Smiley House is Coming Along!

Ok, I just can't wait until the entire house is cleaned and primed. It never ceases to amaze me how a little cleaning and priming can transform a tired old dollhouse. I still have a long way to go, but I just had to share the difference already. A couple rooms still require wallpaper removal, but I've applied a coat of primer to those walls (and ceilings) that were ready. The old wood and a couple water stains are still showing through in a few spots, so I'm sure I'll apply another coat in those areas. I certainly don't want the discoloration showing through the beautiful new wallpaper that is going to be installed!

This is one of those times when I want to tell everyone that has an old dollhouse sitting in the attic or basement (or heaven forbid, garage). Take it out, breath new life into it! Give it to your grandchild, neighbor's kid, niece or nephew, donate it to your church or community auction. Someone, somewhere, somehow spent hours (and I'll bet highly enjoyable time) building and decorating that dollhouse once upon a time. Don't let it sit alone in a corner to deteriorate. Share the joy it will bring! Building, remodeling, giving is so rewarding!

I digress...

back to the Smiley renovation!

Smiley Nursery Prep Work

Well, I finished stripping the wallpaper from the nursery. Generally, when I'm remodeling a dollhouse, if the wallpaper appears solid and intact (i.e., no tears, bubbles or ripples), I might opt to leave the wallpaper in place and paint over it with primer. As I looked closely at this room, I noticed several areas where the paper had torn and was peeling away from the walls.


When I slid the putty knife under the loosened spaces the paper came away fairly easily, which would suggest that the moisture from the primer would probably cause the paper to bubble and peal away. I scored the wallpaper using the corner of the putty knife, lightly sprayed the walls with window cleaner (double purpose here), waited a couple minutes and then began pulling the wallpaper off the walls. As an aside, I personally like to apply at least a coat of primer to the walls before applying wallpaper. Much like painting drywall in a real life house before hanging wallpaper. Have you ever tried to remove wallpaper from unpainted drywall? Yuck! What a chore. Primer and/or a coat of white paint really does do triple duty: seals the wood, provides a good base for wallpaper application (both from the standpoint of adhesion and removal), and protects the purity of the wallpaper color. Imagine the darkness of wood showing through a thin white wallpaper.


About a half hour later the walls were stripped and a puddle of paper shreds lay on the floor. Reminds me of removing the wallpaper from our real life house, but it took more like a day to complete the removal project there! Next I'll sand down any of the remaining paper and wallpaper paste then apply a coat of primer.

As I was "sweeping" up the remnants of the wallpaper, our UPS delivery guy arrived. He looked quizzically at me and asked what I was doing. I told him I was remodeling the dollhouse. He left shaking his head and muttering "remodeling a dollhouse..." Some folks just don't get it!

On to the next room!

Introduction to Dollhouse Renovations

Welcome to our new blog...Dollhouse Renovations. It is our hope that through this blog, we will keep you posted on the ins and outs of dollhouse renovation. Maybe you (and I) will learn a few tricks to remodeling along the way through discussions and interactions to my progress. I'll share with you the trials, tribulations, challenges and successes that I encounter from start to finish.

While I have done many renovations over the years, this is the first time that I've decided to document the process. I usually forget to take before pictures, making it difficult to remember where I started. It is so very important to note that each and every house that I have done has presented its own list of obsticles and discoveries. Since no two dollhouses are exactly alike, each has been a learning experience. They have all given me some form of satisfaction upon completion. Whether it was my personal opinion of the completed project, the apparent delight in the eyes of the owner or recipient, or just the fact that I completed the task, I have enjoyed every journey.

I hope you'll join my journey and maybe even add a comment or two!