As with many projects, doll house lighting requires a good deal of pre-planning and preparation. Some experts in the field of dollhouse design recommend making doll house lighting decisions before the actual construction of the doll’s house begins. You can get a basic idea of where the lighting needs to go by looking at the house plans.
As you begin constructing your dollhouse, lightly mark the areas in which lighting will be added. If holes need to be drilled, it is best to pre-drill them before construction in most cases. To keep lighting projects simple, try to add lights to back walls, so you can simply drill a hole in that position and keep wiring contained outside the house. This way, you won’t need to make grooves in walls or floors to trail the wiring and hiding beneath wall or floor treatments.
Decide where on the wall the light fixture should be then measure carefully and mark the spot. If you intend to place a doll house lighting fixture in the center of a wall or ceiling, the best method is to measure the length and width of the surface. Next divide the total length or width by two and put a tiny mark at the center of each, marking all sides. Using a ruler, line up the parallel marks and draw a line from one to the other, using very light pressure. You do not want the line to show later.
Now, do the same for the other parallel edges. Where your two lines meet should be dead center; this is where you want to drill your hole. Drilling and such should be done before any wall treatments have been applied. If you are afraid the lines will show through your wall treatments, attempt to gently remove the lines when the doll house lighting is complete, before you begin adding paint or wallpaper.
Doll house lighting should never be too harsh. Enough light to show off the space and the beautiful items inside it is all that is needed. Of course, sometimes specific lighting is used to emphasize particular areas or pieces in the dollhouse.
A tiny light may be added inside a fireplace to create a more realistic look. Doll house lighting may be added in order to brighten up dark spaces such as halls, stairways, or dark corners of larger rooms. A porch light may be added outside, to help give the house a more realistic sense of being a home.