Construction Begins!

The dry fit phase has begun!  Over the last two weeks, I've been cutting and assembling my MDF walls and cardboard window templates.  This has been a two-part process with an initial dry-fit to get the overall structural support design finalized and the second to add additional revisions and interior wall openings.



The first dry-fit assembly was important to figure out how the structure would be supported.  Before:

After:

To better manage the distribution of weight I decided to cut my dollhouse fronts into layers.  I wanted parts of the side walls to open, so now the floors rest on the front walls and not just the sides.

After cutting the floor and ceilings for the first two floors, I began to build up.

Now the dollhouse sits into two parts with a left and right wing, essentially making it like building two dollhouses at once.

With the house assembled it was easy to visualize the rooms and the needed supports.  The cardboard mockup didn't have the right depth, but now I could really see where the doors and windows should go.  Back to the design table I went.

After cutting the new interior walls and changes, I re-assembled the dollhouse again with the new additions.

I picked an archway design for the doorways on my lower level.  I like the way these mimic the exterior curves on the house, and they offer more support than an open gap.

 I also cut the kitchen side window wall out and made the front window over the sink to be larger.

The second floor still needs a lot of its walls cut.

This week I am going to work on the second-floor layout and walls, as well as tinker with the window designs.  I like the thinner frames on the smaller windows and need to fix the rest to match.

So close to getting to the fun stuff... I can't wait to get this dollhouse glued together!  Hope you are all having a great weekend!