Measure your dollhouse footprint!

[coco83]

I don't know if this has happened to anyone else, but when I built my first dollhouse, 27 years ago, it was a form of stress relief when I was going through a difficult time. So, I needed a project as a distraction. I saw the Greenleaf McKinley in a toy store window and fell in love and promptly brought it home and started to work on it for months. A year later, when it was finished, I was moving houses, and found that I couldn't get the monster mansion out of the doorway, no matter which way I tried. I ended up leaving it behind as a donation to the new homeowner. Now, I always measure the dollhouse footprint BEFORE buying. Don't know if anyone else has had this happen to them.

 

[KathieB]

Not me personally, but a dear friend and her husband selected their first dollhouse mindful of the size of their doorways. What a hard lesson for you to learn. Some members here have built their Garfields in two take-apart sections to make it easier to move.  

Edited August 14, 2020 by KathieB

[havanaholly]

Mani, the McKinley fit through the rather small doorways of our last house, where I built it.  Perhaps you meant the Garfield, which is the biggest dollhouse Greenleaf makes?  I have a Garfield kit in my workshop, which has double doors in front so I can carry it out when built, and into our garage, where most of my dollhouses live.

[coco83]

DUH, my apologies, yes, of course it was the Garfield. Sigh, so much work lost. But a lesson learned. I hope whoever has it now is getting some pleasure out of it.

 

[havanaholly]

I don't think you need to apologize for a perfectly simple brain fart; we're all human, it's what humans do.  

Edited August 14, 2020 by havanaholly

[KathieB]

2 hours ago, havanaholly said:

it's what humans do.

And some of us do it quite often. Please don't ask me why I know this.  

[coco83]

 

Ha!, LMAO!  You know it seems like I still haven't learned to plan plan ahead. I decided to put in a fold down attic stair on my third floor to access the roof AFTER I finished construction and it was so much harder to cut out the opening because of the tight space in the hallway. Spent the better part of a day yesterday using every cutting tool I had in the toolbox to get it done. But finally done, so Yea!  Now my little people family can get to the roof without scaling the exterior of the house Spiderman style. And now, time to install the working doorbell, which also would have been easier to install BEFORE wallpapering. Will I ever learn? 

 

[havanaholly]

2 hours ago, coco83 said:

...Will I ever learn? 

We learn how NOT to do things by doing them in all the ways that don't work for us.  Long ago I saw a sign that read "God created us long before we ever needed eyeglasses, yet look how conveniently He placed our ears."

[grazhina]

Every time I draw plans for a dollhouse, I always make sure it fits through doorways. My Bungalow fit through the door with just enough room for our fingers.

 

[jbnmini]

My first dollhouse was an Artply Barrington.  Our house, at the time, was rather large and the dollhouse was built and lived in the loft of our 'great room'.  18 years later we sold our business and house to downsize into a charming little Colonial.  Uh....Colonials have small rooms, doorways and no "entry way".  There was NO way this monstrosity was going to fit ANYWHERE upstairs- even if we DID somehow manage to get it in the door!  Finally we were able to get it through the sliding glass door in our lower level where my work room is now....but again, were not able to squeeze it past the inside doorway and up the stairs to the main floor!  The house had to take up refuge in a corner just inside the patio door, where it languished for 13 years.   

But now my 3 year old granddaughter has found it- and claimed it as her own.  She spends a lot of time down there moving furniture around and making sure that every empty drawer, cupboard, frig, and even the washer and dryer have "a little something" inside!   

Edited August 14, 2020 by jbnmini

[fov]

I don't think you're the first person who had this problem with the Garfield! I guess it wouldn't fit through a window either? Hopefully the new homeowner enjoyed it (but even if they didn't want it, they were stuck with it if it wouldn't fit through the door!)

[havanaholly]

2 hours ago, fov said:

I don't think you're the first person who had this problem with the Garfield! I guess it wouldn't fit through a window either? Hopefully the new homeowner enjoyed it (but even if they didn't want it, they were stuck with it if it wouldn't fit through the door!)

Maybe the new homeowner has children or grands who have gone nuts playing with it!

[Dawnhvr]

I have a Barrington and it is also huge. Lol