I am sorry that it has been so long since my last post. It's been a hectic and crazy month and I had to put many of my other hats on and set the renovations aside. But although I didn't actually work on the dollhouse, I did do some analyzing and planning for the next stage of the renovations: installing the electrical system.
At first I was uncertain about how to proceed. I've wired numerous houses and while each provides its own set of challenges, the Smiley house presented two main issues. First, is the fact that the wood walls are very thin and since they are a fiberous material, brads and eyelets can easily come through to the other side. If I were to install tapewire on the walls, it is possible that a brad or eyelet installed on one side of the wall could puncture the tapewire on the other side of the wall. The second issue is the presence of the wood trims along the edges of the partition walls and floors as well as the stripwood in the corners and at the wall-ceiling lines. Applying tapewire to an unfinished dollhouse, which does not have any finishing trims or construction details that function as both design and support elements is considerably easier, wiring finished (or partially finished) dollhouses requires additional planning and thought.
My answer? Apply the tapewire to the floor on each level. This allows me to install outlets (recepticals) and ceiling fixtures to the tapewire on the floors without concern for circuitry issues or exposed tapewire on the trimwood.
The next post will include photographs of the tapewire layout and a discussion of how I make the connections and install the ceiling fixtures and recepticals for the table and floor lamps.
