Harrison Dollhouse Renovation PART1

PART 1

Mom bought me the Greenleaf  “Harrison” kit back in the late 70's early 80’s... I was probably about 9 years old?  She and I tackled it together with a huge hot glue gun.  Back then the instructions suggested using hot glue to assemble it... today that’s big no-no, because 20 or so years later the dollhouses are falling apart!

We stenciled the walls with craft paint and bought furniture from the Sears catalog.  Construction stopped once the walls were up because my parents began building our life sized custom home.  I happily played with it unfinished for years... and when I got older it moved out with me along with the original box containing the remaining pieces.

At one point in my early 20’s I convinced a boyfriend to help me wire it for lights and I did update the interior a little.  10 years later I took another swing at it, deciding that I should empty the box of parts and stop carrying THAT around.  I wallpapered (again), put in aftermarket windows, shingled it and stuccoed the exterior.  The Internet was really rolling by then so I shopped eBay for furniture. 

Fast forward to a couple months ago when I looked at this giant house covered in dust sitting in my closet for the past 14 years and decided I didn't want to work in 1:12 scale anymore.  My last couple miniature projects were completed  in 1:24 (half scale).  I remember going to a miniature show years ago and several people told me that I would eventually rather collect 1/2” scale because 1” scale is quite large to store.

So I dusted off rooms of furniture and started selling it all online... until I got to a couple special pieces.  A very nice kitchen table and chairs and matching pie cabinet I bought from the local miniature store when I was really young.  A Glenowen cabinet that I know isn’t available anymore.  A contemporary Tudor style formal dining room set.  My intentions to completely downsize dissipated as fast as a New Years resolution.

HERE WE GO AGAIN...

One day spent sick in bed and I had dreamed up an updated exterior and amazing new kitchen in my Etsy and eBay carts.   My son helped me move the massive house out of the closet and onto the studio floor. The old hot glue on the foundation supports gave up during this move.  The exterior improvements added during the last update did help strengthen the structure integrity but it looks rather dated.  Since my kitchen cabinets are on the slow boat from China I have a good several weeks to get the exterior done before jumping into the inside. 

My plan is to replace the snapped off thin luan foundation pieces with thick MDF strips that I will WOOD GLUE on.  It is still missing several windows and some shingles where the chimney should go.  And update, renovate, refresh, rejuvenate the old look.

LET THE MODERNIZATION BEGIN! 

PINTEREST... nuff’ said, right?  Today’s paint colors, fresh new color schemes, unique detail materials and applications; I’ve got a whole board dedicated to plagiarizing design ideas for my dollhouse.  Of course, instead of prioritizing the shoring up the lopsided broken base I’ve jumped into decorating. 

I LOVE HERRINGBONE.  I would smother every surface with the pattern in a different material if not stopped.  So when I found a real house with herringbone brick inside the traditional Tudor trim I was hooked.  I’ve been collecting large sheets of half scale herringbone brick that miniatures.com has been discounting because the packaging is mismarked.  I rubbed white paint into the “grout” and left a light coating over the dark red/brown brick and been cutting it to fit into the exterior trim.

Getting the paint colors right has been  a ridiculous game of trial and error.  I pride myself on efficiently finding the correct colors for whatever job, after all, I did faux finish and murals for years. I have repainted this trim piece 5 times so far.  Green, white, grey, darker grey, another green....???? For some reason I am driven to use some sort of green so I’ve been going through my collection of shades stored in the garage.  I did go and have some test pots of greys mixed that coordinated with the “brick”.  Today the last coat (for now?) of light green went on.  I realized the unfinished bright gold/brown shingles were throwing me off.  I started to dry brush the dark grey over them and then “age” them with the light grey.  Hoping tomorrow I will look at and  have that EUREKA moment.

The house is currently missing the side windows in all the bays.  Diamond mullioned windows are in transit as I type.  So is golfers lead tape.  What the heck is that, right?  As USPS is trucking my mini purchases across the country I stumbled over two DIY articles about making your diamond pane windows look real with golfers lead tape and clear thick gloss glaze.  I’m so trying it!  Another internet cart of supplies went through check out today!  All the windows in the tower I made diamond mullions back in the day... they are ok, but since I’m taking this to the next level my old work is coming off!  Will update on my next update!