A dollhouse is painted and trimmed just like a real house, only on a smaller scale. You're limited only by your imagination when it comes to turning ordinary things around you into miniature works of art to decorate your dollhouse inside and out.
Choosing Exterior Paint Colors
When you paint the exterior of your dollhouse, most likely you'll use at least two colors. To make the process of choosing colors easier, look at houses in your town or in books and magazines for color combinations that you like. Take a picture of the house with you to the hardware store. Pick up several swatches of each color you like, take the swatches home and set them against your dollhouse. Mix and match colors to pick the exact shades you like. Use interior latex paint with a high-gloss finish for trim and semi-gloss for walls. Before painting, sand and prime everything to ensure a long life for your final paint colors.
DIY Hardwood Flooring
If you want to make hardwood floors, the tools and supplies are readily available. Start by looking for a picture of the way you want your floor to look. Then make a footprint of the floor using thin cardboard or heavy card stock. Look for wood strips made by Houseworks LTD or Handley House. Stain the wood strips before you cut them; any glue on the wood won't stain. Cut the wood strips to fit your desired pattern using an Easy Cutter and lay the strips on the footprint. Once all the pieces for the floor are cut, glue them to the footprint and then glue the whole floor into the dollhouse.
Wall Coverings
Miniature retailers sell wallpaper with small prints ideal for dollhouses. It's applied the same way regular wallpaper is applied in your home. A free way to wallpaper a dollhouse is ask a hardware and decorating store for old wallpaper books, which have samples you can use.
If you're installing electricity in your dollhouse, wallpaper is needed to cover the wiring on walls and even ceilings. Find a smooth wallpaper to paint to make solid-colored walls and plain ceilings. A raised print wallpaper can be painted to make a decorative ceiling. Highlight contours in the raised print with silver, gold or a contrasting color.
Framed Photos
Create and frame your own pictures. Use real photos, pictures from magazines, or paint your own paintings and then frame them using picture frame wood components made by Houseworks LTD or Handley House. Cut the picture frame wood strips using either an Easy Cutter or a miter box and saw to make the 45-degree corner cuts. Stain or paint the pieces of the frame before assembling and attaching to the picture.
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