Doing It-Projects with CSBergman - Arts and crafts, writing, home and garden, dollhouse and miniatures, pets, and anything else!

Updating a 1980 DollHouse to Look more Realistic (and Eventually 1970’s-style)

This house spoke to me for one reason or another when I found it on Marketplace. For some reason it feels older to me than the 1980 signature on the bottom. I have seen other, older houses that share the same basic shape but have different porches or a balcony on the window. I don’t know if it was built from a kit or maybe (and more likely) from plans. It has handy dandy wheels on the bottom and rolls so nicely!

The first thing that had to go on this house was the atrocious paint job. I cringed each time I looked at it. I swear someone decided to ‘spruce it up’ with chalk paint before listing it for sale, and they painted it so sloppily i just… well, I just had to fix it.

First I tried a little acetone on a cotton ball to see what exactly was underneath the paint. Was there some grand finish that begged to be restored? No–it looked like it was just white paint underneath, and it would be a mess to clean off the old paint just to get it back to white. I could just paint over it.

It took me a while to decide what I actually wanted to do with this house. I had plans for a saloon at some point, and a 1920’s style house party, with flapper girls and a grand banquet. My first thought was to make this a saloon, as the covered porch might be made old-west-ish, I suppose, but then just a week or so after I brought this house home I discovered a saloon-of-my-dreams house (actually it is a Duracraft Deluxe Victorian Mansion) that will make an awesome saloon and brothel. So this one will be my 1920’s house, and I think I am happy with that decision.

I started with some new siding to try to spruce up the outside. My mother had just re-sided her dollhouse with craft sticks, and I liked the result, and so I decided to try it myself.

Jumbo craft sticks with curved ends trimmed off (using miter shears). I used hot glue, applied only to one edge of the stick.

I used jumbo craft sticks, cutting the curved ends off to make them squared. Using hot glue (or I am sure that wood glue would be a better choice, but with a bit more patience needed for drying), I glued one long edge of the sticks at a time, overlapping them and keeping them staggered so they looked randomly applied.

Start at the bottom, doing one row at a time, and work your way up, overlapping the rows just slightly. Also try to keep the stick lengths random so you don’t form a pattern that will distract the eye.

After I got the siding done, I cut some sticks length-wise to make slimmer window trim, and then glued them in place over the siding.

Once siding and trim were in place, I painted it white. It took several coats of paint to cover the wood and especially the black porch, but I am much pleased with it. I haven’t decided what to do with the roof, so for now, it will remain messy black. I will probably paint it, maybe like slate? I’ll have to do some research.

The porch still troubles me a little. I want to get more of an art deco feel, but something that will still fit in with the rest of the house. I am considering railings and corbels, to fancy it up a bit. Of course it still needs doors and windows, but that will come later.

I haven’t done much on the inside, yet. I am really hoping for some sort of grand staircase, but somehow without cutting into the wood floors. Hmm. Maybe a freestanding staircase that can be moved around? Lots to consider. I will, however, add a railing to the second floor so I can have guests leaning on it and looking down. And also, perhaps, a speakeasy in the attic. So many ideas!

12/26/2022 UPDATE: I’ve been toying with different ideas for a while on this one. After initially writing this post, I came across a different house that I want to make into a flapper girl house, so I wasn’t sure what to do with this one. I decided to try a 1970’s theme. I repainted it gold for now, and plan on adding shingles. Here is an updated pic:

I have also added a lattice handrail made from tin ribbon. I might add triangles of that ribbon into the upper corners of the porch posts for decorative brackets. I have toyed with the idea of painting the trim brown but I don’t think I can bring myself to do it.

The idea for this house is now to decorate the inside with golds, browns, oranges, and greens to catch some of that 1970’s feel. I always loved the show “That 70’s Show” and hope to recreate some of that.

How to Update a Toy Dollhouse Barn to Look Weathered and More Realistic

Barn after a lot of modifications.

This barn was once part of someone’s railroad table. I had been looking for a good barn project (I love old farms, especially the barns, especially when they once had horses in them. I am a now-horseless horse-nut).

This barn was originally made to sit flat on the ground, but I wanted a lower level with livestock pens, more similar to my grandparents’ bank barn. In order for that to happen, I would have to build a base for it to sit into.

I started with a good plywood board for the base, set the barn on top, in the position I wanted to permanently affix it in. I traced out the barn’s outline.

Next I decided on the locations of doors and marked them with a pencil. I then cut lengths of square dowel to fit the walls, leaving open spaces for the various doors. I built up layers of dowel, alternating overlaps in the corners for structural strength, gluing them down as I went.

Original version of barn, sitting on top of its new base. I forgot to make the windows, so I later disassembled a few areas to cut out the windows and then glued it back together.

When the bottom of the barn was as tall as I wanted, I customized the dowel placement so the original barn would sit comfortably on it without moving. The main upper section of the barn is not glued onto the base, so that I can lift the top original barn off and see the inside of the lower level.

With trim on windows and doors and a little paint added.

I used halved craft sticks to add trim around the windows and doors. This helped to give the edges a more finished look.

I didn’t like the original shiny red finish, so I sprayed the barn with two coats of Rustoleum 2x gray primer and paint to prepare it for acrylics. However, when I started painting, I discovered that the texture just didn’t seem right. The barn’s smooth wood was too flat to look like real barn wood, even with painted texture. I ended up using a pallet knife to apply a thin coat of wood putty, then scratched into it with the edge of the knife to give it texture.

One end painted. Also with some shingles applied.

I decided to make my roof look rough, so I staggered the cedar dollhouse shingles on the roof. I started out painting the shingles first, but finally just put them all on and then painted afterwards, as it helped to keep the colors coherent.

I used a mixture of browns, payne’s gray, and black on the wood, with a tiny bit of green for highlights.

This is a closeup of some of the texture from wood putty under the paint. This was before I was finished painting.

In case you were wondering, the animals are mostly vintage Auburn Toy Company plastic animals. I used to play with similar ones at my grandparents’ when I was a child. When I made arrangements to get this barn, I glanced at marketplace and found these animals for sale, and was able to snatch them up. I almost cried when I found them, as I haven’t seen any like them since my childhood. I have since found others on Ebay.

I have plans for further projects, including a small milk house/barn hill, beams in the hayloft, and possibly some horse drawn machinery. I think it would be cool to make stalls for the animals and milking stations. Stay tuned!

My One of a kind Antique Church Model Dollhouse

It even has a little wooden church organ!

Lots of damage on this side. Most of the tissue paper windows are gone.

This structure is actually an old model of a long-gone church. It was reportedly made by an early boyscout troupe. The couple I bought it from says that they purchased it online through an auction, and that it was damaged during shipping. They didn’t remember what state they bought it from– possibly Wyoming or Wisconsin. They had made a few repairs, but this is what it is, now.

The stained glass windows are actually made of old tissue paper, that might be original, as it is brittle and discolored, and has remnants of some of the (I think) original paint on it. I also have discovered some tissue paper pasted to the floors in designs. There are small pews made of varnished cardboard, and a ‘priest’ made from a small Kewpie doll :).

I don’t plan to alter this piece. My ideas include placing clear plastic sheets on the floor to preserve the papers (they are flaking off and look very messy). I also would like to make a few clay pigeons to perch around inside and out, to give it an abandoned feel. I may add a tiny paper wasp nest and an owl.

I made a cardboard base that is covered with fake turf, and have been working on a tiny graveyard for the background. I will post pictures when it starts coming together.

How to turn an Antique Dollhouse built from Crates in 1887 into an old Fashioned General Store

Side view. Panels on the side lift up on hinges, and have a wooden dowel that helps hold them up while you play.

As you can see, this window needs some restoration. I eventually used Museum Wax to stick the glass back under the thick paper frame.

My cat’s back is in this shot- don’t be alarmed, it’s just Teracles :).

Old wiring in the attic, that was modified by a recent owner with a more modern plug. Not sure how safe this would be to plug in, so I choose not to.

This is another marketplace find. The couple I bought this house from had found it in an antique shop many years ago. Apparently it was built in 1887, by a doctor, to give to his daughter. I confirmed with members of my antique dollhouse group on Facebook that this is probably authentic, as the glass is thick and imperfect, the wood looks to be from old-growth trees, and it was popular at that time to make houses out of crates. This house also appears to have been modified slightly through the generations, as someone added electricity via antique Christmas lighting.

It came furnished with a variety of Strombecker furniture, plus a pair of Erna Meyer dolls. I have decided to decorate the downstairs as a small general store (1800’s style), with the store keeper and his wife residing in the upper level.

When I was younger we had the opportunity to walk through a General Store that had been closed up, with all goods intact, for many decades. It was a magical moment to step into the past like that, and I would like to try to recreate that feeling (at least to a degree) in this dollhouse. The old store had a post office inside, goods on shelves and hanging from the ceiling, lots of old displays, and all sorts of stuff.

I don’t plan on altering the house itself in any way that can’t be undone. I have decided that any beams that I add for hanging goods will be held in place with museum wax so they can be easily removed.

I moved all of the ‘living’ furniture into the upper floors of the house, and any that didn’t quite fit in were stored in the dollhouse’s attic. Next step will be getting store furnishings, and making goods to sell!

I made this 2 sided store display out of craft sticks and split dowels.

First I made this 2 sided display out of craft sticks. I figured that it would work well in one of the windows as a display. I stained it and loaded the shelves with extra dollhouse items I had lying around.

Next, I found a cool post office display and bought it off ebay.

Post office display, along with packages and letters, on my messy desk (sorry!)

I also acquired a glass display counter and a few more goods for the store. Here is how it currently looks:

Display counter, post office, and window display all installed. There is also a cast iron stove and a grindstone pencil sharpener.

A closer view. The glass display domes were bought at Hobby Lobby and the cool, intricate scale was found on ebay. The cash register is a metal pencil sharpener.

Obviously there is much more work to be done. I would like to make some horse harness and tack to put on display, as well as removable beams across the ceiling to hang goods from, like candles and baskets. At some point, I would also like to figure out how to make antique-looking medicine bottles (I collect them in real life) that can be displayed on shelves or even in the glass display case. One of the fun things about doll houses is that you can always come up with fun ideas for future projects.

My Pepperwood Farm Dollhouse, Inside and out

This is the Pepperwood Farm dollhouse. I was fortunate enough to acquire it from Facebook marketplace in September of 2019. We drove across the state on a 3 hour, one-way drive to get it. These houses were made from plans that were sold in a book. It was built by hand with thick plywood, so it is very heavy!

I believe that this particular house was built in the late 1970’s-early 1980’s. The wallpapers are a bit brittle and faded from age (but I love them). The older couple who had inherited it from their friend decided to pass it on to another who would enjoy it just as much, so I was fortunate to come across it.

There isn’t much that I plan on changing with this house at the moment. The inside has been decorated wonderfully, with trims and papers that I adore, but could use a few finishing touches, along with some light restoration. Mostly I have been having fun with making and collecting furniture for it.

The windows open like real windows, the attic has studs in the storage room, the attic bedroom has a few built-ins. It’s such a quaint little home, and my daughter and I have fun playing in it together.

Here is an image of the space under the hinged roof. On the left is the untidy nursery, and on the right is the untidy attic. Note the studs in the walls, like an unfinished space. I love the details that the maker put into this house.

A closeup of the nursery. Note the built-in cupboards/drawers in the back. These appear to be made of thin wood.

This is the side with the front door and porch opened up. It has the stairwell, the bathroom, the main bedroom, and the parlor. This is during Christmas.

A closeup of the main bedroom, before I got the mattress made for the bed. The trunk was something I made as a teenager and the bedroom set was a vintage victorian bedroom kit from Realife Miniatures.

A closeup of the parlor. The parlor organ was a windup music box that I altered to resemble a Reed Organ, using wood, popsicle sticks, and dowels.

The stairs. The rug is a wide strip of ribbon, with stair rods made of toothpicks capped with beads, held in place with blue sticky putty (until I switch it to museum wax).

The bathroom. I found some glass mosaic tiles that I eventually plan to install. I think I will attach them to matboard and piece it in along the walls and floor so I can just cover up the existing stuff without damaging it. The doll is a Ficen, with a Tom Holland head added.

This view is with the other side opened up. It shows the kitchen, dining room, second bedroom, and upstairs hallway.

The second bedroom. I plan on making this the grandmother’s room. I would like to make a murphy bed to put in here. I did make the rolltop desk as a miniature of my own desk, and the trunk is one I made as a teenager. This is an older photo, as I now have a nicer Heidi Ott sewing machine.

The dining room, with my daughter’s toys in residence.

The kitchen. I made the piesafe out of popsicle sticks. I would like to make a decent hoosier cabinet to put in here, also. There is one that I made (out of view
on the wall opposite the sink) but I wasn’t very happy with it and want to replace it.

The insides of this house are constantly changing and evolving as I find different pieces of furniture or as I decorate for the seasons. Lately I have found myself wondering what new siding would look like, or even bricks? In my area of Michigan, I see a lot of old brick farmhouses, and they are breathtaking! I haven’t seen any photos of a brick pepperwood farm before. Perhaps someday I will try it out, even if it’s just printing some bricks on paper and taping them to the siding to see what it might look like.

Have any questions or comments? Want to see more photos of anything specific? Just leave a comment in the comment section!

How to Easily Make Broken Dollhouse Windows Without Breaking them

For my Beacon Hill project, I decided that, as the house is in disrepair, I wanted to add broken windows. However, as I really don’t enjoy breaking things, I decided to try something to make them LOOK broken.

I started out with a piece of clear plastic from a vegetable container from the store.

I am just showing this piece as an example. Obviously, it is much easier to use a piece that doesn’t have a large sticker on it!

After picking out your piece of clear plastic, cut it so that it can slide into the existing window, over top of the existing plastic or glass. I made mine just a hair larger so that it could be popped into place and hopefully stay put!

Cut to size

After the plastic is cut to the desired size, I used an xacto knife to carve cracks, holes, bullet holes, etc into them. Here are some examples:

Bullet holes. Notice that a lot of bullet-ridden glass has smaller spider-webs around the holes, as the bullet passes through with so much force.

After you have your broken windows prepared, gently insert them over your old windows, popping them into place. I placed my windows on the INSIDE of the house, so that they aren’t bumped as often, as they might fall out if jostled.

You can also keep some of the ‘shards’ left after making your holes, and drop them on the floor of your dollhouse, as broken glass.

You could leave slivers of broken glass around the edges of the pane, so it looks like a giant hole. You could make the whole window spider-webbed. The possibilities are endless!

How to Paint a Beacon Hill Dollhouse so it looks Abandoned or Haunted

So, during lockdown in 2020, I was lucky enough to find a reasonably priced Beacon Hill Victorian mansion for sale on marketplace. I purchased it, made some repairs, and decided to redecorate it as an aged house, fallen into disrepair.

This is my Beacon Hill on the day I purchased it. The porch had become detached and it really needed new paint on the exterior. A few minor pieces were missing but nothing I was concerned about, as I planned to make it a neglected house.

First things first, I needed to reattach the porch, which, luckily, was included with the house. I used wood glue and painstakingly pieced it all back together.

This photo shows the reattached porch, plus the beginning of the first layer of new paint.

Next step was a layer of light gray paint. I used some leftover house paint that I had laying around.

For the next step, I found some dark gray paint, and, using a stiff-bristled brush, I scrubbed this paint into the cracks and crevices to look like weathering and dirt. I scrubbed the brush up and down and side to side, wiping away excess paint, until i had achieved the look I wanted. I continued to do this over the whole exterior of the house.

After the dark gray was looking the way I wanted, the next step was to add a bit of dark green. I wanted it to be very faint, so i brushed it on with my stiff brush and then wiped it off. The trick to this was to make it not uniform. I tried to make it more pronounced in areas that I felt might have more water runoff, for instance, and on areas of the boards that might be more exposed to the sun. In real life I have a white house, and have had to clean my own siding, so I have observed this to an extent.

I still need to paint the base, but I haven’t decided how I want to make the base look, yet. I may go with a cinder block foundation, which would require a different look, so, for now, I chose to leave it.

I plan on changing the shingles to a fishscale look, so I didn’t touch them at this time. It does look fine with the shingles that are on it, but I really wanted the fishscales, and will add them at a later time.

How to Paint a Plastic Dollhouse to look Haunted

Plastic Victorian dollhouse from Goodwill.

For my first dollhouse project, I found this plastic dollhouse at the local Goodwill store. I like the Victorian style and thought it might make a nice haunted mansion for Halloween.

First off, I peeled off all of the stickers. Then I chose a paint that would work for a good base coat. I chose Rust-Oleum’s 2x ultra matte, in a dark gray. Their 2x paints are formatted to bond to plastics, as well as many other materials. I followed the instructions on the can.

Rust-Oleum’s 2x paints will bond with plastic and many other materials. I chose a nice dark gray.

I put on a good base coat.

First coat in progress. The matte paint will lose its gloss as it dries.

Next, after the paint has dried overnight, I dug into my acrylics. I chose a mixture of Cerulean blue and Mars Black for the shingles. I eventually switched to Payne’s Gray instead of the black. I used the black (or payne’s gray, which is a very dark gray) in a more watery mixture to paint in the cracks of the shingles. Then I used the cerulean blue on a drier brush to brush over the raised portions, in a way that left the dark areas in the cracks undisturbed. This layering made the shingles stand out more.

A mixture of Cerulean Blue and Payne’s Gray (and some black) was brushed on the shingles to bring out more of the texture.

Next, I took a mixture of Deep Magenta and Payne’s gray to work on the siding.

Deep Magenta and Payne’s Gray were used for the siding.

I brushed them on much like I did with the shingles, using a more watery brush for the payne’s gray on the siding first, to fill in the cracks, then going over it again with the magenta, using a drier brush so it wouldn’t reach into the cracks.

The siding is very dark, with hints of magenta, to give it a weathered appearance.

I added a little dark green to the bushes and a few of the shingles, to make it appear mossy. I also added a little cerulean blue to the flowers on the side of the house. Any colors you want will do, but to keep the appearance haunted-ish, I would recommend keeping the colors muted with dark gray or black.

I’m rather pleased with the results thus far. I will probably get some sort of clear coat to spray over the paint when I am finished with it, to protect against scratches. I will post more on this project as I go! Enjoy!

How to Make a Stuffed Animal Zoo

If your child enjoys stuffed animal toys as much as mine does, you may be in need of a storage solution. I love her stuffies as much as she does, but OMG it can be so overwhelming to get them out of the way!

After a long search on Pinterest, I got the idea to make a bin that is much like the ones they use in stores to keep beach balls in. It consists of a framework of wood, or in my case PVC pipe, with bungee ropes strung through it to keep the animals in. You could also use this for balls, toys, or whatever you want, really.

After some quick calculations, and seeing the sheer mountain of her animals, I decided to make my bin 6feet high, 2 feet deep, and 30 inches wide. This may seem a bit much, but, believe me, she has a lot of animals!

This is a list of what I used:

1-inch PVC pipe, 5 ten-foot sections +1 five-foot section
4-way-1-inch tee PVC fittings, 4 pieces
3-way-1 inch PVC fitting elbows, 8 pieces
PVC primer and glue
Utility knife
55 feet of bungee cord
Drill with a 5/16 inch bit
Rust-Oleum 2x spray paint, your choice of color
Hack saw
Tape measure and a marker
Needlenose pliers, if available, although probably any pliers would do

To start, I bought 1-inch pvc pipes from the local home improvement store. I needed to buy 5 10-foot lengths, plus an extra 5-foot piece. Then, using a hacksaw, I cut the pieces into 8 lengths that are 3 feet long, 6 lengths that are 24 inches long, and 6 lengths that are 30 inches long.

I needed 4 of these doo-hickeys, that I ordered off Amazon. They were called 4 way 1-inch tee PVC fittings. These pieces are for the midsection supports.

I needed 8 of these things. They are for the top and bottom corners. They are called 3 way 1-inch pvc fitting elbows.

I used PVC glue and Primer to connect the pieces. This is easily obtained in the plumbing section of a home improvement store.

For this piece, I will need a total of 8 pieces of pipe that are 3 feet in length (for the vertical supports of the frame), 6 pieces of pipe that are 30 inches long (for the longer sides), and 6 pieces of pipe that are 24 inches long (for the shorter sides). I measured with a ruler, marked it with a sharpie, and then cut with a hacksaw.

After cutting the pieces, it was time to assemble them. I started with all of the 3 foot long sections. These are the vertical supports of the structure.

For each 3 foot length of pipe, use the PVC primer and glue to fasten a 3-way elbow to ONE END of the pipe. You should end up with 8 lengths of 3 feet pipe with a 3 way elbow on each end. BE VERY CAREFUL TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT PIECES BEFORE YOU GLUE! To be certain, I fitted each of the pieces together and formed the whole structure before I glued anything, just to be sure I had the right lengths and quantities, etc.

Next, attach the 4-way elbows to the opposite end of the pipe, so that there is a 3-way elbow on one end, and a 4-way on the other. Be careful to have the ends line up angle-wise, to that when the pipe is laid down, the elbows sit like legs and don’t rock. This was the best way I could think of to keep the angles straight. If each end goes off on a different angle then your whole piece will be out of sync. That glue dries fast, so you must be very careful to get the angles correct while placing.

Next, attach the 2nd length of 3-feet pipe into the 4-way elbow. Do this to all 4 corner pieces. Then add the 3-way elbow on the end. You should end up with 4 sections that look like this, with the 3-way elbow on each end and a 4-way in the middle.

Now, use the 2-foot sections to connect two of the long sections together. Repeat with the other two long sections, so that you end up with these two big sides.

Glue the remaining poles (they should all be 30-inch) into the vacant holes on one of the sides.

Connect the two sides together. Note the bottom pole on the left is missing-I miscalculated and had to run back to the store for another short section of pipe.

Next, I drilled holes using a 5/16 bit, using a ruler to space them evenly across the pipe-3 holes per side. I drilled the holes all the way through both sides of the pipe, so that bungee can pass all the way through the pipe unobstructed. I ended up using the tip of a utility knife to carefully score each mark to help the drill stay in place as it was starting out.

The drill bit left some rough edges around and inside of the holes, so I carefully trimmed it away, to make it easier to pass a bungee through the hole, and also to keep it from scratching little fingers.

Holes need to be drilled through the top, bottom, and middle. You won’t need them on the vertical sections, as the bungee won’t be passing through them. They need to all be in approximately the same areas, otherwise the bungee will be zigzagged. Be sure to measure! The pallet underneath helped support the structure while i drilled the holes between the boards.

When all of the holes are drilled, and everything is glued and secure, it is time to paint! I find that this 2x spray paint from Rust-Oleum works decent on plastic.

I ended up using about 2 cans of spray paint to get this covered well. My spray painting isn’t the greatest, as it’s still a new medium for me, but I am still pleased with it.

Next, for the bungee! I singed the end of it with a lighter, and squished it with my fingers so it would fit through the holes better. This particular bungee was purchased through Amazon. The home improvement store also had some that was black.

Beginning at one end of the structure, push the cord through each hole and pull it through. Needlenose pliers helped a bit to pull it through the other end when it was being stubborn. Keep working, pulling it through each hole working from bottom to top.

When you get to the other end, tie a knot. Go back to the end you started on, pull the bungee tight and cut it off, making sure to leave enough rope to tie a knot. Keep tight hold as you cut it, or it might bounce out of the hole. If it does, just pull it back through and tie it off.

Completed! This thing is now ready to move into the house!

How to Transform an old Dollhouse to resemble a First Period Colonial Style House

I found this dollhouse on Marketplace for $20, and I just love the simple design! It reminds me so much of a 1700’s colonial, that I am going to decorate it for that era, as well as I can.

When I found this dollhouse on Markeplace for $20, I just had to have it! It reminds me of a 1700’s colonial (first period home), with its simple design and nice wood siding.

Wouldn’t this be awesome with a walk-in fireplace?

The inside needs some definite updating.

The first thing I did when I brought this huge, heavy dollhouse home was to scrape off the old shingles. They appear to have been made out of sandpaper, which seemed to have worked well enough, but they were in such poor, water-damaged shape that I felt I needed to wash my hands thoroughly after handling it.

This handy tool holds a razor blade that I can use for scraping paint and whatever.

Next, I used a handy-dandy paint scraper, and went to work scraping off some of the peeling paint from the floors, walls, and ceiling.

While scraping the paint off. I focused more on removing any peeling paint, as I plan to put a thin coat of plaster on the walls, with some thin wood supports in walls and ceiling, to give it a more primitive effect.

So far, I plan to apply a thin coat of plaster to give the walls a more uneven white texture, with thin pieces of wood applied to walls and ceilings to suggest supports that I can hang things like dried herbs and baskets from. Because of this, I was only interested in removing flaking paint (which there was a lot of).

Using methods similar to those used in the farmhouse, I applied jumbo craft sticks to mimic real wood floors. I cut the rounded tips off the sticks with poultry shears and then applied them with glue, weighting them down in places that wouldn’t quite stay put. I used an xacto knife to trim around doorways and walls.

Next, I decided to work on the upstairs floors. I want to go with a pine board effect, similar to my farmhouse, but I would like the floors to look more weathered and stained. I plan to score the wood lightly with an xacto knife, to add wood grain, and then lightly stain them before varnishing.

Update:

This is the updated roof! After removing the paper shingles that were in poor shape, I made slate-like shingles (described in another post) out of vinyl floor tiles.

Next, I painted the walls white, using a thick paint so it looked like a thin coat of plaster. I took wood from an old flowerbed border fence, so it would have some nice weathering to it, and used that to make some wooden support beams for the lower floor. I carefully opened up the area under the stairs, so I can use it as a storage closet (I will eventually make a door for it).

A current photo of the lower floor. I have been experimenting with different flooring in the main room, and at the moment have settled on a combination of small ceramic tiles and leftover pieces of linoleum. I have tiny candle bundles hanging from the wooden beams, as well as baskets and a lantern. The fireplace is a ceramic walk-in style that I found on ebay.