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Hi doll house, and :welcome: to the forum. Several people here have build doll houses from scratch, and I'd hazard a guess that no two of them did it in exactly the same way. If you tell us how you envision the finished house, I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions, ideas and inspiration as to how to go about making it happen.

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If the finished house were sitting on a table in front of you, what would it look like? One story or two or more? Wooden siding or brick or stone? Will it have a covered front porch? Will it be in a particular architectural style -- Colonial, Victorian, Georgian, etc -- or will it be a generic house? Will it have electric lights? And so forth.

 

How would you describe the house you want to build?

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Welcome. If I was going to do a scratch build, I'd start from the picture you showed as a starting point and quickly sketch out some basic ideas of what you like about it. Then I'd use graph paper to draw the exterior outline of how you perceive that house to be (in your mind). Then I'd draw up an interior layout that would be compatible with the exterior lines you chose. If it is two or more stories, you'd need to do that for each level.

 

I'd also make some lists of possible colors for rooms and exterior and wall finishes, both inside and out, i.e., stone, wood, brick, stucco, wallboard, etc.  Landscaping ideas are other things to jot down if you are planning on adding any outdoor features like shrubbery, trees, play areas, flower or vegetable gardens, BBQ or patios, etc. Furniture, appliance, and fixture styles and the era of décor would be other things I'd jot down.

 

After all that, I'd start calculating the measurements and translate that into what you need for sizes of wood (3/8 plywood for example or whatever you want to build with), trim pieces, shingles, foundation supplies, flooring, and windows and doors.

 

Eventually you'll have to get glue (wood or white tacky - NOT hot glue), painters tape, paint, xacto knife or utility knife, spackling for filling and smoothing uneven areas, sandpaper, clamps and other assorted tools - power or not - depending on your level of comfort of use.

 

Well, that's how I would begin but as Kathie said, we all do things differently and that's the fun - to see and share ideas.

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To add to Selkie's comments, you also need a lot of time. I've been working non stop on a two room house for 6 weeks and it needs another two weeks until completion. Expect that it will take a few months to complete this house, and definitely longer if you have a full time job and a family.

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Hi.  I have done a house from scratch.  Mine is an Australian Queenslander that I stayed in a few years ago.  I got the idea to build a replica of the house on my second day there.  I took a ton of pictures and got started on it as soon as possible so I didn't forget a lot of detail.  It turned out quite well but had to eliminate some rooms because it was going to be too big.  It really was a fun project.  I'll post some pics later.

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To add to Selkie's comments, you also need a lot of time. I've been working non stop on a two room house for 6 weeks and it needs another two weeks until completion. Expect that it will take a few months to complete this house, and definitely longer if you have a full time job and a family.

 

hi can I see your two room house please could you post some photo up 

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You may want to consider may purchasing a plan book to get you started. Houseworks has one with 3 designs in it, but there are many others.

http://www.miniatures.com/The-3-in-1-Dollhouse-Plan-Book-P17663.aspx

 

For sizes... If you are building 1:12, then the feet become the inches.. A 7ft door would be 7 inches. Houseworks makes standard size doors and windows, so you can check those sizes and go from that.

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Hi from the UK. Reading the previous posts you might consider easing yourself into it with a kit! With any kit you can follow the guides to the letter or you can, like many of us put some of your own ideas into it!.....the best of both worlds and a great introduction to scratch building. I'd start off by picking a period you want to set the house in..........I place all of my builds in the present day and I build most of my own furniture but that's my preference. You can just let your imagination run and run....................have fun.

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I build the doors and windows for the kit houses if I don't like the look of the ones they come with.  If I were doing a scratch build I'd look at the measurements for the full-size 1:1 house, convert them to inches, divide by twelve and that's the dimensions I'd use for 1:12 scale.

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where is the best place to get the furniture for the doll house any best places and is there a website which shows you the sizes 

Back before I began making my own furniture I got ready mad furniture and kits from Hobby Builders Supply and Dollshouse Emporium for 1:12 scale.  The ready made 1:24 furniture I bought was actually 1:32 scale (too small to go with the items I had made from scratch, reducing 1:12 patterns to 1:24) or from kits of 1:24 furniture I found at a bricks & mortar mini store (Ron's, in Orlando, FL).

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