Finishing Touches
I applied a coat of satin acrylic varnish to the painted siding of the dollhouse. This gives it a nice sheen and helps prevent fingerprints. I recommend adding this after the dollhouse is fully assembled and finished, as varnish acts as a sealer and can prevent glue from adhering properly if used during assembly.
I mistakenly bought craft paint with a satin finish, which I had to return for a flat finish. It's important to avoid glossy paints during assembly, as they can seal the wood and make it difficult for glue to stick. Apply the varnish only to the main walls, avoiding bays unless they are sided, and never apply it to any components. Glossy finishes highlight flaws, so you want to avoid glossy windows or doors.
Use a flashlight or spotlight at different angles to check what has been varnished. A fine-tip paintbrush will help you navigate around components. While it may be tedious, the effort will pay off in the end.
Mishaps
No dollhouse assembly is perfect. While quick-build kits may have pre-assembled components, tab-and-slot dollhouses are unique and handmade, down to individual siding strips and shingles. You can strive for perfection, but small imperfections are often only noticeable to the builder, so don’t get discouraged. Mishaps are common and can sometimes be fixed by redoing a step or, my favorite method, camouflaging the defect.
Camouflaging is essential for all dollhouse builders; it’s often the best way to address issues related to the materials rather than assembly. Dollhouses aren’t always square or straight, so if you need to place a trim piece at an angle to make things look right, go for it. I encountered several mishaps with my Beacon Hill dollhouse, but not too many.
My first mistake was with the porch roof; it ended up slightly off-center on the front wall. I’m not sure how it happened, but I noticed it when applying corner trim. One side fit perfectly, while the other required cutting and joining under the porch roof. Thankfully, I was able to camouflage this well.
The cornice trim also had a wavy appearance, similar to what I experienced with The Beacon Hill Dollhouse. If the cornice is wavy or bent, it affects how fascias sit underneath and can misalign brackets. The wave becomes more pronounced as more components are added. I fix this by ensuring the fascias are straight; if there’s a gap between them and the cornice, I fill it with spackle. This issue isn’t my fault—dollhouses aren’t precision-cut, and even when tabs and slots fit together well, some walls may still be slightly higher than others.
The fascias often don’t align perfectly at corners, which is an issue with every tab-and-slot dollhouse. To address this, I created my own vertical corner trim instead of replacing the fascias. Simply add spackle to the corner ends, let it dry overnight, and then sand it into a sharp corner shape.
During assembly, I noted that the third floor didn’t align with the front wall—a common issue with this kit that I’ve experienced before. While it meets fine with side walls, it falls short of reaching the front wall; fortunately, this is hidden beneath flooring and ceiling paper.
Single staircases rarely come out straight. Luckily, they’re hidden
between walls; this one has a lovely back wall that makes any slight
misalignment less noticeable.
Wallpaper Woes
Finding the right wallpaper prints for this dollhouse was challenging due to many being out of stock or discontinued. I needed the Blue DuBarry print for the bedroom because my custom bed was designed to match it.
I encountered a significant problem with the wallpaper in the second-floor stairwell/hallway; thankfully, this area is not very visible. The wallpaper became darker when wet, likely due to a bad dye lot—it has a grayish blotchy appearance that’s hard for others to notice but obvious to me. Initially, I worried that the issue stemmed from either the wood or wallpaper paste, which would have been disastrous since fixing wood would require making templates for wallpaper application. However, since I couldn’t replicate the problem with other prints, I concluded that this was an isolated issue with that particular print.
Front Wall
Siding And Shingles
Siding and shingles often don’t meet perfectly at corners and can appear slightly crooked at times. However, you can cover these imperfections with additional trim that distracts from uneven lines. Remember that back edge trim not only smooths exposed edges of floors and walls but also helps straighten crooked ones. Just apply your back edge trim straight, and your floors and walls will follow suit.
Despite any mishaps along the way, you’ll end up with a beautiful heirloom dollhouse that looks flawless to anyone else—and you’ll receive all the credit for your hard work!
You can visit this dollhouse gallery here.
