Dollhouses that are for young children tend to be simple to put together as the construction tends to focus sturdiness and the ability for children to play with it safely.Collector style dollhouses take a little work but that is what makes it interesting for most dollhouse collectors. If you have decided to go with a dollhouse that you can customize to your heart’s content, it is good to have a few supplies ready while you are waiting for your new kit to arrive. Think about what types of work you have decided to do on the dollhouse. Will you be painting the house? Are you interested in adding electric lighting to the dollhouse? Is custom roofing or a dollhouse garden in your plans?
Materials to have on hand
With most dollhouse kits you will probably only need wood glue or hot for the basic dollhouse construction. But if you are thinking about doing something special with the dollhouse kit it is a good idea to make a plan and have some materials ready so you can get started with enjoying the dollhouse right away.
- Start with the glue. Most dollhouse collectors recommend that you use good fast drying wood glue, one that you can sand and paint over and wipes up easily if you make a mistake.
- A hammer is a good tool to have handy in case you will be working with nails.
- A miniature miter box and saw is excellent if you will be adding trim or adding crown molding. This is for the more adventuresome.
- Sandpaper is good to have to sand any rough edges.
- Craft X-acto knife is necessary for roof shingles or doing any kind of trimming.
- Masking tape is a must for both painting and holding walls together while the glue dries.
- Don’t forget a pencil.
- Small saw can be useful if you are trimming a part.
- If you will be adding windows or small parts, rubber bands can be useful to hold the pieces together after gluing.
- Paint for both the interior and exterior unless the kit comes already painted. A semi gloss latex enamel works well for dollhouses.
- Different size paintbrushes
- Spackle to cover any nail holes if necessary.
- If you are going to be adding roofing material such as wooden shingles you might need stain, or shingle dye, and rubber gloves.
- Dollhouse lighting kit if you will be wiring the dollhouse. There are also several good books on dollhouse wiring.
- Flooring adhesive if you will be adding your own flooring. The type of adhesive depends on the type of flooring you are putting such as tile, wood floor or carpet.