Lighting options for your dollhouse
Crafting a dollhouse is a labor of love. Whether we are building dollhouse for a special person or simply for love of process, many factors must be considered for a cohesive and beautiful dollhouse to come together. The obvious factors include actual building and furniture. A less often considered but very important part of whole is dollhouse lighting.
Fortunately, dollhouse wiring is relatively simple and can be easily accomplished by anyone with a reasonable level of craftsmanship. It's highly recommended that we begin with a wiring kit, which includes everything you need to wire your dollhouse along with a step-by-step instruction set. Be sure to purchase correct size for your dollhouse, but remember that we can always combine multiple kits if necessary.
Your dollhouse lighting kit will contain a transformer that allows household current to be converted to DC power for lighting the miniature fixtures. You have the option of hardwiring fixtures, so that lighting for the entire dollhouse will be accomplished through the household plug. We can purchase a kit with one or more on/off switches, allowing dollhouse to remain connected to power and the lights turned on and off by switch. We can even get miniature switch covers, installing the switches on the walls and adding another level of realism to your dollhouse. A third option, possibly not appropriate for all lighting fixtures but certainly fun and realistic in moderation, is installation of miniature power outlets. These outlets function just like normal household outlets in miniature, allowing we to plug dollhouse fixtures into the outlets or unplug them when not in use.
Your dollhouse should be pre-wired for electricity before your interior design comes together. It'll be much easier to have wires in place, able to be wallpapered or painted over, than to try to retrofit an already completed dollhouse. The only exception is when building a dollhouse for a small child. In that case, we may want to leave electricity out altogether until the child is older.
After the wiring is installed, your dollhouse vision can truly begin to come together. When designing your interior, do not forget about lighting options. Miniature lighting fixtures are available in an overwhelming array of designs and styles. Virtually any light style that you can imagine has at some time been replicated in miniature.
Unlike most dollhouse furnishings, such as furniture and decorative items, it's highly recommended that we only purchase pre-made lighting fixtures. While dollhouse wiring is fairly simple, possibilities of electric shock and fire must always be considered. Pre-made dollhouse lighting fixtures are reasonably inexpensive and the investment is definitely worthwhile for safety reasons.
Dollhouse lighting is an important part of the overall interior design of your dollhouse. Lighting can be used to evoke a specific mood or feeling, and the fixtures can enhance beauty and harmony of a well-designed room. Just remember that we are designing lighting that looks good from the outside perspective looking in, not from perspective of inside the room. Lighting should be kept to a minimum, used to draw eye to certain sections and features of each room and dollhouse as a whole. Bright light isn't necessary or recommended. Keep lighting subdued and elegant and your entire dollhouse will be awash with a welcoming glow.
