Front Opening Dollhouses: When putting in a window that will ultimately face the wall of the real house as in the back wall of a front opening dollhouse, I actually go ahead and cut the window opening. Install a regular component type window. Hang window treatments as usual inside. Then I use some "blue tac" or a similar product to mount a post card or magazine pic on the outside of the window to simulate a view seen out the window. This way you can change the view easily as seasons change or just whatever suits your fancy. I wish I could say I thought this up myself but I know I read it somewhere. I guess I am just lucky to remember the idea and never mind where I found it! LOL

Linda in GA

Front Opening Dollhouses/Sid Cooke: Oh joy! I'm new to the list but thought I'd jump in on this one as I am currently deeply embroiled in an English style kit.

After years of daydreaming about dollhouses, I finally made the move to dive in. Not being overly fond of the majority of American style houses I spent a weekend scouring the UK websites and ran across the Sid Cooke line:
http://www.sidcooke-dollshouses.sageweb.co.uk/

Their prices for shipping to the US were very reasonable I thought (but I expected it to be hefty, so this could be relative), and they ship directly, so do email them for specifics. They are very forthcoming & friendly. You also, as an American, do not have to pay VAT, so the price is a little cheaper than listed.

I prefer the front opening houses because it is the front of the house that I want displayed on a daily basis and I don't like the idea of turning it around for peaking, but I *do* agree with the windowless box issues Molly mentioned ... which is why I liked some of the Cooke houses as several have internal windows & doors. I picked the Bow St. Corner Shop as it was only two rooms that I could decorate easily, and fit in with my dual purpose of having a shop and also a room to play with. It also helped inspire my theme ... which will be a Hogarth inspired house (with a li'l Tom Jones thrown in), the shop will be a quackish apothecary & the second floor a harlots boudoir (loose inspiration from "The Harlots Progress" & "Before & After"). The exterior (so far) is weathered stone & cracked plaster and is currently entitled "Gin Lane" ... hehe

But as to specifics regarding the Sid Cooke House/Shop (at least the one I am working on) ... it is very sturdy MDF sides & back with plywood fronts. Trim, window & doors included. The windows are molded plastic with *no* glazing ... the door is a little simple so I may replace it with the Houseworks "Palladian" but this will take some adjustment of the door opening. All the parts are cut and no need for punching out, tho some sanding is in order. Had I not been decorating & painting as I went, it could have been up in a day easily. Comes with some wood glue, hinges, nails & fine sandpaper. Excellently packed and with a little extra $ arrived in a week! The main weirdness with the corner shops is that the rooms are roughly 12" x 12" ... and a square room is a little awkward to decorate convincingly.

Kallisti

Front Opening Dollhouses: For those of you who have yet to be converted to front opening houses (I have both, but I much prefer the front opening ones as I have an inquisitive cat and two children).

I think these houses are a natural evolution from the cupboard houses which
were the first kind of baby houses.

Go and look at Honeychurch toys' site. All their houses are front opening, but the facades can be extremely elaborate. I love them, especially the corner shop! They're beautifully cut and constructed, too. http://www.honeytoys.co.uk/houses/hdhouses01.html

My big half timbered house opens at the front and the side. It was made by a local joiner, who did what he thought was best. What I love about the openings is that each room has its own opening, so you can have one room open at a time (except for the attics, where the roof is hinged up). all the joins are hidden by the timbers. I love it! When DH gets round to taking some pics for me, I'll put them up on my website, to show you what I mean.

Lynne Connolly

house openings: I think my fav is side-opening houses, ranging from the various bungalows I've seen to the Seaside Villa we've been treated to pics/descriptions of . With these types, you get to see the facade and the inside of the house, with no 'dangly bits' (curtains flapping in the breeze, etc.). Just my .02, of course!

Molly/StormBorn

Side Opening Houses: I have a side-opening house on my Photo Point site, if you want to take a look. It's the Yellow Townhouse.
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=742148

Dani, in Bradshaw, MD

Covering rear of dollhouse with Plexiglas: I attach the plexi with Velcro strips. I hide the strips with pieces of molding applied to the exterior. Easy, economical and attractive. Some of mine have been in place more years than I care to admit.

Becky

Wallhung roomboxes: I'm a newbie and don't know if this has been brought up before, but at a small Kansas antique store I saw the neatest roomboxes made of old dresser drawers hung on the wall. Hung drawer-pull-side-up and divided in two horizontally, they give you two floors to work with. The owner of the shop said she looked at auctions for bureaus, dressers, etc. where the drawers were still good but the outer part was not and got them very cheaply. She said her pride and joy at home was a set of three drawers, left, center and right, from a bow-front buffet. Hung parallel on the wall with drawer fronts up, the outline was a cottage roof effect

Ava Betz

Scotty Room: You might want to include a picture of President Roosevelt with his Fala, who was a Scotty. I remember reading something about how he trumped his critics by saying something like - and this is a paraphrase - "They're not satisfied to come after me; now they're coming after my little dog Fala."

Wanna in El Paso

Scotty Room: I would check with local liquor distributor or write to the distillery of Black & White Scotch Whisky for calendars and other promotional materials. Scan and reduce to mini size and look for setting ideas around the weeee pairrrrrr off Scottttty Dogs that are the signature of this fine, public service purveyor of liquid happiness. Check antique show cases where they have all the odd little, miscellaneous stuff. You should be able to find a black and white pair of the plastic Scotties mounted on magnets that "everybody" had at one time or another.

Mel K. in Las Vegas

Scotty Room: I, too have had a terrible time finding mini Scotties for my dhs. I do have a paper punch that makes tiny Scotties (I think I got it at WalMart). I punch out the little fellows and glue them on kitchen towels, hot pads, placemats, etc. As for Scotties to put in the rooms, I found one a long time ago and since then, haven't seen a single one. All the catalogs and sites I visit have every kind of dog but Scotties. We must be miniers of a "different breed"! If you find some, let me know where, please.

Marilyn J Cole