Not for the Faint of Heart

 Dollhousing, (my new word for what I do in my spare time), sometimes really isn't for the faint of heart especially if you are a DYI-er. It is for the adventurous and risk takers; for those who desire to kit bash and build everything from scratch; for those who want try new things, be innovated and creative. 

I'be probably written this before: beginners benefit from building a kit and following the directions faithfully, for there are some really great kits, especially the newer laser cut kits with pieces that are precision cut and will fit perfectly. Older kits, not so much as it is with my current build, the Newbury, which I am saying now will be my last large project--oh! wait! My daughter has the San Franciscan kit, daring me to continue. I'll get back to you on that. 

Today's post will focus on flooring for the Newbury, a rather challenging project with its bay windows on the first floor.

To begin: there are so many options for dollhouse wood flooring ranging from printable flooring to commercially printed flooring to wood products. You can buy individual planks for a variety of online shops. You can purchase sheets of pre-cut planks--you have so many options. 

But what if you a risk taking adventurous DIY-er as I have been there are options, too. Some use craft sticks--I have, with fair results Or Hobby Lobby planks on a sheet. 

I began my dollhouse adventure by googling "how" and found plethora bloggers and YouTubers who taught me how to do many things on my own to create my own special unique dollhouses. The last house, the Manchester Country Home is filled with mostly with handmade, one of kind, not so perfectly engineered or made pieces. Here's the tutorial on how I made the flooring for this house using my Cricut Maker to cut Cricut veneer. https://annsdollhousedreams.blogspot.com/search?q=cricut+flooring. The Design Space creation is available free on Cricut's Design Space.

With the Newbury, I have made some pieces, but am not holding myself to that strict rule; however, I did decide to make my own flooring, so I ordered packages (2 sheets per pack) of walnut veneer from Cricut. Cut it on the Cricut and didn't have enough. I was going to buy more from Cricut, but it is now $18.00 +shipping for one pack, so I looked for options.

I searched WoodCraft's website and ordered their 12x12 veneer walnut 3 to a pack for $11 + shipping. 

The Cricut veneer is a better quality, actually. The Wood Craft veneer is a bit rippley; that is to say that it does not lie flat, but I think once I glue it in place and weight it down, the planks will dry flat.

See. This is the thing with DIY-ing: you do take risks when you go rogue and do something new. Just sayin'.

Instead of cutting this veneer out on my Cricut which does lead to a a bit of waste around the edges and takes time to lay out the cuts in Design Space, required the purple mat and deep blade with 4 passes--, I decided to cut this on my old Martha Stewart cutting board and guess what! Perfection. My original Cricut pattern has 1/4" planks, so I line up the left edge with the 1/4' line and cut away. So much easier and no waste.

I can easily vary the length of the planks, too. 

With the wood planks cut and ready to install, I am testing water based varnish. Purchased at Hobby Lobby, I originally bought the small glossy 2 oz bottle, then bought the only varnish the store had, a satin varnish. Did my test strips and realized that I really like the glossy for a nice sheen to the floor. I ordered the 8 oz glossy from Walmart, store pickup. I think $13. 😬

Which brings me another point: Is DIY more costly or less? 

 

The gloss varnish will give a deeper richer look to the wood, especially with multiple coats. I will varnish the floor after it is installed. Some will stain and varnish individual strips, but to me that is work intensive. The nice thing about this veneer is that it does not requite staining, just several coats of varnish. I don't even sand between coats.  

I've not photographed each time I've tested laying out the planks, but I began by making templates with the plan to glue the planks to the template; however, I realized that when I reinserted my card stock template, I had  to bend it to get into place properly around those windows, so I knew that a wooden floor wouldn't to be as pliable as the paper template. So I made a new template.

I need a barrier between the wood planks and the wood floor because tape wire will run across the floor, so I made new barrier template out of brown card stock that I will glue the flooring to.

DIY-ers have to be patient. While I am ready to install the flooring, I have to wait for my electrical supplies to arrive. I ordered the transformer from my favorite supplier CR2s way back in July. I love this company and the products that I'll be using. I've watched his Youtube videos which are so good, but my order was met with a screen that informed his customers that he and his twin were celebrating their 80th birthdays with a cruse (17 family members!) Happy Birthday!  and orders wouldn't be processed until Aug. 9. It's okay, for there is plenty of other things to do. 

Next time we meet, I'll have the electrical tape installed underneath a beautiful floor. 

Thanks for dropping by. If you are visiting from Facebook post, say hello in the moments. 

Best Regards,

Ann