I then made templates of the walls. These walls are much taller than normal walls, so I had to join two pieces of scrapbook paper in order to make the height. When doing this make sure that the joined, overlapped edge is facing downwards, so it remains invisible. Again, because this is scrapbook paper rather than real miniature wallpaper, the patterns can be tricky to match together. Just match them up as closely as possible and the joined patterns will be pretty invisible.
Attics always require a lot of custom moldings. I framed all of the walls, as I did on the bottom floors. I made the front wall molding face outwards instead of to the sides, in this room, because of the triangle shape. It just looks nicer facing forward in this scenario.
I added a triangle trim piece to the top of the front wall. This hides the top joined area of the side moldings.
Small hand held weights are great for clamping the moldings tightly against the wall as the glue dries.
I added a square dowel along the top ceiling joint. This strengthens that area and also hides the joined seam of the wall templates.
After all of the molding were in place, I lightly sanded and varnished the floor. I gave it two coats of varnish, just like I did the first floor.
I framed the window with molding and re-installed the curtain.
The interior of this dollhouse is complete. As you can see, you can not tell that templates were used to apply these finishes. You also can not tell that there are old finishes underneath. The dollhouse looks brand new on the interior.
Using templates made the job much easier. It reduced the amount of time it would have taken to strip down old wallpaper and flooring. It also prevented the potential structural damage that the dollhouse could have sustained by the forced removal of prior finishes. It made the rehab extremely cost effective. By being able to salvage the wooden floors, not only did the dollhouse keep some of its original integrity, but the savings allowed for the purchase of two different types of flooring for the second floor.
Thankfully, this dollhouse had a simple floor plan, which made the process easier. A more elaborate dollhouse, with tighter spaces and more architectural features, would have been much more difficult. I can only imagine the difficulty of rehabbing a tab and slot dollhouse. Just keep in mind that, whatever the type of dollhouse, the process is the same. On a tab and slot, you might have to remove components, just to make the process easier. Windows, doors and staircases (that aren't structural) can be removed for more access to the interior.
