Primrose dollhouse construction Part B floors

Staining the floor of the Primrose dollhouse

I am new to the world of dollhouse miniatures...wooden dollhouses, that is.  I've made a few cute plastic canvas dollhouses, which I love, but this is my first wooden dollhouse kit.

I've been reading a lot, so much that I'm almost crippled by the loads of info out there.  I can't seem to make a move without googling everything extensively, lol.

Anyway, my point is, I read on several blogs and forums that the dollhouse kit will "talk to me".  I didn't believe it, until i stained these floors.  My dollhouse told me it wanted a lighter color for the floors; a nice honey blonde.

Unfortunately, I was unable to hear the kit's pleas until AFTER I stained the floors this red...it's not cherry red, but the name is a type of wine, I think.  I can't remember...the fumes are getting to me, lol.

Primrose dollhouse kit :  floor staining

I like the color; I wouldn't have purchased it otherwise.  Well, maybe, as the 2 dollar sale price was awfully tempting.  But I do like the color.  The problem is, this one floor piece came out nice, but the other didn't.  It's because no two pieces of wood in this kit are equal.  Some are lighter, some are darker, some are dry as desert sand while others seem brand new.  It's a big pain, and a drawback to tab and slot kits, in my opinion.

It's not a problem, as I'm probably going to make a nice plastic canvas rug for the upstairs of this little house. 

I like the woodgrain showing through on this piece, though.  It reminds me of our neighbour's cottage...it was all done up in a similar color, in an Austrian chalet style. 

I wanted to do the walls up in a blue flowered pattern; I already have the paper.  But the blue flowered pattern is delicate, and won't go with this floor...I don't think.  I guess I'll save that paper for another room in the bigger house, the Laurel. 

I suppose I could stain some coffee stir sticks in this color and use them as beams; make this a sort of cottagy addition.  It's so hard to know what to do.  I keep changing my mind, lol.

One thing, I do need to make this floor shiny.  I'm not sure if I should apply a gloss, or modge podge, or what.  So, it's back to google for me.

Starting on Primrose Dollhouse Kit

I read the instructions over several zillion times and finally got up the  nerve to start on my Primrose kit.  It's the attachment/add on for the Laurel, but can also be used separately as a cottage.  I'm going to be using it with the Laurel, but decided to start with the smaller house first.

Primrose window casings and shutters

I knew I wanted to do the houses in a country blue and white, but wasn't sure whether or not to make the shutters all white or multicolored.

Primrose window casings and shutters

I laid the shutter tops on top of the shutter bottoms while all painted white in order to see if I liked the look, and I do, so I'm going to leave them all white.  Now I just have to glue them together, and also glue the windows into the frames.  Then I can start on the window boxes.

I hate the sanding, and can't believe how awful some of the wood pieces are made...it's like every sheet is made of a different wood.  Two of the 6 large pieces of wood that contain all of the smaller ones are in good shape, but the others aren't great, and one is really bad...like the wood is 100 times older and dryer than the other pieces.  I can't believe they passed quality control.  I sure hope the bigger kit has more good sheets than bad.

I enjoy the painting part, and I think I'll enjoy the decorating.  I know I'll enjoy making little objects to put in the dollhouse.  I already have a list of things I want to make.  I'm going to start with breads and a breadboard...it looks simple and fun to make.

My dog Mac is on his 4th week of crate rest post surgery (on Wednesday it will be 4 weeks), and he likes to sit outside in his pop up crate so I've been doing the sanding and painting outside on the deck in the mornings and evenings, when it's still cool enough to be outside.  Mac loves it out there, and this gives me something to do while supervising him.  I can't leave him alone because he can open the zippered door with his nose, lol.  He's so smart.  He seems to be doing a lot better, thank God.