Japanese house:  I purchased a 1/4" tearoom kit from http://japaneseminis.homestead.com/FirstPg.html   It was very easy to assemble, and it looks great! It was the first 1/4" project I attempted. I don't have a picture of it yet on my webshots album - will have to do that! Anyway, I would definitely buy from him again. Very good quality.

Lauren in Abingdon

Speckles:To get speckles of black/brown and green in your shingles or anything else for that matter. I take an old tooth brush. Put some of the paint (one color at a time) I wish to spatter on the tooth brush and (this is hard to explain) holding the loaded tooth brush a few inches away from the area to be spattered run your finger (thumb) over the bristles of the tooth brush causing the paint to spatter onto your object. Give it a try. If finances are tight just rinse the paint out of the tooth brush and use it with your tooth paste again.

Drbob...Delray Beach, FL

So far I have Tai-Nee Toys, MBC (Miniscule Bank of Commerce), Jojo Café (Coffee Shop), Demi Dimensions (Dress Shop), Le Petit Bebe (Infant supplies store), NewYouConcepts (a day salon and spa), Bitty Bath and Boudoir (A place to buy fine linen, candles, soaps, etc, and Tiny Ivy, a mini fine dining restaurant. If anybody wants to snatch my idea, feel free!

MsPBody

Sylvanian House: a few years ago I found a Sylvanian house at a yard sale to convert to a memory house for a friend's graduation. The commercial furniture is not the same scale as the animals!   It's bigger, about the same scale as Renwal and Petite Princess, 1:16, which is in between 1:24 and 1:12.

Loretta_Sniarowski

Installing Chandeliers: If there is a floor above where you are installing the chandelier wiring through the floor is an alternative to using an adapter. First make sure that you have worked out a way to secure the chandelier to the ceiling. Drill a hole in the ceiling and run the wire through the hole. If you are using tapewire you run the tape along the floor above the chandelier. Attach the wires from the chandelier to the tape on the floor using grommets (eyelets). An alternative is to put a plug on the wire and plug it into an outlet in the floor above. I have installed a number of chandeliers in this manner.

Carol

Wiring a chandelier: I think it's much easier to wire the fixture to the floor above. I just brought a piece of the wired tape across the floor to the spot where the light would go below and made a little hole to bring the wires from below up and direct wired it. I used a good glob of the tacky stuff to stick the base of the light to the ceiling. Only drawback to this method is if you want hardwood floors on the floor above. You should leave this area easy to get to in case of an electrical problem with the light fixture. My dollhouse is all carpeted so it wasn't a problem for me. You could use the sheets of hardwood though and tack it down around the edges if need be. Good luck.

Linda

Sylvanian Families: I have a Sylvanian Family in a 1:12 scale house.  The furniture is oversized for them of course, but then, that was the look I wanted for them.  Actually, all my doll house "people" are animals.  And, I think they are all a bit too small for their homes and furniture. But then, the majority of my houses are set up to be played with by my foster kids (closely monitored playtime let me assure you).   So I don't have too many critical eyes viewing my houses and families.

Jen

Stripping Wires

Jayleen posted - "Cir-kit has a little wire stripper that costs about $2 that is the greatest thing I've ever used for stripping wires."

This is merely an alligator clip. You can buy a bag of them from Radio Shack for the about same price. I wouldn't be without mine.

Ruth

Stripping wires: Cir-kit has a little wire stripper that costs about $2 that is the greatest thing I've ever used for stripping wires.

Jayleen

Sylvanian house:   If the family has plenty of room, I would err a little on the side of it being oversized, for two reasons: 1) while the child is young it is easier for her to move things around without toppling them and 2) having doors and windows large enough to accommodate 1:12 scale later might not look that bad with the little characters and would be wonderful for the child to grow into with more advanced dolls and furniture as she matures.   I see it with half timbering and thatch and a big stone fireplace.   I hope your friend is paying for all the materials!

I distinctly remember being concerned about scale as a child, but primarily in terms of doors that were so short that dolls' heads would bump and chairs that were too tall (added to the frustration that my dolls couldn't sit anyway!).   If the furniture fits, I suspect large doors wouldn't be a problem.  If you're making stairs, I would keep those in a scale friendly to the short dolls, but perhaps make them easily removable so that "normal size" stairs can be used later.   Since objects like tiles and floor planks have varying scale in real life, they shouldn't present a problem.   I'msure you'll have a great time with this once it's underway.

Rosalind in Houston