I brainstormed how to add a stained glass skylight to my dollhouse, inspired by the blog My Miniature Menagerie and its featured Willowcrest Dollhouse, 120 Copper Court. The builder cleverly enlarged the bathroom by extending it over the kitchen bay, creating a large bay on that side of the dollhouse, topped with a stained glass skylight. I only want the skylight and, since I didn't modify my Willowcrest Dollhouse in that way, I decided to create one in the living room bay ceiling. My design will differ from the original, but the concept remains the same.
To make the skylight, I need to cut out part of the living room bay ceiling but not completely. I plan to keep the trim for the roof as it will serve as the trim for my skylight. Using this trim as a guide, I traced the area to cut out and carefully used a sharp box cutter to make my cuts. Once I have the "glass" for the skylight, I will add trim both inside and outside so that any rough edges are hidden.
Assembling this dollhouse is quite challenging due to its maze-like interior, requiring careful planning of finishes. Adding flooring and ceiling paper complicates matters further; it's essential to think ahead about which finishes can be applied and when. Some finishes are difficult to apply because of the intricate design of the interior. I completed the foyer except for the baseboards and ceiling trim, which I will do later. I can still access the foyer through door and window openings for future work.
I wallpapered the second-floor stairwell while the dollhouse was upside down, as mentioned in my previous post. It's crucial to remember this orientation to avoid applying wallpaper incorrectly. This task was challenging, and I regretted not doing it before installing the staircase wall, but there’s no going back now. Assembling a dollhouse often involves solving problems rather than avoiding them.
After wallpapering, I added ceiling paper to the stairwell section. However, I must wait to add ceiling paper to the bedroom area until later; otherwise, I won't be able to fit in the bedroom/hallway partition that has double doors. As with my first Willowcrest Dollhouse, I'm installing the second-floor staircase before adding the bedroom/hallway partition. This approach simplifies installation compared to squeezing the staircase between two wallpapered walls. The bedroom/hallway partition needs wallpaper before installation since it will be against the staircase and inaccessible afterward.
I dry-fitted where the staircase would go to determine which section needed wallpapering. Consequently, I only covered the visible part in the hallway with wallpaper; the bottom section is a bathroom closet that must match its wallpaper. Unfortunately, I chose an unsuitable wallpaper type for this area. A tight space like this shouldn't have striped wallpaper, but it's done now. Thankfully, I managed to align the stripes well at all corners and joints.
