Summary of Progress

• Dollhouse emptied out.
• Attic cleaned out. Lots of tape (black electrical, masking and scotch) and wiring removed.
• Roofing shingles removed. Roof sanded.
• Chimney pieces glued back on.
• Siding washed and glued down.

The dollhouse has been emptied out, dusted and vacuumed. (Don’t ask me about my real house.) The dollhouse furniture will need restoration, too. As I work, I keep thinking of all kinds of ideas/questions, so I have to be careful not to get ahead of myself!

I took the roof shingles off one by one and sanded the front and back roofs. The original shingles were made from a clear plastic sheet, spray painted grey, cut up and individually glued on. I saved these pieces, but I am not sure how I will proceed exactly with the new roof. Some pieces broke, bent, etc, so I am not sure I would have enough to cover the whole roof if I choose to reuse these pieces.

One reason I like this dollhouse so much is the creativity involved in making it. I could just go buy dollhouse roofing shingles or sheets, but that doesn’t really appeal to me. I’ve done some research on Youtube and joined a couple dollhouse Facebook groups. Hopefully, I’ll find a good solution for a new roof. The original roof was grey. I am thinking about making the new roof black.

This brings me to the question of how much I want the rehab to look like the original house. I’m not sure. There’s already specific questions in my mind about other rooms, but I will parse them out to you readers as I get to those areas. I would love it if you all would chime in on these discussions/questions.

The Chimney

The chimney had been broken off at the top. While I could see these pieces at the bottom of the fireplace, they were too large to pull out. So, Dan and Zachary (my son) held the dollhouse upside down, and then Zachary used a coat hanger to help the pieces fall out. A couple other broken pieces had been stored in the attic. So, fortunately, I was able to rebuild the chimney from these 4 pieces. I will have to find a bit of small white rock to fill in the missing spots, but that shouldn’t be too hard to find and to do. Maybe the Dollar Tree will have something to use. Thoughts?

The Siding

Originally, I thought I’d have to remove and replace all the siding. However, after I cleaned it with my Norwex cleaning paste and SpiriSponge, it looks pretty good. Some areas have yellowed. I glued down the pieces that were sticking out. There is also a small area on the very bottom back that has lost its siding. I plan to replace the missing siding with some pieces made from a 2 liter soda bottle. Since the siding looks good, other than the discoloring, once I put on the replacement siding, I plan to spray paint all the siding on the house white. I do have leftover paint I could brush on, but I am thinking a spray paint would look better. Does anyone have experience doing this type of thing?

A Few More Pictures of the Original Dollhouse

Coming Up

In my next post, I hope to have the siding painted. I’ll need to remove and then replace the trim on the outside edges. Thoughts on what I could use? I also hope to have a plan for the roof/shingles. This project has awakened my passion for dollhouses, and I am really enjoying it. It’s fun to see all the creative posts in the 2 Facebook dollhouse groups I joined. I hope you are enjoying these posts as well, and I hope you enjoy this day!