really keep the mantels and hearths flush with the dollhouse this way.

I added the back edge trim to the second floor and the roof. For the roof, I just put the trim in its slot, tapped it in with the rubber mallet and then gently bent the trim until the other end went into its slot.

I began trimming the outside edges of the attic dormer windows. I trimmed the bedroom ceiling.

The time has come to work on the bathroom doors. I decided that I didn’t want the bathroom door hinged after all, but I also didn’t want it to be a permanent door just in case I want to access the stairway hall. I decided to make it a faux door. In other words, it will go into its opening just tight enough to not fall out, but loose enough for me to take it out for hallway access, if needed. This is a a good alternative to hinging.

To make a faux door, I had to glue on the door trim first, rather than the door. Once the trim was in and the glue was dry, I had to begin dry fitting the door until it fit the opening perfectly. It has to be tight enough to not fall out but loose enough to take out. Once I get more door knobs, it will be a cinch to pull the door out. You need to sand like you have never sanded before to get the door to a perfect fit. Afterwards, I stained it and also stained the inside door edges. I also stained the inside edges of all the entry doors as well. The bathroom door will remain open until I buy the door knobs. Then I will put it in place.

Now the closet door. This one has to open and close. I decided to use the functional chamois strip method to make the closet door moveable. The leather strip is barely noticeable because the door doesn’t face the front of the dollhouse.

I trimmed the back edges of the dollhouse with strip wood. The back edge trim that came with the dollhouse just wasn’t enough to hide a bunch of rough edges so I applied more. I applied it all around the back of the staircase area but I ran out of it before I could finish.