The "Where do I start?" anxiety sets in.....

So, I finished the hand quilting that needed to be finished before I started the dollhouse. It's like an "I can't wait" moment lasting a couple of weeks. Finally I finish and it's like a "OMG where do I start moment"!  Lots of pieces in a dollhouse...

• I unpacked them all and counted and labeled all the pieces. 
• I dry fitted the walls and floors together to get an idea of what I would be dealing with when I begin assembly in earnest. 
• Then I painted and sanded and painted and sanded each piece with Cabot's Fast Drying Sanding Sealer.  What a mess! But, each piece of wood became sealed, hardened, slick and supposedly protected from warping.  I'm glad I took the time to do this because it's more forgiving if you make a mistake on your walls and need to remove wallpaper,etc.  Be careful not to seal the edges that are to be glued....



 

In the meantime, Cliff and I decide it's time to check out a dollhouse shop. There are basically 2 in Houston and none in my area south of town. I prefer Dollhouses Unlimited in Spring because she has a ton of stuff and she's wonderful to work with. She's great about shipping stuff as well. Anyway, we could not believe the stuff available for the house.  We managed to leave there with a Parlor set, a stove, bedroom set, a cat, a bathroom set, etc. Some many things, so little time.....

Why???

So, you might be wondering....why is a 57 yo building a dollhouse for herself? Actually, it's Cliff's fault. You'll find that when I am rationalizing, which I constantly do, that more often than not, it's Cliff's fault.  Not that "being at fault" is always a bad thing.  So, my husband and I are conversing about 2 months ago. "How would you like a dollhouse for Christmas?", says he. To which I reply, "What?". I mean, where did that come from?   "Well, I know you had one when I met you and you don't have one now and I need to get you something for Christmas...."  Well, I'm just shocked he thought about that. "No, it just takes too much time and space. I appreciate it, but I have too much on my plate now."  At the time, I was trying to finish a king size pre-Civil War quilt that I had foolishly started quilting by hand. Arghhh!  It's true...I did have a dollhouse 23 years ago. I think it must have been half scale, but I can't remember that much about it. I know it was a farmhouse that I painted yellow with white trim and installed working windows in.  Not a very expensive one, but I enjoyed making things to go in it. I lost it in the divorce. Yep, my ex asked for and was granted possession of my dollhouse. That's one of many reasons we're not married anymore - because that's the way he rolls. Anywhoooo...Now Cliff had me thinking of dollhouses. Googling dollhouses. Dreaming of dollhouses.  Obsession --- because that's the way I roll.  Yes, I did finish the handquilting first, it's on my bed now. I also bought a $29 kit for a 4 room "Orchid" house to experiment with.  This is my version of "Orchid".

The Katherine Dollhouse Project

The best place to start is usually at the beginning, but I'm already past that. I'm deep into my new project the Katherine Dollhouse. It's a kit from a small company "The House That Jack Built" that sold out to a corporation who is starting to make them from MDF board.  I was lucky enough to find an original one on eBay that was still in the boxes. They wanted $595 with free shipping and, on an impulse, I hesitantly "made an offer" of $300.  From my research, I knew it should typically go for around a $1000 unassembled, but I couldn't find one to buy and besides, $1000, really? Not that the craftsmanship is not worth it, but $1000 is a lot of money to me.
I was hesitant to buy it because it wasn't my first choice in style. But I had a "want list" growing in my mind.
My house should have -

• 1:12 inch scale
• doors on the front
• all wood construction
• a footprint of less that 2 feet x 3 feet
• be basic enough to allow for my artistic expression

Katherine is a 1:12 inch scale front closing dollhouse that allows me to close it up like a cabinet (keeps Pixie Bob cats out - more about that later) and also allows me to open it and see all the rooms without having to spin the house around or place it in the middle of a room. Perfect!
Katherine has 9mm (≈ 3/8") birch faced cabinet grade plywood that makes it sturdy, with enough face on the edges to glue things together securely. Also, it will be the correct size for the miniature doors and windows I need. Perfect!
Katherine's measurements are 37"wide, 20"inches deep (with the porch added), and 31" high. Perfect!
Katherine came with "not installed" non-opening windows, unassembled 1st floor stairs, and a front door that I could easily change/replace. They already cut the hole for the stairs, but the interior walls can be placed wherever I want them (except the one by the stairs). The exterior "siding" is milled into the wood already. So...close to perfect....

Anyway, I was hesitant about making an offer, but we had to go run errands so I ran it by Cliff, quickly clicked it and ran off to do our errands. Why would I consult my husband? You should know that Cliff is responsible for this whole dollhouse era I'm in right now. But, more about that later....  By the time I returned home, I truly believed that I MUST have this house! In my typical obsessive fashion, I went from "I'll just make this offer and if they accept, whatever" to "this is the only house in the world for me and I should have offered more!"  Well......drum roll........they accepted the offer. YAY!  So, though I felt guilty for spending ANY money on a dollhouse, I have just managed to save $1750! Ohhhhhh..... I didn't tell you I was looking at a Sid Cooke dollhouse in England for $2100?  Oh yeah, I can easily become obsessed...it is an illness...:-). The worse part is...Cliff would let me buy it, thereby feeding into my obsessiveness and allowing me to run amouk! I just really did not want  a second mortgage or the buyer's remorse that comes with it, if you know what I mean. So, in short, I'm pretty happy with the $300 scenario and excited about the house....

Advertisment Picture for the Katherine House

Nope, that's not me in the picture! HA!