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Can I cut my dollhouse in half? (It's huge!)


ooo

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Can I cut (saw) my dollhouse in half?

It's huge.

It's from when I was a kid, but it's hard to move around. It's probably about 2 feet wide, and I want to make it more narrow-- more like a bookshelf dollhouse. I have zero experience in carpentry, but it seems like it could take the sawing if I nail the parts I'm about to saw.

It's a sturdy dollhouse-- I'm pretty sure I could sit on it now.

I want to cut the "extra" part of the rooms off. The side windows are far enough "in" that they would remain on the sides of the house. The front of the house and patio would still be there-- I would just cut it in half to make narrower rooms (or, a "skinnier" house that's about as wide as a bookshelf, instead of huge). So, same size if you're looking at the dollhouse straight on as the full front of the house is still there, just "skinnier."

But, city living and large dollhouses don't mix. It's too wide and can't fit in a car, and takes up a lot of floor space.

It's unfinished and unfurnished. Well, I once painted it with left-over white house paint, but that's all. I had all of the supplies as a kid, but never got around to finishing/starting the dollhouse-- back then I wanted to wait until I was older so I could design and furnish it "properly."

Could I cut it in half width-wise, leaving the front of the dollhouse, so the thing isn't so huge?

post-15442-0-61278900-1340366527_thumb.j

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I tried to attach a photo to this post. It looks like it went through.

The dollhouse is almost as wide on the sides as it is wide across the front of the house.

It's heavy. I think the bottom of it might be heavy enough to support a "skinnier" width of a dollhouse if I were to saw or have it sawed it half.

I'm hoping to cut this in half and make it a more manageable size for the long-term, then decorate and start working on the house interior.

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This dollhouse is from my childhood, and I'm wanting to keep it out of sentiment and for potential kids down the road.

That is a nice idea of donating it, though. If it wasn't for the sentiment of it, I would. It's my "big" keepsake from my childhood, as the rest I gave away years ago. I suppose I could finish it as is and donate to a library or something public where I could take potential offspring to read, play with it, or that sort of thing. But, if I can find a way to resize it, I would prefer to.

I'm pretty sentimental, so I'm hoping to convert this to something more "city apartment / move often friendly." I guess I'm looking at house reconstruction. :)

I'm more interested in the sentiment of my old dollhouse than doing miniatures as a long term hobby. I don't think I have the patience for it, but hope to make at least this one house decent looking and heirloom quality-- in a more compact size.

I like the size of that McKinley wall hanging dollhouse. I'm hoping to cut my down to that size, and/or make it about 9 inches wide like that as a small bookcase dollhouse. I should go measure what I have... I think it's 25 inches wide on the sides. 12 inches wide is what I'm hoping to cut it down to.

Why not just donate it to a children's charity and build yourself a wall-hanging McKinley?

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Hmmm, interesting idea. Not sure how that would work and I understand wanting it to be thinner and take up less space, but I would be afraid of ruining it if it is so special to you. I would also like to see a picture of the other side of it, too: that tower seems like it would complicate things.

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Having trouble picturing what you want to saw off? What are the total dimensions? Can you post a picture of the back side to show how it's divided? What rooms would you be giving up? I would think it might be hard to find furnishings to fit if rooms were all made smaller. How far back from the upper gable are you planning to saw?

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I think it might be possible but would have to see a side view and a back view to really tell. I'm not sure what the best method would be but whatever you decide on you'll have to go slow so as not to ruin it. I like the idea, this way you get to keep it and it works for you.

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Maybe you should take some graph paper and plot out what it would actually look like dimensionally afterwards just in case the final product isn't what you envisioned.

Do you have any kind of computer program that you could draw it out on? That way you could design the new front/back of the two sections before you actually cut it.

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Thanks. I do hope this will work.

This isn't massive I guess, but just awkwardly large. It's too large to fit in a guest closet, too large to easily move from room to room,

and won't fit in an average car. I have the space at the moment, but most places around here have much smaller closets than mine now.

I want to keep it, but it gets in the way being so wide.

I am attaching photos.

Dimensions:

Front width: 25.5 inches

Top of roof to bottom of house: 33.5 inches

Width/side of house currently: 20 inches

I want to cut off 8 inches from the side width of it, cutting off the side windows.

I would be cutting about where the chimney is, so the chimney would stay.

The front with the porch and bay (?) windows would remain intact. Just thinning the side width...

post-15442-0-36620000-1340428043_thumb.j

post-15442-0-52903400-1340428067_thumb.j

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Rooms:

There are 3 floors: 2 rooms on the bottom 2 floors, then a larger attic floor.

All rooms would remain, but be 8 inches narrower. Currently the rooms are 20 inches wide, so I would cut them down to 12 inches.

I would be cutting off 8 inches from the side of the house, and loose: staircase holes in the floor, doors going from room to room within the house, and the side windows of the house.

I'm actually missing a window glass anyway, so I don't mind losing the side windows.

There are 2 room dividers on the bottom 2 floors that I can probably remove if needed. Those were just inserts-- just stuck on with paint.

I'm not sure how to add more images directly embedded here since I used my image quota.

The back of the house showing the rooms and the front of the house is below:

http://imageshack.us...lhouseback.jpg/ -- This photo shows the back of the dollhouse with the rooms.

http://imageshack.us...dollhousek.jpg/ -- This photo shows the front of the house.

Edited by ooo
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I'm sure 8 inches doesn't seem like much, but it would make the difference between being able to put this doll house in a guest closet vs. it taking up a side of a room.

And, it could fit in a standard car, be easier to move around the house, or make it something we could put in the hallway to work on.

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post-2296-0-39745200-1340449749_thumb.jp I say GO For IT. I had hubby cut my Marquam Hill Mansion, as I only wanted to keep the 3rd floor level. The thing was a MONSTER and I didn't have room for it anymore. I have been working on it sporadically with the intention of having it outside permanently (more or less..not too sure about winter yet) I have several more coats of polyurethane to go, a few more windows to add 'glass' to, the chimney to finish, a few odds and ends, etc., but it survived the small buzz-saw just fine. And we didn't try to bolster it up prior to cutting either..just went for it. It was either going to splinter into a million pieces, or not....luckily, we got "OR NOT". LOL

p.s. It won't be residing permanently on the storage bin in photo either...lol. I have a MUCH nicer place picked out for it. It just sits here so I can move it easily to work on.

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I see no reason why you cannot reduce the depth of the house from 20 to 12 inches.

If you can remove the interior partitions prior to cutting, do so. Refit them after cutting. If you cut 8" off the inside edge of the partition walls, you can save the door openings.

Save the back base facing strip to put on the "new" imaginary back wall.

My only advice is: measure twice, cut once.

Go for it!

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Go for it!

I like Kathy's advice - measure twice and cut once. I measure three times and still have to cut 4 times!

Just take your time. Maybe draw a line on the floors on the inside to lay potential furniture layout to try to get a better visual of what you have

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why not leave as is and put on TV stand or table with wheels. why a closet? My main dh was too small so it made larger. wishing I had made deeper :-)

Find it a home/space to live on a table so you can paint and furnish.

good luck..

lc

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I just hate to see any dollhouse cut down, I would rather see it go to a good home and make a smaller one. Some day when you move to a larger house and you will have the room you can't put it back together the way it is now.

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ooo -- Don't listen to these naysayers. I understand about space constraints. What you want to do can be done. Do what you want to do. It's your house! :thumb:

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ooo -- Don't listen to these naysayers. I understand about space constraints. What you want to do can be done. Do what you want to do. It's your house! :thumb:

You said what I thought! I remember when I had my apartment - I had no space as it was, let alone to add a dollhouse. I appreciate that I now have a whole room to do with as I please. To hold onto part of something from your childhood is better than lettting it go all together. Its a dollhouse - and its yours! Cut away!! And be sure to post pics as you go

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Thanks. I think I'll go for it.

Chancing having a smaller childhood item that can maybe become an heirloom is worth it to me.

Any idea on what type of saw to use... hand saw? jig saw?

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My hubby used a reciprocating saw. Home Depot has some for around $80 if you don't have or know someone who owns one. They are harder to control if you aren't used to using one, but it makes short work of it. I would think you are going to have to cut away in pieces rather than that whole 8" back coming off in one piece. Perhaps cut off top floor/roof area first, then approach the lowel level. I don't know how many interior walls you have to go through. You just have to take them one at a time.

Trust me, the absolute hardest part.. is making that first cut. Once you get started, you will be able to better see where to make the next cut, and so on.

Not sure this helps you much, but I wish you good luck with it. We'd all love to see a pic or two of your house as you work on it...we are definitely interested in eye-candy around here! :bigwink:

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Thanks, I'll look at reciprocating saws.

I like how yours is lopped off the top. I've never heard of an outdoor dollhouse... cool. I like the green finish. And I'm glad to see pics of a dollhouse that was deemed too large and was successfully chopped.

Starting on the top sounds like a good plan. It sounds like a longer process than I was expecting (just whacking it off), but hopefully this will work. If it does, I sure will post some pics. And, hopefully start finishing the inside of it.

My hubby used a reciprocating saw. Home Depot has some for around $80 if you don't have or know someone who owns one. They are harder to control if you aren't used to using one, but it makes short work of it. I would think you are going to have to cut away in pieces rather than that whole 8" back coming off in one piece. Perhaps cut off top floor/roof area first, then approach the lowel level. I don't know how many interior walls you have to go through. You just have to take them one at a time.

Trust me, the absolute hardest part.. is making that first cut. Once you get started, you will be able to better see where to make the next cut, and so on.

Not sure this helps you much, but I wish you good luck with it. We'd all love to see a pic or two of your house as you work on it...we are definitely interested in eye-candy around here! :bigwink:

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