Don’t discard the window punch outs; they are the shutters.
I’m using wood glue to put the shell together. Tacky glue would work as well. I then run more wood glue along the joints after assembly. This ensures a strong joint because adding more along the joints compensates for drips during the assembly process.
This dollhouse's tabs and slots slide, so they have a tight fit. Use a mallet to tap stubborn tabs into place or to help you slide the walls as far as they will go in their slots. Build exactly as the instructions tell you to; don’t jump ahead.
Once you have the shell together, check all of your joints and add extra glue to them. Clamp everything with masking tape. You won't need much masking tape for this type of dollhouse because the sliding tab and slots keep everything in place. Wait until the structure dries a little and sturdies up before continuing.
After the structure is sturdier, you can begin adding the back walls. Make sure you look at the instruction photos carefully because both back walls are very similar. You want to make sure you put them on properly. They can be difficult to put in. Don’t worry if something breaks by accident. Glue always puts it back together. I’ve never had a build where something hasn’t broken. This is wood, so things are bound to break.
The very back corner wall is not being held on the top by anything yet so it will lean for the time being. Once you have the back walls in and clamped with masking tape, turn the entire structure upside down and squeeze glue into the joints around the ceiling and anywhere else you didn’t get to before. Use a glue bottle to hold up one of the corners.
Remember, glue runs. To avoid drips, position the dollhouse so that the glue remains in place. Turn the dollhouse upside down if you want to run glue on the ceiling joints. If you have to apply glue to the wall joints, then turn the dollhouse on its side and so on. Wait for it to dry before turning it in another position to get more joints.
Notice how the sliding slots poke out through the bottom of the first floor. They create a kind of locking mechanism to keep the dollhouse shell together.
Do not paint or prime your dollhouse while the glue is still tacky or wet because the warp caused by the moisture in the paint, will pull it apart. Make sure that everything is nice and dry before you start that process.
