Dollhouse Build Project Update #4 - Very Late


Hello friends! Welcome back for week four of my Dollhouse building project update.  I have come a long, long way on this house, but there are still a lot of little details - plus the roof - to finish.  I am still debating with myself about a couple of decisions, but it should be finished in the next couple of weeks!


I have finished the majority of the stone work on the exterior, except for the quoin corners and the back of the house. I added the roof trim and the balcony just this week. 


Hello friends! Welcome back for week three


Let's enter through the front door and you 


The entryway leads to the stairs, then the living room.  If you turn left in the entryway, you will end up in the pink dining room.


The kitchen is 97% complete, but I am still working on the crown molding in the dining room.


When you go up the stairs you will come out on the landing outside the bathroom and the master bedroom.


The colors in the master bedroom look a little dark in this photo.  The paper is a very pretty burgundy print.  I love the mural on the ceiling.


The third floor is still coming along.  I have to build three window seats and add all of the molding, as well as finish the dormers.  This attic is painted a cream color, though the light makes the color appear more where here.


In addition to the other moldings I need to finish, I need to add white trim across the back edges of the floors and walls. The white trim will create a finished look.


I will give you one more look at the overall house.  Hopefully the next time you see the house the roof will be finished.


Not only do I need to finish the stonework on the foundation, I also still need to build the stairs and do a bit of landscaping.

Thanks for stopping by today to take a peek.

Dollhouse Build Update - A Little Late



Hello friends! Welcome back for week three of The Willowcrest dollhouse build project. This last week and a half I accomplished a great deal.  I began building the second floor and now it is almost completely finished.  Both the first and second floors need base molding, but that will not be in until next week.  



The photo above shows the early part of the build on the second floor.  I decided to omit the bathroom closet and the stairs to the third floor because I really disliked their placement.  The create a 2.5 inch visual block on the middle of the floor.  I wanted this house to have open rooms and views, not a hunk of wood blocking part of the view.

I started by building a new back bathroom wall.  The wall moved the door farther to the right, just where the wall meets the bedroom wall. I papered the wall with the bathroom print wallpaper on one side, and the cream landing paper on the other.

With the second floor ceiling open I tried to finish as much of the landing as possible.  I papered the walls, installed the flooring, and added the stair rails around the stairs opening. 

I also wall papered and added flooring to the bath and master bedroom.  I added all of the door trim and crown molding to the three rooms, though I ran out of crown molding in the bathroom (I foresee a Hobby Lobby run today). I do, however, need to finish the window trim in the master bedroom.

Before moving on, I added the second floor ceiling/third floor to the house.  I used a glossy ceiling tile effect on the bathroom ceiling, and added a beautiful mural the the bedroom ceiling.  The landing ceiling is painted a soft gray.

The photo below shows the ceiling effects throughout the house so far.



I love the dental crown molding in the entry way and living room areas.  I used this same molding in the second floor rooms (until I ran out in the bathroom).  I used different crown molding effects in the kitchen and dining room.  I am waiting for one more strip of the dining room molding to arrive.


Last night I added the rest of the exterior stone work to the house.  I mixed the stone mortar a bit to wet, and I can see a slight difference in the applications.  However, over all I am please with the stone look.


Later today I will begin construction of the the third floor.  It is a complicated build with side attics and dormers.  I suspect this will keep me busy for several days.  Also, I am still deciding which wallpaper to use on the third floor.  So many decisions.

Thank you for stopping by.  I will be back next week with a third floor and trim update.








The Willowcrest Weekly Update



Hello friends! Welcome back for week two of The Willowcrest dollhouse build project. This last weekend I accomplished quite a bit. I had a surprise three day weekend to work on the house. Avaleigh was ill on Friday so she and Jude stayed home with daddy, allowing me a surprise free day.

In the photo above you can see that my stair railing parts arrived. I was very happy to see them because I could not move forward until the stairs were finished and installed. Fortunately they arrived on Friday!




After completing and installing the stairs, AND slicing away part of the door frame trim so that the stairs would fit, I moved back into the dining room. I finished the pink wall paper and painted my door and window trim.  In the photo above you can see the installed door frame, with my handmade molded flourish on the top (see second photo above). The molded accents have been added to all of the dining room inside window moldings. There is a bit of wood filler on the right side of the arch frame where I found an eighth of an inch gap to be annoying. I will retouch that with white paint before I reinstall the front doors.


After installing the stairs and finishing (for now) in the dining room, I added the two side walls and the two bay windows. The windows are both bays, but are constructed differently from one another. I actually like the living room bay best (see top photo). I gave the bay exteriors a coat of the blue-gray paint - yes from Magnolia Market. (I like the quality of their paint, and the color is mixed with kilz as a base).


On Sunday afternoon I decided to start the exterior stone block work. The way this product works is you unroll the block tape and adhere it to a clean painted surface in straight lines.  You mix the mortar to resemble frosting and apply that to the surface of the dollhouse, spreading over the tape.  There was a learning curve here.  First, is do better math.  I purchased the kit before I opened the house kit and I thought the four square foot package would cover my house. Ha. Only if it had been four cubic feet.  As it was, I had to order a second kit. My second lesson really could be 1B, as it deals with the shortage of mortar and tape materials.  You cannot leave the tape on the house for days, but rather for hours.  So after I started applying the tape I had to finish the job or risk ruining the house surface and the tape.  The next lesson deals with the application of the mixture.  Try to keep the mortar mix smooth and of even thickness, otherwise, like me, you will be sanding the block surfaces.  That process began tonight.  Sigh.  


As you can see in the photos above and below, I have more sanding to do. However to reward myself for what I have done so far, I permanently installed the front door, including three of the molded trim pieces I made for the house exterior. There are many more homemade trim pieces that will be applied as the house nears completion - which is a few weeks away.



I am going to end this weekly update with a photo of the front door.  I am very pleased with how this door turned out.

Thanks for stopping by today. Check back in the near future for more updates.