A better title
This one is probably going to be quick, because I didn't take any photos and it was more happy accident than careful planning that led to me lighting the dollhouse.
I left off last time with this spoiler:
See the little cluster of lights hanging down?
Originally I was planning on just adding battery powered lights to each room, but these are A) expensive, and B) you have to turn each one on individually and that sounded like it would be annoying. I really liked the idea of wiring the house, but the kits for this are also pretty pricey and I wasn't really sure it's something I'd be able to pull off.
I happened to have a very long string of battery powered LED lights, which were warm white, I knew to be very bright, and the wire is a thin copper with tiny little seed bulbs. (I think the ones I used are these, or they're very similar anyway)
The house still looked like this at this point
Most of the walls were still open, and because of the way I'd built it, there would be plenty of hollow spaces to run wiring through (real life construction methods saving the day again!)
I started playing around with fishing the wire between gaps and into various rooms. Because the attic is a separate piece, I was able to access the ceilings of the first floor, but it does mean the attic remains unlit. I also couldn't do anything with the dining room or living room ceilings because of work I'd already done
I started at the living room and worked my way left to right, up and over the ceiling of the bedroom before coming back down between that first internal wall and then back up over the central hallway.
Sorry for the rough picture, but hopefully you can see where the wire goes into the hollow space inside the walls and then through drilled holes in the ceilings. I started painting some of the unused bulbs black to cut down on the amount of light bleeding through where I didn't want it. Still need to finish that.
Inside the rooms I had to think about where I most wanted sources of light.
This is the very first bulb on the string, in the bottom corner of the living room. The internal walls in here are foam board so it was just a matter of poking a hole and threading that bulb through. This one will be a table lamp.
In the upstairs hallway, I pulled three bulbs through a hole in the ceiling, so I can make a small chandelier. In the back a single bulb comes through over the central tower window. I'm still not sure what that space will be but I figure a light couldn't hurt.
In the living room, bedroom and Gomez's office, I pulled roughly 4 or 5 bulbs through at the bottom of the wall.
These will eventually be tinted red (debating paint or even something like sweet wrappers, need to experiment). I'll be building fireplaces to go over these lights, so I can have glowing fires!
The battery pack comes down into the office, through the gap from the now covered windows on the side wall.
It fits perfectly into the hollow under the old window, and there's enough length left in the wire that I can still pull it out to change the batteries when I need to.
I've attached two magnets to the beam above it, because eventually this wall will be covered in built in bookcases (and a fireplace) and I want to have a piece which pulls out to reveal the battery pack. I was thinking I could use magnets to make sure it stays in place, though they might be redundant in all honesty.
I still need to turn the bundles of wire into something that looks like an actual light, I'm thinking I can use wire and beads, though it's definitely going to be a challenge because I'll have to construct them in place. Pray for me please.
Overall though, I'm really happy with how it turned out, the lighting has transformed the house, and I love how easy it is to turn on and off. I'll be supplementing with purchased battery powered lights as well, partly to fill in the rooms I couldn't light, and also for my sanity because making them all from scratch will kill me.
For now, enjoy this fancy slideshow of what the house looks like lit up. You can also see some of the other stuff I've been doing as well.
I know this won't be useful to a lot of standard dollhouses, but I was really intimidated by the idea of tackling lighting and by just experimenting I ended up with something I really love. I guess that's what I'd like you to take away from this if anything.
Any suggestions on what you'd like to read about next would be most welcome! As ever, thank you for reading!
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