21/06: What Finish to Choose for the Walls in Your Doll House
Category: Dollhouse Building
Posted by: Hummie
There is really no difference in choosing how to finish the inside walls of your doll house, to choosing how you would finish the inside walls of your own home!
The challenge comes in finding wallpaper and flooring that is the right scale for your doll house.
I have seen so many doll houses, where the owner used scraps of flooring from their home, either carpet or tile, to do the floors in their doll house and the results were terrible! Full scale carpeting when used in a doll house, looks like knee high grass, and any texture on tile, looks like giant potholes.
The same goes for choosing wallpaper. Do not use a wallpaper that you would use on the walls of your house, in your doll house! You will end up with the scale of your room looking totally wrong.
If you want to wallpaper your doll house, be sure to choose the scale carefully. There are many doll house wallpapers designed just for doll houses and it is usually a good idea to choose one of these. Many are not pre-glued so you will also have to purchase a spray adhesive to apply.
Painting is a much easier choice, scale does not matter, you simply choose the color scheme that you want and purchase either acrylic craft paint, or you can use left over acrylic base paint from another project. Adding moldings and trim work can create a lovely effect when using paint on the walls of your dollhouse.
There is also a large assortment of choices when finishing the floors in your doll house. If the floor is cabinet grade plywood to begin with, you may simply stain and finish the flooring like you would any natural wood. You can also purchase wooden flooring designed for doll houses, that is perfectly scaled and ready to lay down. Wall to wall carpeting is another nice choice with many colors available. Carpeting of the proper scale looks more like laying thin velvet or felt! Again it can be laid using spray adhesive.
Before applying any finishes in your doll house, floors or walls, be sure to seal the natural wood with a wood sealer of your choice. Sanding Sealer available at hobby shops, when sanded with a very fine sandpaper, makes a beautiful smooth finish for painting.
The challenge comes in finding wallpaper and flooring that is the right scale for your doll house.
I have seen so many doll houses, where the owner used scraps of flooring from their home, either carpet or tile, to do the floors in their doll house and the results were terrible! Full scale carpeting when used in a doll house, looks like knee high grass, and any texture on tile, looks like giant potholes.
The same goes for choosing wallpaper. Do not use a wallpaper that you would use on the walls of your house, in your doll house! You will end up with the scale of your room looking totally wrong.
If you want to wallpaper your doll house, be sure to choose the scale carefully. There are many doll house wallpapers designed just for doll houses and it is usually a good idea to choose one of these. Many are not pre-glued so you will also have to purchase a spray adhesive to apply.
Painting is a much easier choice, scale does not matter, you simply choose the color scheme that you want and purchase either acrylic craft paint, or you can use left over acrylic base paint from another project. Adding moldings and trim work can create a lovely effect when using paint on the walls of your dollhouse.
There is also a large assortment of choices when finishing the floors in your doll house. If the floor is cabinet grade plywood to begin with, you may simply stain and finish the flooring like you would any natural wood. You can also purchase wooden flooring designed for doll houses, that is perfectly scaled and ready to lay down. Wall to wall carpeting is another nice choice with many colors available. Carpeting of the proper scale looks more like laying thin velvet or felt! Again it can be laid using spray adhesive.
Before applying any finishes in your doll house, floors or walls, be sure to seal the natural wood with a wood sealer of your choice. Sanding Sealer available at hobby shops, when sanded with a very fine sandpaper, makes a beautiful smooth finish for painting.
