jditter Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Hi All: Just bought the Lily today. I opened the box and read the instructions, once through. Any suggestions as to where I should start? I read that I should do the windows last. Any help would be great. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peggi Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Welcome jditter to the forum. I've just about completed the Lily (my first house and so far my only one) and you are welcome to look at my pics here in the gallery or for more detail constructon photos look in my webshots album listed below my name. Definitely do your windows later, as you will see in my pictures, I did them first and by the time I had stained and restained and wiped paint off I really dulled the finish, so my house's story is that it is old and in need of repair (also covers any oops I made with the siding etc) Take your time, read the instructions several times, if you live in a humid area don't use hot glue and enjoy. Look forward to many hours of sanding. Feel free to email me with any questions and I will try to answer, there are a couple of others on the site building the Lily, Lyn and Deb and I'm sure they will be glad to help also. What colors are you going to use? Are you changing the plans any? The only change I made was to move the kitchen and dining room to the second floor which also moved the bedroom to the attic. Enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 if you live in a humid area don't use hot glue Actually in any climate you're probably better off NOT using hot glue. If you stint on masking tape you might use wee bits of hot glue to hold your structure whilst the carpenter's wood glue cures, but I've found lots of masking tape works really well. I also use a Stanley stapler to help hold the carcase together. Welcome to the forum ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Hi jditter! Congratulations on getting a Lily! It's a sweet house even it if is *really* opinionated about what it wants to be when it grows up. ;) I'm one of those builders who does the painting and wallpapering before I assemble the shell so that's where I started with mine.....did a dry fit to mark off the lines for the wallpaper and any shaving needed on tabs and slots, and then sanded, painted the exterior, put in the wallpaper, scored and sanded the floors, built and stained the stairs, and put on the ceiling paper. I painted and/or stained all the window frames and doors, then installed them on the walls before it's put together. I just have a personal preference for the smooth finish of putting on the wallpaper under the window frames (and I'm not coordinated enough to get a smooth finish on the walls if I have to reach into small spaces to do it) The Lily has so much dimension in it's design that for me, it would be hard to get into places like the foyer to add the details after it's assembled. I installed french doors on the second floor and am bashing the porch roof into a balcony, but otherwise, it's a straight build from the original design floorplan with a few modifications to the exterior. I'll start assembling the shell this weekend and then post some pictures of the construction in my webshots as it goes together. Up till now it's just been pretty colored pieces of wood so I haven't put up any pictures yet. ;) Peggi has some wonderful pics of the construction in her webshots that have been tremendously helpful for me. One thing I'd recommend is to carefully do a dry fit first so you can see which tabs and slots you might have to shave to get a good fit. (It'll also give you a perspective on the center partition and the smaller inner partitions which is helpful considering the unique footprint of the interior walls of the Lily) Some of the inner partitions are really snug and go together much easier if you take a little off the tabs or enlarge the slots just a bit. I've done that with all my houses, but the Lily especially seems to need it. I think the bottom tabs on the inner partitions are going to have to go completely but I'll use baseboards to secure the walls to the floor anyway. Hope that helps a little bit with getting started. We're all here to help as you go along! Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyn Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Welcome jditter! I too am currenty building the Lily also it is my very first house. I can only add one more tip to the ones already given be very careful getting the 2 floor in I gave mine a BIG shove and it broke the centerpartion in half so I have been working on putting that back together. You can see pictures of my Lily so far in the gallery.I did the wallpapering as I went along. I only have the first floor done in my house and waiting to get going on the 2 floor.Good Luck. Lyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 the bottom tabs on the inner partitions are going to have to go completely but I'll use baseboards to secure the walls to the floor anyway. I put a divider foamcore wall in the first Sugarplum I built & installed it that way ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peggi Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Deb and Lyn are right about the center partition, be very careful. I should have mentioned this but it has been a year since I did that part and other challenges (that darn mansard roof) overshadowed that particular concern. Deb--I've been waiting on pics so glad you will posting soon can't wait to see how you do the balcony. wish I had thought of that. I wired the lily, but I did that and the wallpaper before the room partitions went in so I had room to work. They are right about the foyer, once the room partitions are in you don't have any room to work. I'm still trying to figure out how to hang curtains in their--big hands get in the way. LOL Peggi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grammapux Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 I've put a lot of the memories of building the Lily behind me. Not that they were all bad at all but there were moments! lol I have a running commentary of the process in my Picturetrail album below and how I did the stairs to the third floor. I bashed a little but not enough to throw you off. Here's pix. http://homepux.freeservers.com/index.html and http://www.picturetrail.com/grammapux . I think they're pretty much the same but not sure. I had pix of how I bent the third story walls but can't find them. I wrapped them around round gallon paint cans, fastened with rubberbands and string, and sprayed them with water over and over til they held the curve when dry. Feel free to ask any questions. The Lily is my favorite house by far. Loved her the first time I laid eyes on her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyn Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 You did a wonderful job on the Lily grammapux. Lyn ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grammapux Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Thanks, Lyn! It was a love/hate relationship there for a while but love won out. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peggi Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 It was a love/hate relationship there for a while but love won out. lol Grammapux I know what you mean, when I got to the mansard roof I literally had to walk away for about a month to 6 weeks to keep from taking a hammer to the whole thing. LOL By the way I love your Lily I wish I had found your pixs while I was working on mine may have saved the use of "magic words". I love that you turned the 2nd floor stairs around, but I stayed with the kit pretty much cause it was my first house and I was scard to deviate to much. I did change the second floor room so there is no hall way. For those of you just starting, just hang in there it will come together, sometimes you may just have to take a break from it in order to meet the challenge LOL I will be glad to try and answer any questions as you go along or see if I have pics that will help. Peggi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Deb--I've been waiting on pics so glad you will posting soon can't wait to see how you do the balcony. LOL! Up till today, there wasn't a whole lot to show except the individual pieces being worked on. But the walls are up now so I added the pics to date in my webshots folder. I'm starting on the foundation for the porch next because I'm so eager to build the balcony. I'm tellin' ya, that house has a mind of it's own! When I decided to put in the french doors, I measured and found that for the doors to be floor level on the interior, they would be about 1.5 inches below the back edge of the porch roof........but to make the porch roof level, the back edge needed to be lowered by about 1.5 inches. That just worked out waaaaaaaaaaay too well to be a coincidence. I think the Lily just wanted to be designed that way. To bash the porch into a balcony, I should be able to make some modifications to the supports under the roof and still use the railing for the front. If not, I'll just make my own railing and trim. I made my own porch for the librarian's cottage and it was a lot of fun to do, so I'll be happy either way the Lily wants to go. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 I've put a lot of the memories of building the Lily behind me. Not that they were all bad at all but there were moments! lol The Lily is my favorite house by far. Loved her the first time I laid eyes on her. Your Lily is just lovely. Your detailing of the woodwork on the windows and door frames is elegant and so perfect for the era. It adds such a depth to the house. I love what you did with the staircases too. Very, very nice! I agree with you that the Lily is a special house. I'm building this one as a bday gift for my best friend and she picked it out as the house she wanted. I'm really glad she did because I've loved every minute of building it. (so far anyway......ask me again when I get to the roof ) Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grammapux Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 I'm tellin' ya, that house has a mind of it's own! When I decided to put in the french doors, I measured and found that for the doors to be floor level on the interior, they would be about 1.5 inches below the back edge of the porch roof........but to make the porch roof level, the back edge needed to be lowered by about 1.5 inches. That just worked out waaaaaaaaaaay too well to be a coincidence. I think the Lily just wanted to be designed that way. Deb <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Those French doors REALLY set it off!! Good thinking!! I've found that most dollhouses like to have a say in how they turn out. Just listen to them. Sometimes you have to come to an agreement tho, as they can have some pretty grandiose ideas. lol I havne't done any major bashing on any but just like us, they don't all totally like the shape they're in. And there have been times my words and glare while miniing have scared my DH and dog quite severely but they know everything will be ok gain shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Those French doors REALLY set it off!! Good thinking!! I've found that most dollhouses like to have a say in how they turn out. Just listen to them. Sometimes you have to come to an agreement tho, as they can have some pretty grandiose ideas. lol <chuckling> Luckily, I haven't had to argue with the Lily at all since we've been in agreement on pretty much everything so far. She's going to be a French Quarter house and as long as I don't oppose that look, she's very cooperative. I'm going to keep reminding her about the widows walk railing for the roof line when I start on the mansard pieces. Hopefully that'll keep her motivated to continuing graciousness. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jditter Posted January 31, 2006 Author Share Posted January 31, 2006 Hi All: You have given me so many ideas and inspiration for my Lily. I have the floors together and the center partition in. Luckly, you told me to be extra careful I saw some of the pictures some of you had posted. Your Lily's look fantastic. I can't wait to see how mine turns out. I am in the process of making the templates for my wallpaper. I am going to electrify before I put up the paper and stuff. Are there spots I should pay closer attention to when I am making my templates? Are there spots that will be extra hard to get to later? Thanks Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 I am going to electrify before I put up the paper and stuff. Are there spots I should pay closer attention to when I am making my templates? Are there spots that will be extra hard to get to later? Hang on a minute while I go stick my head into the Lily. <pause> I'm back. Definitely the foyer is a place you want to do as much as possible before putting the walls up. Peggi's suggestion to wire and paper before putting in the smaller partitions is a really good one. If it's at all possible with your wiring plan, put in the wallpaper behind both staircases before you put the staircases in. They're a very tight fit against the walls (as well as between the floor and ceiling) and papering around them would be a real trick. I'm not wiring this one, but Peggi wired her Lily so she's definitely the expert on how to get the wallpaper up after it's assembled. What colors have you decide on? Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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