Lost Cause to Realized Vision

The little Lost Cause dollhouse has it's new identity!  If you follow this blog, you already have read a few entries regarding this little house, including why I gave it the nickname of Lost Cause (First Blog Post About Lost Cause Dollhouse).  But now it is finished, so here's the recap:

First brought to us in sorry shape, this house needed some TLC:

Before, needing some TLC

Customer wanted to keep as much as the original as she could: her father made it for her when she was young.  But she wanted it painted white/green (exterior) and for the interior rooms to be painted the same colors as her real house.

BEFORE EXTERIOR

AFTER EXTERIOR

We sanded down to the bare wood on the exterior, repainted, and replaced the windows/doors/balcony (creating new ones using the same design her father had used).

BEFORE: BALCONY

AFTER: BALCONY

BEFORE: DOORS

AFTER: DOORS

Read previous blog entries to read about the reconstruction of the windows (First Blog Post on House) and the doors (Putting Hinges on Door).

The interior rooms had been previously stripped by someone else.  There were fragments of paper still on the walls that we needed to remove and many imperfections in the exposed raw wood.  After spackling and sanding and covering the interior with wallpaper liner, we were able to paint each room to her specifications and put down flooring:

BEFORE: KITCHEN

AFTER: KITCHEN

To read more about the kitchen flooring go here: Kitchen Flooring

We did not touch the tile work in the bathroom (seen below) as her father had done that and we wanted to keep as much of the original as we could: that's what gives each dollhouse their own personality and charm!

BEFORE: BATHROOM

AFTER: BATHROOM

BEFORE: DINING ROOM (that's our flooring sample in the front of the room)

AFTER: DINING ROOM

BEFORE: LIVING ROOM

AFTER: LIVING ROOM

I gotta give Mom props on this one: My mother decided the half stairs going from the landing to the second floor needed to be remade.  Someone else (not the customer nor us) had glued the half steps on upside down and there were glue blobs and wood filler in various places on the steps.  So Mom spent an afternoon cutting and fussing, and using the original steps as a guide, she created some beautiful (I think) replacement stairs...

BEFORE: Someone else had glued the steps on upside down and slopped wood fill all over the place

AFTER: Gorgeous steps!

BEFORE: Messy

AFTER: Is it crazy that I love them so much?!?!?

BEFORE: MASTER BEDROOM

AFTER: MASTER BEDROOM

We also added lighting to the second floor (customer will add battery operated chandeliers to the first floor once she arrives to pick up the house and see the full selection of battery operated lights we carry).  Hidden behind the ceiling trim we installed LED strip lighting.

IN PROGRESS: INTERIOR, with all remaining wallpapers, trims and window trims removed

AFTER: Bright and ready to display

 Overall the interior cleaned up rather well -- it's a colorful, cheery, warm home:

BEFORE: OVERALL INTERIOR (that's scrap of our wood flooring in the front of the dining room)

AFTER: OVERALL INTERIOR

This little lost cause is now a proud realized vision of the customer's dream!  I'm so glad I had the opportunity to work on it!

AFTER: Little Lady is heading home!