The bays require significant work, and I started with the front bay, which took several days to finish. Before assembly, it's essential to complete all the window sill parts. I laminated the interior pieces and clamped them using binder clamps. After that, I painted them white to match my interior trim. For the exterior window sill parts, I painted them before laminating because I used different colors for each piece. Once the paint dried, I laminated and clamped them as well. Remember that the largest part of the sill should be on the top layer to create a cascading effect from largest to smallest for both the top and bottom sills. Double-check your work before laminating, as it can be confusing and easy to make mistakes.
This time, I painted my bays differently. Instead of using the same color as the dollhouse walls, I incorporated more browns to make the bays stand out. It's important to paint your bays before installing the sills. However, avoid adding spackle or dowels until the sills are in place. The walls need flexibility, and securing them prematurely will complicate the installation of the sills. That’s why I never used glue on the bay wall joints. The exterior sills fit easily, but you may need to modify the interior ones since they are slightly larger than the bay openings. The side walls can obstruct their fit because the "legs" of the sills may be too long. I recommend cutting them to size to avoid damaging your wallpaper or putting too much pressure on your walls.
Cut the legs at the same angle as they originally had until they fit snugly against the side wall openings without any pressure. Making sure your sills are straight is crucial; if they are lopsided, your entire bay will look awkward. Sometimes, even if your bay walls are correctly installed, following the window openings might make them appear crooked due to slight inaccuracies in dye cuts. This misalignment is not noticeable when windows are empty but becomes apparent once you add components. You may need to make adjustments at this point. Ensure your sills are straight, using spackle only to fill gaps between them and the bay walls — specifically at the top of the top sill and bottom of the bottom sill. Avoid applying spackle to edges facing the sashes to prevent a messy appearance.
Your siding lines might not align perfectly at each sill edge. Focus on keeping your sills straight rather than stressing over siding discrepancies; any minor flaws will be less noticeable once other components are added. The bottom sill should align as closely as possible with your siding. Once the sills are in place, begin spackling the joints on the lower walls under the bottom sill and on the upper walls over the top sill. Apply spackle generously and allow it to dry before sanding for a sharp edge. If you installed your roof fascia before your sills, you may need a narrow fingernail file to sand edges sharply in tight spaces. This process may take several attempts depending on joint sizes between your bay walls. Avoid spackling between the siding of the main wall and bay walls, as this will obscure siding detail.
I like to add dowels at wall joints between windows for additional strength and trim detail. Do not apply spackle here; clean lines are essential for dowels to rest on without interference from spackle. I painted these dowels dark brown for contrast and ensured they sat flush with my sills without hindering window installation.
After everything dries, you can add bottom trim to your bay. I wanted to keep a butterfly inlay from my previous Beacon Hill Dollhouse but had to remove it from my old model since it was discontinued. To do this without damaging it, I scored and chiseled off the entire square trim it sat on. After sanding, I repainted this trim piece from light brown to white for my new color scheme. Painting around such a small butterfly inlay was challenging but manageable with patience and good lighting. I touched up the butterfly's colors using toothpicks, due to its size, and then added unused trim from this dollhouse back onto my old Beacon Hill Dollhouse.
Finally, touch up your interior sills, particularly where you cut the top one. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect; this will be hidden by special trim that goes along the top bay opening, which should be applied after installing your windows to avoid interference during installation.
