Flooring and Pin Doors

It is now mid-August and the floor and windows in the main building are in.  With the more intensive projects out of the way, I'm looking forward to having some more manageable tasks to work on.

The floor is different lengths of milled down medium roasted maple from my post here and secured with Aleene's tacky glue.  I drew lines across the floor with a square to make sure I stayed straight as the floor progressed.
It took about 6 hours and every last piece of wood!
I learned a major dollhouse building lesson while installing the floor.  Only put in the flooring after the walls are secure! I still have the house in a dry fit and the floor kept pushing out the walls ever so slightly as I laid down each new row.   Eventually, the walls no longer fit in place like they should.  Flooring really should be a decorative thing rather than a structural.  I wanted so much to get a visual of the space I disregarded that advice...  I've had to do some makeshift fixes to the house supports.

As I mentioned in the title I also finished some pin doors.
I had never made pin doors before and they were quite the experience.  Not my favourite for sure!  The nice part about them is that they can swing in both directions which is super helpful for practical access into the house.

So much fun space to work with now!

I'm currently finishing up a week of holidays in cottage country but I am excited to be heading home to continue the build.  It's been a nice break and a bonus that I was able to pick up some more miniature supplies on our travels (see my insta pic at the bottom of the page! ;)    I think the side roombox with the bed and bath is the next major project to tackle.  The layout needs some re-thinking.  In the meantime, I'm trying to make the most of this uncooperative summer weather by the lake.
As always I hope you all are doing well and making minis!

18 comments

  1. I am excited right along with you! All the structural stuff is amazing, and it must feel like a major victory, but I wanna see the interior design! Eagerly awaiting your next post!

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    1. Thanks Jodi, I really am relieved to get to the one afternoon type projects now :) Decor really is the fun stuff!

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  2. Your floor looks Very Labor Intensive Kristine but the Beauty of it couldn't be Better and it makes the interior space appear to be EVEN BIGGER! ♡

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    1. Thank you Elizabeth, it's great to have it laid down to get an idea of the space :)

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  3. The floor looks fantastic, what a great finish :)

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  4. The floors look amazing (despite the walls issue!) I'm always torn with the sequence of building things too. Maybe it's impatience on my part or too lazy to care!

    I love the look of the raw wood with the black frames. Are you planning on staining or just sealing it? If you want a dull finish for ease of photography, finish it with as low lustre polyurethane (water based- 2-3 coats) as possible and then buff with super fine steel wool at the end. It takes the glare off but leaves a durable finish.

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    1. Hi Kat, thanks so much! I have never built a full house before so it is a lot of learning. Impatience really did play a part here, I can admit ;)
      And I plan on re-visiting your advice in the coming weeks. I definitely want to keep it matte like you said for photos. I wasn't planning on sealing or staining... but maybe I should?

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  5. It looks absolutely lovely. The floors are gorgeous. Though I know what you mean about the walls needing adjustment because of them. I'm anticipating the same sort of issue and hoping to avoid it.

    The doors are awesome. They fit in perfectly with your folding door. I love how everything looks together. With your furniture in you really get a great idea of how the space flows.

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    1. Hi Sheila, thanks so much. I hope your walls fit in after too. You haven't done your floors yet either and I think from what I understand everything isn't quite glued? Ugh... it's a challenge! I'll be interested in hearing what you do. I ended up adding an extra supports along the sides underneath. :)

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  6. It looks beautiful! I want to move in!

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  7. Kristine, can't wait to see further development! Looks great and sooo perfect up to now :-)

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  8. What a gorgeous sleek floor! The clean lines and open space really look fantastic! It seems illogical that modern clean lined structures could be more difficult to build... but they require much more precision.... no "frills" to cover up gaps and mistakes! But no-one would ever know your walls had "wandered"! I can't wait to see what you do with the decor!

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  9. Gorgeous floor! Well worth the effort. :D

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  10. The quality of your work is impressive, gorgeous!

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  11. I knew this flooring was going to be beautiful but wow! Nothing beats real good quality wood does it.. And having the skill set to justify it helps too. :D

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  12. Oh my goodness, I'm so pleased to have found your blog, it is so wonderful! I've been following you on Instagram but your blog offers so much more detail about everything, what a terrific job! Mini Hugs, Jean

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