Hinging the front door of this dollhouse can be challenging due to the trim. The trim for the front door matches the rest of the dollhouse and consists of various sized parts laminated together to form a layered molding. Because of this, the front door cannot be hinged with the trim as it is. The trim needs modification; otherwise, the door won't open and close properly since the top trim is smaller than the bottom. Additionally, hinging the door to the bottom trim will also cause issues with its movement. To avoid these complications, you could hinge the door to the interior trim. However, I prefer not to use interior-facing hinges because I want my door to open outward. With a staircase, a living room door, and planned furniture in the foyer, there are many obstacles that make inward-opening doors impractical. I also like to see my hinges from outside the dollhouse, but this is purely a personal preference — there's no right or wrong way to position hinges.
To proceed, I need to cut off the legs of the top trim, as these will serve as the hinge points for the front door. After finishing and assembling what remained of the trim, I added interior door trim and spackled, sanded, and painted the edges of the door opening since they will be visible when the door moves. The doors must be sanded down significantly to fit properly in the opening. These multi-layered double doors are heavy and thick, so it's better to have a small gap around them than for them to fit too tightly. The front door trim features an arched opening. I recommend placing thin cardboard behind it to conceal the side wall; I painted my cardboard white. Glue this trim in place and use binder clips to clamp it while it dries.
Next, hinge the doors to the cut-off "legs." Measure carefully to ensure both door panels are even before attaching hinges. I used three hinges for added support due to their thickness; larger hinges work better but must fit on your trim. After gluing the trimmed "legs" with pre-hung doors in place, I added a very thin blue trim along the outer sides of the legs to compensate for modifying the layered molding effect. I chose not to spackle over this area, as I prefer how separate legs look compared to a continuous arch.
Keep in Mind
I often remind myself when hinging tab-and-slot doors that while they can be interesting features, they are not meant to function perfectly. These thick and heavy doors cannot be made thinner without losing their molded details. They will never operate like factory pre-hung doors because layered wood can warp and change shape, affecting how hinges work. No matter how careful you are during installation, you won't know how well they operate until they are fixed in place. For these double doors, it's best to open and close each leaf separately rather than simultaneously. Be gentle with your hinged doors; if any hinges come loose, repairing them could require significant work with no guarantee of success. Remember that these doors are designed for movement but not for functioning like real-life doors.
