Preassembled Doors
Many dollhouse builders choose to upgrade their doors for a specific look or to make them functional. Houseworks is a leading manufacturer of dollhouse accessories, including doors. Their doors are designed for cabinet-grade dollhouses, ensuring a perfect fit with standard measurements. They are also thick enough to work well with 3/8-inch plywood or MDF.
If you want to use these doors in a tab-and-slot dollhouse, you will need to adjust the door openings and frames for an ideal fit. The advantage is that the door will function smoothly without requiring you to add hinges, as they come operable.
Adding A Preassembled Door To A Tab-and-Slot Dollhouse
I wanted to add a screen door to the kitchen of the Lilly Dollhouse without replacing the original door. I chose a laser-cut screen door from Greenleaf Dollhouses. The advantage of this door is that it fits perfectly in tab-and-slot dollhouses, so I didn't need to trim it or add strip wood. Just keep in mind, these doors must be hinged to be operable as they are not working doors.
I hinged the original kitchen door to the interior door trim, allowing me to hinge the screen door to the exterior door trim. Be sure to decide which direction you want the doors to open so that you place the hinges correctly. After touching up all the doors, I added hardware to complete the look.
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| Screen door hinged to exterior trim |
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| Original door hinged to interior trim |
Creating Hinged Doors for Tab-and-Slot Dollhouses
Most cabinet-grade dollhouse kits include working doors, but tab-and-slot dollhouse kits do not. If you want working doors for a tab-and-slot dollhouse, you will need to add hinges yourself.
Dollhouse doors with tab and slot construction can be challenging to hinge due to their thick, layered wooden construction. This guide will help you successfully attach hinges to your miniature doors.
Begin by laying the completely finished door and door casing (trim) flat on a work surface. Ensure all wooden layers are assembled and the surface is smooth.
Perform a dry fit to verify the door moves freely within its casing. You may need to carefully sand the door edges to allow proper movement. Before attaching hinges, apply masking tape to the corner areas where hinges will be placed. This will help you test the door's movement and ensure it can stand upright and swing smoothly within its frame. The goal is to create a miniature door that opens and closes gracefully, despite the inherent challenges of working with such small, multi-layered wooden components.
If your door has multiple layers, you can remove some to make it thinner and easier to handle. However, this may reduce the door's architectural details. Avoid laminating wood over the hinges, as this will affect how the door moves.
Larger hinges generally provide better performance, but they may not fit well with the overall scale of your project. You need to decide what matters more - durable, larger hinges that function effectively but may look out of scale or smaller, more delicate hinges that could cause issues later on but fits the dollhouse aesthetics better.
Hinging a door can take several hours, and you only have one chance to get it right. If you damage the hinge, you'll need to replace it. Most hinge packages contain only four hinges and the exact number of nails needed, so it's wise to order extra packages for spares.
I chose L-shaped hinges for the door of The Brimbles Mercantile Dollhouse because they offer more strength, given that the door is heavy and made of multiple layers. I also selected hinges that are true to scale.
You Will Need:
- Spotlight lamp
- Tweezers
- Tacky glue
- Push pin
- Lead pencil
- Hammer
- Nail setter (If you don't have a nail setter, a small screwdriver can work as a substitute.)
The nails included with your hinges are very small, even smaller than brads used for wiring, so be careful not to lose them. To ensure success, there are two essential steps:
- Make a starter hole with a push pin. Without this hole, you risk bending or breaking the hinge nails, which are not strong enough to penetrate hard plywood.
- Dip each hinge nail in glue before tapping it into place. If you skip this step, the nails may pull out or fall off due to the movement of the door and natural wood weakening over time.
The Brimbles Mercantile Dollhouse features a double door, making hinging more challenging. Once you've sanded the door for smooth movement within its casing, position your hinges and mark where the tiny nail holes should go. Ensure that your hinges are aligned correctly for proper opening and closing.
I recommend starting with the door casing side and then moving on to the door side. If you try to do both at once, you might misalign the holes. These hinges are very small. The best way to mark the holes is with a refillable lead pencil, as its thin lead fits into the hinge holes. A regular pencil won't work for this.
Once you have marked the holes, set the hinge aside and use a push pin to create small starter holes at the markings. These indentations should be just deep enough for the tiny hinge nails to fit halfway in before you tap them down completely. After making the starter holes, align the hinges over them. Using tweezers, take a small hinge nail and dip it in a bit of glue. Place it in the hinge hole; it should fit well into the starter hole. Finally, use a nail setter to tap the nails all the way in.
After finishing the casing side, open the hinge and position the door against it. Mark the hole locations on the door. Then, temporarily close the hinges to create starter holes with a push pin on the door. Open the hinges again and align the hinge holes with the starter holes you just made. Insert the hinge nails, following the same process as on the casing side. If you have a double door, repeat this process four times.
Putting on the hinges may have slightly changed how your door fits in the casing, which can cause it to open and close unevenly. To check this, dry fit the door in your dollhouse opening. If it catches on the casing or the floor, continue sanding until it moves smoothly again. Be sure to hold the door firmly while sanding, avoiding any pressure on the hinges. Also, remember to finish the interior edges of your door for a polished appearance.
If there is a casing for the other side of your door opening, install it before attaching the casing with the hinged door. Once that casing is installed and dry, you can attach the hinged door casing. Apply glue and center it gently on the door opening of your dollhouse, using clamps to hold it in place. Since you cannot use binder clamps on the door side because of the door's position, I recommend using glue sticks as clamps.
Test the door while it's attached to the dollhouse to ensure it moves easily. Gently adjust the casing around the opening — moving it up, down, or side to side — can help improve the door's movement. Make sure it operates smoothly before the glue dries.
You need to finish the interior edges of your casing because they will be visible when the door is open. Exposed laminated wood edges are not desirable.
First, wait at least 24 hours for the door to dry before unclamping it and moving it on its hinges. After it has dried, use spackling compound to fill in the laminated gaps around the interior edges of the casing. Be careful not to touch the hinges. A small piece of siding can work well as a putty knife for this task. Once you have filled everything evenly with spackle, allow it to dry. After it has dried, lightly sand the edges if necessary using a fingernail file, and then paint them to match your door. This will ensure that the interior casing edges look neat and finished when the door is fully open.
Keep In Mind
When installing doors in your dollhouse, aim for a balance between free movement and stability. Your door should open and close smoothly without snagging, but it shouldn't be so loose that it swings open on its own. Over-sanding can lead to a door that won't stay closed, so make sure to sand just enough for it to move freely while still fitting snugly in the casing.
Keep in mind that warping of the walls, door, or casing can affect how well the door functions. To find the right fit, frequently dry fit the door in its casing and use masking tape as temporary hinges. Handle your door gently. Avoid pressing it while closed to prevent damaging the hinges. Remember that small nails combined with a thick door can lead to problems. Open and close the door softly, allowing it to rest naturally in either position. With practice, you'll learn how to move it easily, as each door may behave differently due to hand installation.
For double doors, like those on the Brimbles Mercantile Dollhouse, open them one at a time. Attempting to open both simultaneously can cause issues since they are designed to touch lightly when closed. Sometimes, pushing one door slightly can cause the other to swing open as well. Experiment gently with your double doors until you find the best way to operate them. Install door knobs after securing the exterior door to ensure they are at the same height.
For interior doors, install the knobs before adding hinges, as they are usually tapped into place rather than glued. Avoid tapping anything into the door after the hinges are installed.
While working on your dollhouse, you can use masking tape to keep doors from swinging open during movement. You might also consider delaying the installation of finished hinged doors until later.
Be aware that flooring can impact your doors. If you're adding floor coverings, you may need to trim your doors for proper clearance before hinging them, as this will also affect the trim. If you have a doorway between two different rooms with varying floor thicknesses, hinge the door on the side with the thinner flooring. This approach prevents modifications to the door and hides any unfinished edges when closed.
Troubleshooting
If your door continues to swing open despite careful adjustments, it may be due to warping or an uneven dollhouse structure. This issue is common in handmade products and does not indicate any mistakes in assembly. If a swinging door bothers you, consider using a glue dot from a craft store on the inside edge of the casing. This will help catch the door when closed without making it difficult to open.
Using a Chamois Strip For Hinges
Miniature hinges can be challenging on thin plywood doors, especially older kits that may be brittle and prone to delaminating. A chamois strip offers an easy solution for hinging doors. Chamois strips work best for display dollhouses rather than play ones and are ideal for closet doors or roof panels where they can be hidden.
Materials Needed
- Tacky glue
- Scissors
- Chamois in a color matching your stain
Start by selecting a chamois that closely matches your door's stain — blond for light stains and dark brown for darker ones. You can find chamois strips at craft stores or fabric shops where leather supplies are sold; one piece can hinge several doors.
Before installing the door, finish wallpapering or painting the wall where the opening is located. Once the door is in place, it will be challenging to access that area for finishing touches.
Finish the door and the door trim. Stain or paint them, and then let them dry.
Fit the door into the casing to ensure it fits properly in the opening. If it doesn’t move smoothly, sand it until it does. It’s important that the door swings freely without sticking, so repeat the sanding and fitting process as needed.
Position the door in the opening according to your desired swing direction. Use a piece of masking tape to simulate how the chamois strip will be placed and test the door's movement. This will help you determine the best way to attach the chamois.
Place the chamois strip between the door trim and wall, then glue and clamp it in place. Avoid adjusting it until the glue is completely dry.
Place the door in the opening on top of the chamois strip. Glue the back of the door and clamp it until dry. If possible, let it dry overnight. Avoid opening and closing the door until it is completely dry. If you have properly dry-fitted and sanded the door to fit the opening, you should not encounter any issues at this stage. From the front, there will be no visible strip on the door.
This is an example of the Willowcrest Dollhouse bathroom closet door. The chamois strip could not be placed on the back side, but since the door faces sideways, the strip is barely noticeable.
Keep In Mind
These strips are almost always visible, so careful placement is crucial. The goal is to minimize their appearance as much as possible, since they are not particularly attractive.
Dollhouse doors with chamois strip hinges should be handled very gently and are best suited for display purposes rather than frequent opening and closing. Although traditional hinges remain the ideal method for door installation, chamois strips provide an alternative to permanently glued doors. They create a sense of movement while avoiding the complexity of tiny mechanical hinges.
When installing, decide whether you want the door to swing inwards or outwards, considering the room's layout and available space.
Chamois strips offer a unique way to create movable doors in dollhouse kits. When using these strips, you'll typically sandwich them between laminated door parts and door trim. While they provide the illusion of movement, they are not designed for frequent use. Keep in mind that chamois strip doors have limited mobility. They are more about creating a visual effect of a movable door rather than providing fully functional door movement. Careful installation and gentle handling are key to maintaining the integrity of these unique dollhouse door attachments.
Hinging Unique Doors
Choosing how to hinge an exterior door requires careful consideration. The complexity arises from door trim layers that can complicate hinge placement and door movement. By hinging the door to the interior trim, which has fewer layers, you ensure the door will always open inwards. However, if you prefer an outward-opening door, you'll need to modify the exterior trim.
In my Beacon Hill Dollhouse project, I wanted the exterior door to open outwards to not block the staircase view. The exterior top trim prevented proper hinge installation, so I carefully cut the trim's sides, attached the hinges to these cut sections, and then reassembled the trim on the dollhouse. To conceal the resulting gaps, I used additional trim and spackle to create a seamless finish.
Using Pin Hinges
Pin hinges involve inserting a thin metal pin through the door's edges and into the dollhouse floor and frame. While this technique can create a movable door, it presents significant challenges for dollhouse builders. The process is complicated by several factors. Thin pins are difficult to insert into hard, fragile wood, especially in tab-and-slot dollhouses with narrow, uneven door frames. Achieving proper door alignment is tricky, and the pins can potentially interfere with ceiling and floor installations. For inexperienced builders or those working with delicate dollhouse materials, pin hinges are not recommended.
Door Hardware
Door knobs are typically available in two styles - those that can be simply glued onto the door surface and those requiring careful tapping into place.
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| Exterior and interior door knobs |
Exterior door knobs for front doors are typically glued on, while interior door knobs are tapped in. For a one-inch scale dollhouse, door knobs should be placed about three inches above the floor.
Exterior Door Knobs
You can install exterior, glue-on door knobs after the door is hinged and/or installed.
First, measure three inches up from the floor and mark this spot with a pencil. Apply glue to the door knob and position it accordingly. To keep the knob in place while the glue dries, you can use a small piece of masking tape. Open the door to get an angled view of both sides, which will help you position a second door knob on the other side. Ensure that both knobs are at the same height. Refer to the arrows in the picture below to see how they align on either side of the door.
Interior Door Knobs
When installing interior door knobs on dollhouse doors, there are several important considerations.
These specialized door knobs, typically made by Houseworks, are designed for cabinet-grade plywood dollhouses and require careful installation when used on tab-and-slot dollhouses. The most crucial step is to install the door knobs before attaching the door to the dollhouse. You cannot add them after the door is in place.
Because the door knob's tapped-in area is as thick as the tab-and-slot dollhouse's door, you must position the knobs carefully. When placing door knobs on both sides of the door, they cannot be aligned in exactly the same spot. The second door knob must be tapped slightly to the right or left of the first one to fit properly. It's essential to maintain the same height for both knobs to ensure a seamless appearance when the door is opened.
To install the door knobs, create a starter hole using a small nail or push pin. The hole should be larger than a typical hinge nail. Dip the door knob in a small amount of glue and gently tap it into place using a rubber mallet. Be careful not to damage the door or the knob. When installing the second door knob, you'll need to use a creative solution like placing the door on a roll of masking tape to keep it flat. This allows you to tap in the second knob without difficulty. If the door knob includes a crystal, and it accidentally falls off, simply glue it back in place.
Since the door lacks support in the middle, position the area for the door knob close to the edge of the masking tape roll for better stability. Make your starter hole and gently tap in the door knob.
You don’t have to stick to just miniature door knobs; you can also use jewelry beads of various shapes, designs, and colors to create unique knobs that match your dollhouse decor. Remember to position them three inches up from the floor. Simply glue the beads on with tacky glue. Since beads are round and may roll out of place, glue them before installing the door. Wait for the glue to dry completely before positioning the door vertically or flipping it over to attach a bead on the other side.
With patience and careful technique, you can successfully install door knobs on your dollhouse doors.
Enhancing Doors
Tab-and-slot dollhouse interior doors may look plain, but you can easily enhance them in an affordable way.
Paneling
You can create paneling using simple wood strips available at craft stores in various sizes. These strips allow you to make different shapes depending on the design of your door.
You can use the uniquely shaped wood scraps from your dollhouse kit to create paneling in various shapes, such as the ovals on the doors of the Fairfield Dollhouse.
You can buy bags of square wood pieces in various sizes at the craft store to make raised panels on doors.
Raised Inlays
For more decorative patterns, you can use stencils and spackling compound to add raised details to your doors.
After drying, these surfaces can be painted to resemble wood carvings. While spackle cannot be stained, wood putty or filler can be used with this technique.
Iron Doors
For iron doors, creating a unique finish is straightforward. Mix gold metallic paint with black paint to achieve the desired look. Different metallic colors like copper and silver will produce varied hues when combined with black paint.
You can decorate the door with raised "nails" made from jewelry caps, which you glue to the corners and paint to match. You can also create decorative ironwork using pipe cleaners by removing the "fur." Floral wire is another good option for this.
Faux Doors
Faux doors create a sense of continuity in your dollhouse and can instantly transform a small area into an extra room. Simply paint the outline of a door on the wall where you want it to appear. You can use one of the dollhouse kit's existing interior doors as a template.
Add the wall with the painted door wherever you like. In the picture below, the new wall extends a short wall that was already present in the Beacon Hill Dollhouse.
Trim the wallpaper around the door and frame it with wood strips. Once you paint it, you'll have a door where there wasn't one before. Add hardware for a more realistic look.
If the dollhouse doesn't have enough space for an attic ladder, you can create a fake attic door. The fake attic door shown below was made using the same method described above.
It creates the illusion that a door can open and a ladder will drop down, while the ladder does not occupy any space inside a small room.
Removable Doors
Removable doors are helpful when you want to avoid using hinges but still want to keep a section of a dollhouse open without installing a permanent door. For the Garfield Dollhouse, the French doors on the second floor stairwell hallway were assembled and finished separately from the dollhouse.
The finished door was sanded to fit perfectly in the opening without needing glue. It snaps into the frame easily and can be removed effortlessly when access is needed, either for furniture placement, better viewing or electrical repair.
The bathroom door of the Willowcrest Dollhouse is also designed to be removable.
This allows access to the second-floor stairwell without needing hinges. The door can be positioned as if it is open.
Even if your kit doors look plain, they don't have to stay that way with a bit of creativity. Tab and slot kit doors have a lot of potential waiting to be unlocked.
