Old dollhouse paint

[nquinn]

Hi new to this, so sorry if question seems silly. I have my old dollhouse, over 40 years old, and would like to refinish it for my daughter. I tried cleaning it, but due to a basement flood, it still looks dirty plus I am concerned about lead paint. Is there a particular paint type I should use to repaint the dollhouse? Would general water based house paint work? I assume I will need to prime the entire thing first because it was probably painted with oil based paint. Also, what type of brush or roller would work best? Again, sorry if these are silly questions, but I would like to preserve this and pass it on to my daughter. Thanks in advance for your help.

[Blondie]

I use acrylic craft paints from Hobby Lobby that are $1 a piece. I use foam brushes that you can get in packages in the art section and little regular craft painting brushes for smaller pieces. Your questions aren't silly at all! We'd love to see a photo of the house when you have time.

You can prime it with regular house primer or just extra layers of the craft paint -- like 3 or 4.

[KathieB]

I use a satin-finish water-based latex house paint for exteriors. I think it looks more "real" for the scale. I'd suggest using a decent soft-bristle brush designated for latex rather than foam brushes. It may just be me, but I have a hard time getting the smooth finish I want with a foam brush.

Some places, like Ace Hardware stores, Home Depot, etc., sell sample colors in jars larger than the tiny craft acrylics. Ask the paint guru what you need to prime with so you can paint water based paint over oil based paint.

[jrchob]

Hi Nancy!

I would prime it first. I use semigloss latex paint for the exterior. Unless the exterior is clapboard, I use the smallest paint roller I can. Find it gives a finish I like.

There are no silly questions and there is no one way of doing things as you will find.

[Patsea]

I am restoring a 80 year old dollhouse. I just used interior latex satin paint in white to act as a primer, then used the acrylic paint in the color I wanted for the rooms as a second coat. It went on well over the old paint, which is probably oil-based and has lead in it. I didn't want to get into sanding too much because of that, so I just went over a few rough spots here and there with a little sandpaper.

[Ken]

A great primer for this application since it is pretty dingy from the years would be KILZ -

[WyckedWood]

Does the house have siding on it? If not, applying siding would cover the stains too. I use artist quality acrylic paint from the hobby/craft shops, and sometimes sample sizes of interior latex paint and sometimes regular craft paint sold in the small bottles...all of the above are commonly used and give good results. I use an artist brush with wide bristles to apply paint. Im thinking a regular paint brush might be a little too thick. A good source for dollhouse supplies, such as siding, (besides your local dollhouse shop if youre lucky enough to have one) is www.miniatures.com or even ebay.

[havanaholly]

You might hit the old paint with the orange gel paint atripper and see how much will come off that way. If you wear goggles and a mask and work outside you can sand off any driy paint with a mouse sander and a coarse grit sandpaper. I also use regular interior latex housepaint to paint my dollhouses. Oh, and there are NO silly, dumb or stupid questions.

[jbnmini]

I too use latex interior paint for my houses. I buy the sample jars which are the perfect size! I also have found that using a good quality wide, flat artists paint brush does a nicer job than the foam brushes.

When renovating old houses I always use latex Kilz primer. When priming I use a small roller - works great!