Dollhouse Renovation: Phase 1

I have just begun my first major DIY project.

As a young lass, I adored Barbies. I mean, really. My sister and I would even get caught by our parents playing with them instead of sleeping because we were so excited over the storyline we had created. At my Nanny and Grandpa's house, I had a beautiful handcrafted dollhouse - a gift from one of their good friends. My sister and I played with it every single day. Over the years, it has been passed out between three sisters and last year my youngest sister decided she had outgrown the famous doll. Into storage it went.

It so happens that my 4-year old, B, has recently taken an interest in Barbie dolls. Princesses, particularly. It was also recently that she mentioned she was going to ask Santa for a dollhouse.

Light bulb.

Inspired by photos I came across here and there, I decided to give the dollhouse a renovation. Myself.

Here's what it looked like after seeing it for the first time in years:

Cute, right? Look closer.

Oh. Em. Gee. I forgot how much we had written on it as kids! That house sure took a beating.

Ok, so I had my work cut out for me. To start, I removed the handles on either side of the house.

I'm sure I could find drawer handles at a hardware store to replace these...

Next, I covered the windows so I wouldn't have to replace them (one is already missing, need to decide what to do about that).

 

After cleaning and sanding, it was finally time to grab the spray paint! I chose spray paint because of multiple projects I had found online and decided it would be the most efficient way to cover every nook and cranny with paint, especially in the attic which gets pretty tight.

I sprayed. I sprayed and I sprayed and I sprayed. I ended up with this:

Where oh where did I go wrong?? I have no idea what happened, but the spray paint just clouded inside the room then floated out, barely sticking to the walls. I moved the can on closer thinking that would help, but instead it dribbled down the walls or left puddles on the floors. Yes, I used the sweeping motion. 

I ran out of paint and patience so moved on to the outside of the house. Another problem of a different kind...the outside is now bubble gum pink instead of watermelon, and after two - yes {2} - cans, the spray paint still didn't cover the markings on the house!

Let me tell you, I am feeling like the biggest failure right now! How difficult can it be to spray paint? What a mistake. A waste of time!

There is one bright spot in all of this: the roof. I purchased "Make It Stone" spray paint to add texture to the roof. It looks amazing!

I already started sanding the house again, but this time I'm going all elbows in.

Phase II will be a lot more work and a lot different than I originally anticipated. What's the next step in my Plan? Buy actual paint for the exterior, determine colors for interior, and chose scrapbook paper to use as wallpaper. Let's hope I can get that done this week! Then I will be back to sanding and painting. Hopefully "Santa" can finish this by Christmas!